Time to set new agenda, says Modi-Obama joint editorial in Washington Post

The 821-word editorial - A Renewed US-India Partnership For the 21st Century - was posted on the website of Washington Post.

In an unprecedented diplomatic move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama have written a joint editorial, in which they said the two countries have decided to undertake a new agenda for strategic ties and providing concrete and tangible benefits to citizens of both countries.

The 821-word editorial, A Renewed US-India Partnership For the 21st Century, was posted on the website of the Washington Post.
“The advent of a new government in India is a natural opportunity to broaden and deepen our relationship. With a reinvigorated level of ambition and greater confidence, we can go beyond modest and conventional goals. It is time to set a new agenda, one that realises concrete benefits for our citizens,” the editorial said.

After a stalled civil nuclear deal, a series of trade disputes and a bitter diplomatic row, both leaders said they believed the true potential of ties between the two countries was yet to be realised. The new agenda would “enable us to find mutually rewarding ways to expand our collaboration in trade, investment and technology that harmonise with India’s ambitious development agenda, while sustaining the US as the global engine of growth”, the editorial stated.

Earlier, India and the US were engaged in a bitter tiff pertaining to these very areas — trade, investment and technology — with American firms complaining India’s trade practices were unfair and discriminatory.

In the editorial, Modi and Obama said during the summit level talks both would discuss ways to boost manufacturing and expand affordable renewable energy. They also stated both countries were naturally complementary to each other. “While India benefits from the growth generated by US investment and technical partnerships, the US benefits from a stronger, more prosperous India. In turn, the region and the world benefit from the greater stability and security our friendship creates. We remain committed to the larger effort to integrate south Asia and connect it with markets and people in central and south-east Asia.”

Both leaders said the relationship between India and the US was “robust, reliable and enduring” and “expanding” through every passing decade.

The US said it was ready to assist India in fighting poverty. It also offered help in developing Modi's 'Clean India' (Swachh Bharat) campaign through expertise and technology in improving sanitation and hygiene across the country.

Prime Minister Modi is slated to launch the campaign on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2.