Priyanka Shreedar
Narendra Damodardas Modi is the 15th and current Prime Minister of India. Modi, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, also served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat state from 2001 to 2014. He is currently a member of the Parliament from Varanasi.
Recently, Modi visited the leaders of Japan, China and United States on a quest for economic and defense related foreign-investment.
In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Modi discussed a range of bilateral issues and worked towards building a counterweight to China.
The growing assertiveness of China in the Asia-Pacific is one of the major factors binding Japan and India together.
The ministers also created a joint statement labeled “Tokyo Declaration for India – Japan Special Strategic and Global Partnership”.
Japan’s aspect of the partnership focuses on areas including next generation infrastructure, connectivity, transportation, manufacturing, clean energy, and skill development. India’s agreement is based on the crucial importance to both the economy and its military.
Modi’s next stop was to speak with the President of China, Xi Jinping. During his visit, Modi pressed Jinping for a resolution to an escalating border dispute.
India has been pressing China for years to define a boundary. Durin that time, both sides have built up their military presence in the region. Aside from the border issue, the leaders discussed what could be the beginning of a great economic and political partnership. Several deals, including high-speed trains and economic zones, have been promised to India.
When Prime Minister Modi visited the U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, they discussed defense ties, energy security and the World Trade Organization issue. The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
The result of this meeting was that the defence deal was renewed for ten years. Also, both leaders restated their commitment to civil nuclear cooperation and the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The defence deal that was made between the U.S. and India was caused by the lack of reliability from India’s current partner, Russia. For the last five decades, India was largely dependent on Russia.
This was due to two things: India’s doubt of Russia’s ability to counter threats emanating from China and Pakistan and whether they could continue to meet India’s long term defence equipment requirements.
Under the framework of the Indo-US nuclear deal, India agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and to place all its civil nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.
In exchange, the United States agreed to work toward full civil nuclear cooperation with India.
This collaboration between India and the U.S. is a monumental change in the previous attitude toward India’s Prime Minister. In 2005, Modi was barred from the U.S. for failing to stop anti-Muslim riots.
With Modi at the helm, India’s lack of investment in different countries is now improving.
