On July 22, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the keynote address at the two days long (July 21-22) virtual India Ideas Summit 2020 which was hosted by US-India Business Council (USIBC) under the theme “Building a Better Future”. The year 2020 marked the 45th anniversary of the formation of the Council.
- During the summit the discussion were held on areas including India-US cooperation and future of the relation between the two countries in a post pandemic world.
Key Points from PM Modi Address; Target of 50th spot in WB’s Ease of Doing Business ranking
-In October 2019, India jumped 14 places to rank 63rd among 190 nations in the World Bank’s (WB) Ease of Doing Business ranking. Now, the target of India is to reach at the 50th spot.
-The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected the global economy to contract by 4.9% in 2020 with India estimated to shrink by 4.5% during FY21 amid COVID-19. Still, India has attracted FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) of more than $20 billion in the April-July, 2020 period while pledged investments from the US have already crossed $40 billion this year.
-FDI inflow in India in 2019-20 was $74 billion, an increase of 20% from 2018.
-PM Narendra Modi urged American investors to invest in India in sectors such as technology, healthcare, insurance, civil aviation, defence and infrastructure.
-The Indo-US Joint efforts can play an important role in helping the global economy to recover from the COVID-19.
India-US negotiating co-development programme for the air-launched unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)
The US and India are negotiating a co-development programme for the air-launched unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), between US Air Force research labs, Indian Air Force (IAF), India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), and an Indian start-up company. US want to become India’s first choice in defence solutions.
Participants:
Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Nitin Jairam Gadkari, U.S. Secretary of State Mr. Mike Pompeo, Senator of Virginia and co-chair of Senate India Caucus Mr. Mark Warner, Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Ms. Nikki Haley, among other Indian and US government policymakers, state-level officials, and thought leaders from business and society.
About USIBC:
President– Nisha Biswal
Headquarter– Washington, D.C., United States
Recent Related News:
On January 28, 2020 the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi addressed the 3rd edition of the Global Potato Conclave at Gandhinagar, Gujarat through video conference. The conclave was organised by Indian Potato Association (IPA) in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR), New Delhi, and ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh and International Potato Center (CIP), Lima, Peru.
