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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

PM Narendra Modi's meeting with US President Barack Obama

 
It was Mission Accomplished as a longer-than-usual summit meeting with US President Barack Obama, and a comprehensive joint statement after it, completed Prime Minister 
Narendra Modi’s five-day US trip
 


The ice had been broken, a meandering relationship re-energised, and the partnership resumed. 
As Obama departed from schedule to drive to the nearby National Mall for a walk with Modi around the Martin Luther King Memorial immediately after their two-hour summit meeting, the great reset seemed to have been set in stone.

Obama and Modi at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.

 Obama and Modi at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.


A good beginning had been made over dinner on Monday evening, with Obama greeting Modi in Gujarati; the official follow-through went just as well. 
"Kem Cho?" - this is how US President Barack Obama welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarati at the doorstep of the White House, ahead of a rare private dinner hosted in his honour before their formal Summit talks. 
“Thank you very much, President", Modi responded as the two leaders shook hands and walked inside. 


Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Barack Obama at the White House.

Forging ties: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Barack Obama at the White House.

“This visit has reinforced my conviction that India and US are natural global partners,” Modi said in a joint statement at the Oval Office of the White House after the meeting. 
The main takeaway from the summit was an agreement to make joint and concerted efforts to dismantle safe havens for terror and criminal networks like Lashkar–e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Dawood Ibrahim’s empire, al Qaeda, and the Haqqani network. 
The two leaders also agreed that the two countries will take steps to disrupt financial and tactical support to these terror outfits. Officials clarified, however, that there will not be any joint operations, but joint steps to dismantle the support structure of these terror groups.
The other takeaways from the summit included a joint pledge to push the bilateral relationship to new levels, and resolve issues blocking implementation of the civil nuclear deal. 
As the two leaders covered a broad range of issues including economic cooperation, trade and investment, Modi made it a point to seek continued openness and ease of access for Indian services companies to the U.S. market. 
The two countries also reached an agreement on extending their defence cooperation for 10 more years, and Modi invited American companies to participate in the Indian defence manufacturing sector. 
The discussions, the first formal meeting between the two leaders spread over delegation and restricted levels, covered terrorism in South Asia and emerging threats in West Asia. Modi expressed the hope that India-US relations will make fast progress. 
“Both of us are committed taking forward the civil nuclear partnership agreement. We are serious about resolving at the earliest issues relating to civil nuclear energy  cooperation. This is important for India for meeting energy security needs,” he said. 
The Indo-US nuclear deal concluded between the previous Manmohan Singh government and the Bush Administration has been stalled because of issues relating to liability laws. Sharing concerns over the threat of terrorism in South Asia and emerging challenges in West Asia, where Islamist group ISIS has been on the rampage, Modi said the two countries agreed to intensify cooperation in counter-terrorism and intelligence-sharing.
Obama said the two leaders had discussed various issues including trade and economic cooperation, and cooperating in the exploration of space and scientific developments, especially to deal with challenges like Ebola. 
Emphasising that India supports trade facilitation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today told US President Barack Obama that a solution must be found on its concerns over food security at the WTO. 
Modi had an open discussion on the WTO (World Trade Organisation) issue with Obama during their summit talks, where a host of other topics including the economy were also discussed. 
“We had an open discussion on WTO issue. We support trade facilitation but a solution that takes care of our food security must be found,” Modi said, adding he was “sure that it is possible to do that soon”

Modi waves to supporters after paying homage at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington.

Modi waves to supporters after paying homage at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in front of the Indian Embassy in Washington. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally chose gifts for US President Barack Obama which included a special edition of Gita by Gandhi bound in a Khadi cover, and audio-video clips from Martin Luther King’s India visit in 1959, besides other gifts.
 
The book is Gandhi’s interpretation of Gita and the prime minister had specifically ordered copies of the special edition and got them covered in Khadi in Delhi, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said. 

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