Modi remains the Chief Story Teller

New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to be the Chief Story Teller and CEO of India Inc. So the Prime Minister has restrained his Cabinet from speaking about the policy climate and reforms in different voices during his high-profile US visit.

The result was seven ministers — Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Anand Geete, Narendra Singh Tomar, Piyush Goyal and Nirmala Sitharaman — didn’t show up at this week’s ‘India Investment Forum’ in New York although they were all invited.

Some of the ministers had even confirmed their participation in writing but pulled out. Nearly 400 American investors from some of the largest portfolio investment firms in the world were deeply disappointed at the no-show.

“They pulled out at the Prime Minister’s request as he has now decided that he himself will make all travel decisions for the ministers and control how India is projected abroad,” one of the event organisers said.

Even though the mass cancellations were late, Modi is going to ensure the US business community gets his full attention and he theirs. He will attend a reception at the US-India Business Council in Washington and give a policy address. He will also have a breakfast meeting with 17 US corporate chiefs. He will have one-on-one meetings with the bosses of Boeing, Pepsico, General Electric, Google and Goldman Sachs. Trade between the two countries is close to $100 billion and both sides will set ambitious new targets during the visit by working through impediments.
 
In an effort to connect and build a stirring relationship, he will reframe the past, reposition the present, and stimulate confidence. Modi’s reputation for decisiveness, getting things done, rooting out corruption, stimulating investment and slashing through cumbersome regulations has raised expectations among US investors.

“Global investors’ perceptions of the opportunities in India are entirely different than they were before the election of Prime Minister Modi. India is arguably once again the most interesting of the large emerging economies, not only because of the reforms under discussion in New Delhi, but also because of India’s position vis-à-vis other markets such as Brazil, China and Russia,” said Diane Alfano, chairman of Institutional Investor.