Modi listens, emphasises democracy
4 min read 22 Jun 2023, 12:23 AM ISTMultiple people who met Modi in New York said they were impressed with his ability to distil the big picture in various domains and lay out India’s worldview
PremiumNEW YORK : When Prime Minister Narendra Modi met diverse experts, ranging from academics to policy analysts, and healthcare professionals to economists, in New York on Tuesday, he listened, seeking their advice on what India needs to do better and how to foster stronger India-US relations. While he projected India’s achievements, he also showed awareness of the country’s challenges.
Multiple people who met Modi in New York said they were impressed with his ability to distil the big picture in various domains and lay out India’s worldview.
Modi met with the participants, exchanging insights and seeking inputs and assessments about their domains and India, at the Lotte New York Palace Hotel in Manhattan.
Modi met six people from the think tank community, including Michael Froman, the president-designate of the prestigious Council of Foreign Relations; Jeff Smith of Heritage Foundation; Elbridge Colby, who drafted the 2018 US national defence strategy during the Donald Trump presidency; Daniel Russel of the Asia Society Policy Institute; Max Abrahms of Boston’s Northeastern University, and Guru Sowle of the Indus International Research Foundation.
“We talked about different aspects of policymaking and the emerging global trends. Emphasized the positive changes in India and how they are being powered by our youth," Modi tweeted. An official statement said they discussed “developmental and geopolitical issues", with the PM encouraging the experts from think tanks to enhance their presence in India.
Those who attended the meeting spoke about the geopolitical, economic and strategic dimensions of the current global moment, including the challenge posed by China. In the meetings, Modi emphasized the importance of democratic values and democratic norms and the need for democracies to work together with each other and third countries to strengthen democracy.
Modi also met academic leaders in New York. They included the chancellor of the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Robert Jones; the University of California San Diego chancellor Pradeep Khosla; Penn State University president Neeli Bendapudi; University of Buffalo president, Satish Tripathi; Wharton Business School’s Jagmohan Raju; dean of the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago Madhav V. Rajan; Ohio State University’s distinguished professor Rattan Lal; and Stanford University professor Anurag Mairal.
Among them, Jones, Bendapudi, Tripathi and Khosla are co-chairs of a task force set up by the Association of American Universities to deepen the knowledge and research partnership with India under the initiative on critical and emerging technologies. After meeting the group, Modi tweeted, “They shared their views on how to further strengthen the education sector in India, with a focus on skills and innovation. I talked about the transformative potential of our National Education Policy." An official statement said he and the academics held discussions on “enhancing research collaborations and two-way academic exchanges".
Modi also met Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a thinker and author of The Black Swan. While Modi said that Taleb had an interesting perspective on many issues and was interested in India’s development strides, Taleb tweeted, “Today’s conversation with PM Modi, covering tail risks, reaction to covid, how successful interventions like controlling the virus that averted catastrophes look excessive in hindsight (intro to The Black Swan), and repeated small losses vs blowup risk, the usual."
He also met a group of health experts. Among them was Peter Hotez of the National School of Tropical Medicine in Texas, who played a key role in developing the covid vaccine Corbevax, Sunil David of ViroVax engaged in vaccine research, General Catalyst adviser Stephen Klasko, University of Pennsylvania’s Lawton Burns, Harvard medical school’s Vivian Lee and Nobel laureate and molecular biologist Peter Agre.
“Had an informative discussion with a group of healthcare experts. They shared their rich perspectives on ways to augment healthcare capacities in India. I told them about the work we have done in integrating the latest technology in the sector and our efforts like TB elimination," Modi tweeted about the interactions. An official statement said that the group had discussed issues regarding the use of digital technologies for quality health care, a greater focus on integrative medicine and better health care preparedness.
Modi also met Nobel Laureate in economics Paul Roemer and discussed, according to a statement, India’s digital journey, Aadhaar, innovative tools such as Digilocker, and urban development. Modi tweeted, “We had extensive conversations on leveraging technology to improve lives. We also talked about how to make our cities more sustainable and people-friendly."
Ray Dalio, investor and co-founder of Bridgewater Associates, a hedge fund, too came to meet the PM, and the two discussed economic reforms underway in India, reduction of compliances and decriminalization of many legal provisions. The PM tweeted that he had urged Dalio to deepen investments in India.
Modi also met astrophysicist Neil de Grasse Tyson, with both speaking about “inculcating scientific temperament" among the young, India’s rapid progress in the space domain, and opportunities for the private sector and for academic collaboration under India’s National Space Policy.