Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his two-and-a-half day visit to Washington DC with diaspora events, including a speech urging the business community to invest in India, promoting India’s economic prospects.
Speaking at the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, Mr Modi urged an audience largely comprised of members of the Indian diaspora to make use of the momentum in the bilateral relationship, as he praised them.
“You have lived the American dream,” he said, at an event organized by the U.S. India Strategic Partnership Forum.
“You have shown how these dreams can be fulfilled with a strong result,” he added.
With India and the U.S. announcing a raft of agreements across sectors such as defence, health, climate and emerging tech, Mr Modi promoted the relationship and the gains made in the last two days. The bilateral relationship was not just a partnership of convenience but a “partnership of conviction”, Mr Modi said, as he highlighted the bipartisan support it enjoys in the U.S. Congress.
He went through a list of U.S. states that were benefitting from defence deals with India, and promoted the Indian economy, its youthful population and compared the aspirations of Indians to the American dream.
“Today, the share of private consumption and India’s GDP is the highest it has been in 1.5 decades,” he said, adding that extreme poverty is “ending rapidly” in India and the middle class is growing.
He urged the business community to make use of the opportunities this presented.
“This partnership between India and America is in the interest of both countries, is in the interest of the people of both countries, and that is why it is so important to strengthen it,” he said.
“This is the moment,” he said, adding that the governments of the two countries had done the groundwork and it was up the business community to make use of the opportunities now.
Mr Modi was joined on stage by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, USISPF Chairman John Chambers and USISPF CEO Mukesh Aghi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and India’s U.S. Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu were among those in the audience.
Following the Kennedy Center event, Mr Modi attended a diaspora event at the Reagen Center.
“Concluding a very special USA visit,” Mr Modi tweeted. “Our nations will keep working together to make our planet a better place for the coming generations,” he said, posting a campaign-style video of his trip, shortly before emplaning for Cairo, for another state visit
