Liberalizing the Indian Economy
Liberalizing the Indian Economy- Unique Times
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told nearly a dozen U.S. company chiefs on Monday that he is committed to liberalizing his country’s economy, which has underperformed other emerging markets recently after years of breakneck growth.
Modi spoke at a breakfast with 11 chief executive officers during his first U.S. visit since coming came to power in May, vowing to get India’s economy back on track.
The prime minister was headed to Washington for a private working dinner with President Barack Obama on the fourth day of the visit. Modi, however, is fasting.
Among those attending the breakfast at the New York Palace Hotel were the CEOs of Caterpillar Inc and Boeing Co.
“He wasn’t at all like the politicians we’re used to here,” said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Doug Oberhelman, who shared his impressions of the breakfast meeting with Reuters.
“He acknowledged that the last five years have been very difficult for the Indian population, the Indian economy and the world in general, and he vowed and promised to change that. I believed him. He was very serious. … I was genuinely quite impressed.”
However, some U.S. business groups have questioned Modi’s reformist credentials.
Last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 15 other business associations representing various sectors gave a more cautious assessment of the prime minister’s record so far.
Denisha Sahadevan
