Gandhinagar: US Ambassador Ms. Nancy Powell accompanied by other American officials met Shri Narendra Modi at Gandhinagar today.
Ambassador Powell held comprehensive and wide ranging discussions with Shri Modi, covering all facets of the Indo-US relationship and cooperation, in the wider global context.
She fondly recollected her earlier visits to Gujarat, and expressed happiness on having come again. She also said that she was impressed by the changes and development she saw in Gujarat. She also appreciated the fact that American businesses were pleased with the speed of decision making, as well as clear procedures in place in the State.
Ambassador Powell expressed keenness to take best practices of Governance from Gujarat to be incubated and implemented in developing countries for the benefit of people there. This included the Chiranjeevi Yojana, which has improved mother and child health through institutional delivery.
While discussing the situation in Afghanistan, Gujarat’s involvement in training Afghan officials, as well as rural Afghan women for self-employment were discussed in detail. Shri Modi suggested that Gujarat’s model of dairy cooperatives could also be of immense value to the rural economy of Afghanistan. Ambassador Powell welcomed the suggestion and said that she would take it forward.
Shri Modi highlighted the strong foundations of the US-India ‘Strategic partnership’ laid by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also mentioned Shri Vajpayee’s various initiatives for peace in India’s neighbourhood. Shri Modi reiterated the Bharatiya Janata Party’s commitment to further strengthen this partnership.
He expressed concern over the recent ill-treatment of an Indian lady diplomat in New York, and expressed hope that a permanent solution would be found soon. Ambassador Powell reassured that the US government was fully committed to resolving this issue at the earliest possible. Shri Modi stated that for strengthening the Indo-US ‘Strategic partnership’ and realize its full potential, it is important that such irritants should not be allowed to happen.
Shri Modi stated the need to have a single global yardstick on terrorism, as well as the need to isolate terrorist groups irrespective of their base or victims. He emphasized that the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack must be quickly brought to justice. Various other issues including defence, security, counter-terrorism, disaster management, student exchange and economic cooperation were discussed in detail.
