Noting that India prohibited foreign investment in too many sectors such as retail, the US President, Mr Barack Obama, today cited concerns over deteriorating investment climate in the country to endorse another “wave” of economic reforms.
Still sounding positive about Indian economy, “which continues to grow at an impressive rate”, he said that to some extent, India’s slower growth is a reflection of the larger slowdown in the global economy.
The US President answered a wide range of questions on the State of the Indian as well as global economy, Indo-Pak ties and American strategy in the Asia-Pacific region during an interview to PTI here.
Mr Obama was careful not to be directly critical of the negative investment climate in India but cited the concerns of the American business community to make his points.
Many in the American business community, “one of the great champions of the US-India partnership”, have expressed concerns that the investment climate in India is deteriorating, he said.
“They tell us it is still too hard to invest in India.
In too many sectors, such as retail, India limits or prohibits the foreign investment that is necessary to create jobs in both our countries, and which is necessary for India to continue to grow,” Mr Obama said.
It's for Indians to decide
Refraining from prescribing any solutions for India’s economic difficulties, the President said, “it is not the place of the United States to tell other nations, including India, how to chart its economic future. That is for Indians to decide.”
Mr Obama noted that “there appears to be a growing consensus in India that the time may be right for another wave of economic reforms to make India more competitive in the global economy.”
Mr Obama then went on to add, “and as India makes the difficult reforms that are necessary, it will continue to have a partner in the United States.”
“It is important, though, to put this in the context of India’s incredible growth and development in recent decades,” he said.
The President pointed out that India had lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty to create one of the world’s largest middle classes.
“Indian innovation is an engine of the global economy.
Renew focus on growth
And even with the recent challenges, the Indian economy continues to grow at an impressive rate. The Indian people have displayed a remarkable capacity to meet India’s challenges,” he said.
Describing the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, as “my friend and partner with whom I have worked closely”, Mr Obama said he valued the insights of the Indian leader at various international fora including the recent G20 meeting in Mexico.
He said at the G20 they agreed that one of the best things they could do to get the global economy growing faster was to renew the focus on growth and job creation in their own countries.
“That’s my priority in the US. Of course, one of the most effective ways we can create jobs is to continue expanding trade and investment, including between the US and India.”
The President said they need to keep strengthening the pillars of the long-term economic vitality and competitiveness, including the education of the people of the two countries, science and technology, and the modern infrastructure that allows them to move goods and services faster.
“We need to keep up the fight against corruption, which stifles innovation and is one of the biggest barriers to job creation and economic growth around the world. These are some of the things we can do together as global partners,” he said.
Keywords: Obama, Indian economy, India reforms, India investment climate, Manmohan, US-India trade, Indo-Pak ties,
Comments:
The above fabricated interview appeared in two versions in the Indian
media about 5 A.M. Washington time on Sunday, July 15 '12 in response
to what I said in a press release (below) on July 11 '12 and
subsequently:-
Manmohan Singh at the G-20 meeting in Mexico on June 18 '12 pledged
$10 billion to the IMF to help European countries such as Greece and
Italy cope with debt but will not use the money to help tens of
thousands of Indian farmers committing suicide due to indebtedness or
hundreds of millions of India's malnourished children. He seeks
foreign investment -- that is, foreign ownership and control of India
-- but will not invest the hundreds of billions of dollars he has
given to the United States government -- in exchange for U.S. Treasury
bonds -- in India. This is not even counting the unlimited amount of
capital available to India by simply printing the money so long as it
is used for productive purposes: 'How India's Economy Can Grow 30% Per
Year Or More' :HowIndiasEconomyCanGrowDOTblogspotDOTcom . An example
of foreign investment trumpeted by Commerce and Industry Minister
Anand Sharma is a $5 billion investment in India announced by Coca
Cola to give Indians harmful-to-health beverages and replace healthier
and tastier Indian beverages. Such examples of American rule over
India in economic, military and all spheres can be multiplied hundreds
of times. India's nuclear forces have been accused in the past of
presenting photo-shopped non-existent missiles and non-existent
nuclear warheads but India's nuclear warheads emplaced in U.S. cities
since then are not non-existent : 'Nuclear Supremacy For India Over
U.S.' :NuclearSupremacyForIndiaOverUSDOTblogspotDOTcom . If it is the
non-existence of "knowledge, intelligence, courage and character"
which is responsible for their not having triggered the warheads, with
a warning that additional U.S. cities will be destroyed if there is
any retaliation, it is MY responsibility to provide the knowledge,
intelligence, courage and character; all they have to do is obey
India's legitimate ruler and it is high time they did so without
further delay: 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram Satish Chandra'
:SatyamShivamSundaramSatishChandraDOTblogspotDOTcom .
I have referred in 'Source of Manmohan Singh's 'Deep Love' For Bush' -
- SourceOfManmohanSinghsDeepLoveForBushDOTblogspotDOTcom -- to the
British in India having killed over ten million Indians in just the
ten years after 1857; people have mistakenly assumed these to be
deaths caused by famine but NO, NO, NO, these were deaths caused by
the gun and sword and hangings and being blown from the mouths of
cannons in just the ten years after 1857 in just Uttar Pradesh,
Haryana and Bihar; the deaths caused by famines during British rule
were quite separate from this; see Amaresh Misra's 'India AD 1857' in
two volumes totaling over two thousand pages (Delhi: Rupa & Co., 2008)
which describes hundreds of the battles fought during the 1857
uprising which was thousands of times bigger and more extensive, over
the entire subcontinent, than India's colonial administration -- all
Indian governments after 1947 have been a continuation of white
colonial rule; see 'What You Should Know About RAW':
WhatYouShouldKnowAboutRAWDOTblogspotDOTcom -- will let Indians know;
this two volume work should replace the Ramayan and Mahabharat as
required daily reading in Indian homes and schools -- all educational
institutions at all levels should have required courses in the 1857
War of Independence studies -- without which Indians cannot capture
the hatred for the white man (and woman) to win India's War of
Independence: 'A Note on Hate': ANoteOnHateDOTblogspotDOTcom and 'Join
India's War of Independence' :
JoinIndiaWarOfIndependenceDOTblogspotDOTcom . With the simultaneous
nuclear destruction of New Delhi, Washington and New York, with a
warning that additional U.S. cities will be destroyed if there is any
retaliation, this time the result of India's War of Independence will
be different. Satish Chandra
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