Logic of India-US strategic relationship is incontrovertible, writes PM Modi for Wall Street Journal

Ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pitched India's policy initiatives and reforms, epecially GST to American business in an article written in the Wall Street Journal.

New Delhi: Ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pitched India's policy initiatives and reforms, especially GST to American business in an article written in the Wall Street Journal.

PM Modi is on a 3-day visit to the US and will meet President Donald Trump today.

Titled ‘For the US and India, a Convergence of Interests and Values’, the article talks about the partnership between the US and India.

"The logic of our strategic relationship is incontrovertible. It is further underpinned by faith in the strength of our multicultural societies that have defended our values at all costs, including the supreme sacrifices we've made in distant corners of the globe," the Prime Minister writes.

"Our two nations stand as mutually reinforcing engines of growth and innovation. Confidence in each other’s political values and a strong belief in each other’s prosperity has enabled our engagement to grow. A vision of joint success and progress guides our partnership," the PM writes.

"The rollout of the Goods and Services Tax on July 1 will, in a single stroke, convert India into a unified, continent-sized market of 1.3 billion people. The planned 100 smart cities, the massive modernization of ports, airports, and road and rail networks, and the construction of affordable housing for all by 2022—the 75th anniversary of India’s independence—are not just promises of great urban renewal within India. These plans also showcase the enormous fruits of our relationships with enterprising US partners—worth many billions of dollars over the next decade alone—together with concomitant new employment opportunities across both societies." PM Modi writes in the article.

The Prime Minister also said that Indian companies are adding value to the manufacturing and services sectors in the US, with total investments of approximately $15 billion and a presence in more than 35 states, including in the Rust Belt. "American companies have likewise fueled their global growth by investing more than $20 billion in India," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India has now emerged as a business-friendly destination, more so with the upcoming implementation of landmark GST beginning next month, while asking CEOs of top US companies to invest in the country.

Modi, during his meeting with the CEOs of top 20 American firms, also said that India attracted the largest amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) as a result of the NDA government's policies in the last three years.

In the round table interaction with the group that included Tim Cook of Apple, Sunder Pichai from Google, John Chambers from Cisco and Jeff Bezos of Amazon, he spoke about the reforms undertaken by his government, saying they numbered over 7,000, and were aimed at "ease of (doing) business and minimum government, maximum governance."