Lucknow:India has gained importance in the eyes of America and Presi-dent Barack Obama’s visit is part of the ongoing process of creating a new bilateral collaborative agenda, Member of International Advisory Council of the US Institute of Peace Frank Islam said on Friday. Obama’s visit provides a chance to put some flesh on the bones of bilateral partnership by addressing issues like trade subsidies, intellectual property rights, business deals and ‘Make in India’, he said.
“President Obama’s visit is special. It is not about symbolism but is substan-tive in nature. It is part of the ongoing process of creating a new collaborative agenda between these two great nations for the 21st century,” said the recipient of prestigious Martin Luther King award.
Islam, an Indian-American entrepreneur who belongs to Azamgarh dis-trict of UP, told PTI through e-mail that India has gained importance in the eyes of America. “The shared democratic and free market economic values of these two countries are now being recognised, both by the American government and American businesses,” he said. India will become even more prominent, he said.
On the importance of Obama’s visit, he said, “Dur-ing his first visit to India in 2010, the President had said that there was a historic opportunity for the US and India to make the relation-ship between our countries a defining partnership for the century ahead.
“This visit provides the chance to put some flesh on the bones of that partner-ship by addressing issues such as trade subsidies, intellectual property rights and business deals and Make in India,” he said.
Citing difference in the approach of the Modi government and the one headed by his predecessor Manmohan Singh, Islam said, “There are two primary things which are immedia-tely apparent. The first welcoming approach of Modi which is resonating in the United States as oppo-sed to the hands-off style of the previous adminis-tration.
“The second is the almost universal enthu-siasm, optimism and posi-tive expectations that Modi’s ‘can-do attitude’ has created among Indian peo-ple. I saw and was excited by this energy of the public during a recent trip to India as part of a study tour delegation of the Brookings Institution,” the former member of Advisory Com-mittee of the Export-Import Bank of the US said. (PTI)
