Vijendra Agarwal says:

April 19, 2015 at 2:33 am

Partnership Opportunities between the U.S.and India: “Forward Together We Go — Chalein
Saath Saath”

Among many visits abroad, including the most recent three nation’s tour (France,
Germany and Canada) and the 5-day visit to the United States, India’s PM Modi
and his counterparts everywhere have charted a new chapter of cooperation in
many areas of mutual interest. These include but are not limited to climate
change, terrorism, nuclear energy, higher education, scientific research, space
exploration, and defense cooperation. Modi’s first and historic visit to the US
in September 2014 was best summed up as “Forward together we go- chalein saath saath” in an op-ed, “A renewed U.S.-India partnership for the 21st Century” jointly authored by Modi
and Obama, first such endeavor. It stated that India and the United States are
bound by common values, mutual interests, and a commitment to democracy,
liberty, diversity and enterprise.

While India is deeply engaged in partnership building globally, I offer my
perspectives on the opportunities between U.S. and India using Minnesota as an
example occasionally because I live in Minnesota. In reality, Minnesota and the
rest of the country has the necessary ingredients and is well poised to boost
partnership with India who is ready and eager to extend numerous opportunities
for everyone to build, strengthen, and accelerate partnerships with her.

For example, I was a surprised myself until I found (the readers may be too) that
Minnesota, with its harsh climate during winter, is home to over 33,000 Asian
Indians. It is the second largest among Asian Minnesotans (Hmong’s are the
largest), a fraction (0.6%) of its total population of about 5.3 million. Yet
the educational attainments of these Asian Indians are second to none with
about 82% of them with bachelor’s degree or higher. They are gainfully employed in relatively
high paying jobs; some of them own large companies, according to a recent
report (http://www.minneapolisfoundation.org/), providing 6,000 jobs, and 97%
of them receive no public assistance. This is true about Indian community in
most places in the United States not just in Minnesota.

Yet the unfortunate fact is that many states in the US have not made concerted
efforts in exploring and enhancing the opportunities with India. For example,
Minnesota’s trade export to India has been hovering around $200 million,
holding the 20th place among Minnesota’s trade partners globally since 2009. It
appears that the last trade mission to India was headed by the then Governor
Pawlenty in 2007 which perhaps resulted in an increased trade from $168 million
in 2008 to what we have today.

India’s Current “Can-do” Business Climate and Prime Minister Modi:

India is very different today than it was at the turn of the Century and perhaps a
year ago when India’s political landscape changed. Newly elected in 2014, India’s
Prime Minister Modi, an ambitious, bold, confident and decisive leader, is
ready to do business with the US emphasizing less government and more governance.
It is a dramatically different India with a welcome change that characterizes
optimism and hope for a better tomorrow.

Who is Modi? A workaholic, honest, dedicated, energetic, relatively young (64 years) and proud Prime Minister whosincerely means business and not the empty promises and excuses. While he seeks advice from those around him, he makes decisions quickly, and has a strong “can
do” attitude. In his address to the strong 20,000 Asian Indians and about 40 US
lawmakers in the Madison Square Garden on September 28, 2014, Modi publicly
touted India’s three major strengths: Democracy, Demographic Dividends, and
Demand (three D’s), encompassing his vision and ambition for India’s overall ‘Development.” He was forthright in seeking cooperation from Indian diaspora, US businesses, and the lawmakers alike. Modi has taken the similar message wherever he has gone since then. Confident and straight talker Modi is well aware that he is betting his own political fortune and future if
he does not deliver on his promises.

According to the senior Republican senator McCain, Modi is probably the strongest Indian leader to have emerged in his lifetime. He went on to suggest more cooperation with India. Once persona non grata in Washington, Modi is now listed as one of The World’s 100 Most Influential People in the TIME magazine. Very interestingly his short biography is penned by no
other than the US president Obama who wrote, “As a boy, Narendra Modi helped
his father sell tea to support their family.” In the profile titled ‘India’s reformer-in-chief’, Obama has described Modi as follows, “Today, he’s the leader of the world’s largest democracy, and his
life story from poverty to Prime Minister reflects the dynamism and potential of India’s rise.” Obama goes on to say, “Determined to help more Indians follow in his path, he laid out an ambitious vision to reduce extreme poverty, improve education, empower women and girls and unleash India’s true economic
potential while confronting climate change.” Clearly the two of them (Obama and Modi) found a common bond somewhere between Modi’s visit in September and the return visit to India by Obama in January of this year. Perhaps it was during the tea time when they bonded.

The FORTUNE magazine has also included Modi in the fifth place among The World’s 50
Greatest Leaders. Writing about his accomplishments, FORTUNE quotes his efforts on putting the bureaucracy on notice, greatly simplifying the visa for entry to India, and increasing allowable foreign investment in the insurance industry. India, according to IMF and other forecasters, is believed to grow faster than China in a year or two. It is perhaps just the beginning of what is yet to come in making the climate for business opportunities even better.

Based on the Economic Survey 2014–15, India’s Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley, predicts that the real GDP growth will accelerate to 7.4% making India the fastest-growing economy in the world. He went on to say, “The world is predicting that it is India’s chance to fly.” All of this is clearly what Modi’s leadership means to India and the globe- there is certainly a greater sense of optimism, hope, and energy as India marches ahead.

Although Modi has been India’s Prime Minister only since May 2014, his promises are
believable and deliverable based on the unrelenting work ethics, efficiency, and demonstration of success and development he achieved as the Chief Ministerof Gujarat in western India. He wants US corporations to “make” things in India (Make in India initiative) with a promise to offer needed infrastructure, talented workforce, and lesser bureaucracy to deliver goods to India’s middle
class at an affordable cost.

India’s demand and appetite does not end with the consumable items. The recent successful space mission to Mars is just one example where US high tech companies and the agencies like NASA could or should be partnering with India and its entrepreneurs. What was unique about India’s mission to Mars; its success in the first attempt and the low cost operation. Interestingly, Modi used the analogy of a cab driven in Ahmedabad, a city in the state of Gujarat,costing about 10 rupees per kilometer ( about 17 cents) while the mission to Mars was only about 7 rupees per kilometer (about 14 cents) in reaching the distant planet. Undoubtedly, India needs technology based solutions for its defense, automotive, aeronautical, space, energy, transportation, construction, and agriculture sectors and US has the expertise. The partnerships will be mutually
rewarding for possibly developing cost effective strategies using intellectual, innovative, and entrepreneurial skills and abilities of both Americans and Indians.

Why many new partnerships have not happened yet? Is it due to the lack of vision on the part of
the leadership and/or lack of the coordinated effort among the government agencies, businesses, and educational institutions? This may also be due to the fact that we have a poor understanding of India’s business climate, culture and practices. Indeed, India’s self-defeating
bureaucratic structure also made it less friendly country to do business with, and/or just the missed opportunity.

However, the US has to know and recognize who Modi is and how he is rebuilding India’s business climate. We must also be cognizant of what is at stake in not building partnerships with India.

Let us conclude by focusing on how these partnerships can be developed and nurtured.
It must start with the leadership on both ends- they must trust and value each other’s partnership and make it a priority. It is beginning to happen but its pace needs acceleration. A well-coordinated and comprehensive campaign must be envisioned to include education, businesses, government, and citizen to citizen exchanges on both sides. Existing resources such as Asian Indians living in the US and the businesses currently operating in India must be part of the future
conversations. Sustained efforts must be made to understand the culture, customs, and current business practices of India while monitoring the changing business policies under the new leadership. There is precedence when India opened its doors for foreign direct investments in the nineties and reaped the benefits with 8-9% annual growth.

India is re-emerging once again to make itself a dynamic economy and is open to do business and the US has a relatively strong foundation for partnership with India. What we need is the vision, willingness, focus, and momentum to move it forward. The US can realize these mutually rewarding partnerships in, and with, India in the spirit of the joint op-ed by the leaders of the largest and oldest democracies, “Forward Together We Go — Chalein Saath Saath.”