Rajnath to visit US to discuss homeland security

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday confirmed that he will be visiting the United States next month for a dialogue on homeland security, saying that 'India and US were natural allies and could transform the world with trade and trust'.

"More investments are needed for the Police modernization programme. Homeland security is one of the important areas for the nation's economic development. If border management is proper, then only internal security is ensured," said Singh.

"There is a need to use technology for border management. The red tapism and governmental procedures were minimized to attract FDIs. Earlier, the government used to sanction security clearance for only three years and now the same has been extended to 10 years," he added.

He was addressing the inaugural session of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce's (IACC) National Conclave-2016 in Hyderabad on Friday.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the US President Barack Obama have added a new and successful chapter in Indo-US bilateral relations. The US-India trade value was $90 billion during 2009-10. It rose to $100 billion in 2014-15," said Singh.

"Now we should focus on the goal to achieve the $500 billion Indo-US trade value soon," said Singh.

"India has enormous potential than any other country in this direction and the ongoing IACC Conclave would deliberate extensively on this," he added.

--IANS

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