NEW DELHI: The BJP is confident Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to the US this week, would inspire American companies to join the India growth story. Party general secretary Ram Madhav said India-US bilateral trade agreements were held up not because of any lack of interest or confidence in ‘Prime Minister Modiji’s bold decisions.’
“There are a couple of contentious issues that need to be sorted out between the countries. Once that happens, things will speed up,” Madhav opined, during a question and answer session on social networking site Facebook on Monday. Madhav, who answered a host of questions related to Modi’s visit and political developments in the country, said, “PM Modiji’s development initiatives in India in the last 15 months are largely technology-driven. Silicon Valley in particular and West Coast in general is a major hub of technologies, innovations and knowledge-economy. PM Modiji will inspire them to join the Indian growth story.”
Asked about reports that the Patel community members were planning a demonstration against the PM in the US, Madhav appealed to “all our Indian brothers and sisters to extend a grand reception to our beloved PM Modiji.”
To another query on whether Modi’s foreign visits were for building Brand Modi or Brand India, he gave a rather cryptic reply that “outreach is a part of the Panchamrit — five pillars of India’s new diplomacy.” On Pakistan, Madhav, who handles foreign policy issues for his party, said, “Pakistan has been the epicentre of global terror for many years. The world community largely realises that too. India is capable of fighting terror on its own. But it is important for the world powers to give up hypocricy and double standards in this matter.”
When his attention was drawn to the unfolding crisis in Nepal and in general about the other neighbouring countries, he explained, “Our neighbourhood relations are on the right track. There will be temporary difficulties but with able and talented people in the diplomatic corps and government, we shall overcome them.” Touching upon Jammu and Kashmir and the issue of rehabilitation of Pandits, the senior BJP leader claimed, “The government is trying its best to handle the difficult alliance on the one hand and the difficult state situation on the other. There is greater understanding between the alliance partners now. Governance also has been improving steadily despite opposition parties trying their best to create discord and hurdles.”
He asserted that the state government was committed to fulfilling the promise of resettling Pandits in the Valley but admitted that more needs to be done. Similarly, on the issue of rehabilitation of Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, which has created unrest in Assam, Madhav alleged that there was a deliberate attempt to mislead people.
Answering a question on employment generated, Madhav said the government’s initiatives had been essentially to tackle unemployment and poverty.