On Thursday 28th March 2013 Shri Narendra Modi met a high-powered delegation of members of USA House of Representatives and business leaders. The Members of the USA Congress who are a part of the delegation are Representative Aaron Schock (a Republican Congressmen from Illinois), Representative Cynthia Lummis (a Republican Congresswoman representing Wyoming), and Representative Cathy M. Rodgers (Republican Congresswoman from Washington state). Representative Rodgers also serves as the Chair of the House Republican Conference.
Welcoming USA delegation in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, Shri Narendra Modi spoke about the fast, inclusive and environment friendly process of development in Gujarat and stated that people’s participation is the key to the state’s development model. “With hardwork we have been able to create an impact in the country,” he stated.
The Chief Minister called for the strengthening of democratic processes keeping in mind the larger good of the people. “Mahatma Gandhi has been and is the biggest lighthouse in this journey. Gujarat, being the land of Mahatma Gandhi believes in these principles and has been at the forefront of nurturing such ideals and leading its people on the path of growth,” he opined. He said that USA is the oldest democracy of the world and India the largest and that both nations should remained committed to these principles. He affirmed, “our democratic ideals flow from ideals of humanity and in today’s world, the challenges before us compel is to work together even more seriously to strengthen democratic principles.”
In his speech Shri Modi also urged the need of humanitarian forces coming together in a time when forces challenges safety and security of mankind are very active. He declared that the humanitarian forces must come together and fight terrorism along with other challenges of poverty and unemployment.
Shri Modi talked about how Gujaratis have become a global community and how Gujaratis all over the world have received lot of love and affection from across the world. He wished the visiting American delegation a fruitful stay in India and thanked them for this wonderful beginning.
USA Congress Representatives laud Gujarat’s development journey
The visiting American Congress Representatives were impressed by the development journey of Gujarat. Congresswoman Rodger was impressed with the economic development and controlling of corruption in Gujarat. She also stated that Shri Modi has made a difference in the people’s lives and looked forward to working together with Gujarat.
Representative Schock pointed that the people in USA are keen to work with Gujarat and that the people are impressed with how the state has facilitated investment. He stated that there is enormous potential to work together with Gujarat. It may be recalled the Representative Schock congratulated Shri Modi for leading the BJP to a record victory in the 2012 Gujarat Assembly Elections on the floor of the USA House of Representatives. He had opined that Shri Modi ran on the platform of economic prosperity for all and was elected by people cutting across every religion, education and class of society.
Representative Lummis said that people want to come to Gujarat due to the state’s work culture that has been nurtured under the leadership of Shri Modi. She added that workers are valued here and is a desirable place to live due to Shri Modi’s leadership qualities.
Shri Modi had a one to one meeting with the three Congress Representatives as well.
During the interaction, senior officials of the Gujarat Government also made presentations. Secretary to CM, Shri AK Sharma gave a presentation on the investment opportunities in Gujarat, the DMIC, Dholera SIR. Chief Secretary Shri Varesh Sinha, Additional Chief Secretary to CM Shri K Kailashnathan, Additional Principal Secretary to CM Shri GC Murmu and Energy Secretary Shri DJ Pandian were present during the meeting.
The delegation is visiting India to promote ‘People to People Contacts & Diplomacy’ along with the Overseas Friends of BJP’s (OFBJP) ‘Global Community Over Reach Programme.’ This is a joint initiative by USA based National Indian- American Public Policy Institute and India based Delhi Study Group.
In addition to Gujarat, the visiting delegation will visit Bangalore, Tirupati, New Delhi Agra, Udaipur, Jaipur and Amritsar. The delegation will interact with Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Shri LK Advani and BJP President Shri Rajnath Singh. Shri Vijay Jolly and Mr. Shalabh Kumar will be a part of the delegation.
Read text speech of Shri Modi while interacting with high powered USA delegation
