PM Modi's US visit: Push for India lobby on Jewish lines?
PM Narendra Modi, it is learnt, has another key objective — consolidate the Indian Americans into a strong cohesive lobbying group.
By Mohua Chatterjee, TNN |
NEW DELHI: Apart from making the 'Make in India' pitch during his visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is learnt, has another key objective — consolidate the Indian Americans into a strong cohesive lobbying group. This is expected to be on the lines of the powerful Jewish lobby that considerably influences state policy in the US.
It is not just the Modi government, but even party functionaries have swung into action to achieve this objective. BJP general secretary and former RSS functionary Ram Madhav, who has been familiar with the Indian diaspora for years, was in the US to do the ground work alongside Modi's core official team. Using his Sangh and BJP network, Madhav helped set up many of the interactions for Modi beyond his official engagements. As he is not part of the PM's official entourage, Madhav left on Wednesday night to reach the US before Modi touches down.
"If collaboration in the fields of technology for civilian and defence purposes and for the education sector, along with getting investments to India is Modi's prime focus on his first trip to Washington and New York, one of his biggest efforts is to improve the profile of Indian Americans and consolidate them to emerge as a strong community," said a source.
This effort to consolidate, strengthen and improve the profile of the Indian-American community is aimed at ensuring that they are able to lobby and wield greater influence on US policy-making, just as the powerful Jewish lobby influences state policy, he said.
While earlier governments, including the NDA regime under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, attempted it, the scale was different with methods confined to the mostly closed-door interactions with community leaders.
But it will be different this time. While closed door meetings are very much on the agenda, the high point will be public rallies of Indian-Americans. In the US, where scale matters, Modi's team first tried booking the Yankee Stadium in New York with a capacity of nearly 50,000 for his public address. Since the venue was already booked, the organizers had to settle for Maddison Square Garden with a capacity of 20,000, it is learnt.
Since the American system does not work only at the government-to-government level and the US follows the minimum government policy, the basic idea for the Modi government is to engage at all levels, according to an expert on Indo-US relations.
During an interaction in New York on September 27 with top Indians in America, Modi is likely to meet Romesh Wadhwani(CEO, Symphony Technology Group), Francis D Souza (CEO, Cognizance), Shantanu Narayen (CEO, Adobe Systems), Renu Khator (President, University of Houston), Nitin Nohria (Dean, Harvard School), Subra Suresh (President, Carnegie Mellon University), Neera Tandon(President, Centre for American Progress), Dinesh Paliwal (CEO, Harman International), Sonal Shah (Director of Office, Social Innovation and Civil Participation) and S Somasegar of Microsoft Corporation.
It is not just the Modi government, but even party functionaries have swung into action to achieve this objective. BJP general secretary and former RSS functionary Ram Madhav, who has been familiar with the Indian diaspora for years, was in the US to do the ground work alongside Modi's core official team. Using his Sangh and BJP network, Madhav helped set up many of the interactions for Modi beyond his official engagements. As he is not part of the PM's official entourage, Madhav left on Wednesday night to reach the US before Modi touches down.
"If collaboration in the fields of technology for civilian and defence purposes and for the education sector, along with getting investments to India is Modi's prime focus on his first trip to Washington and New York, one of his biggest efforts is to improve the profile of Indian Americans and consolidate them to emerge as a strong community," said a source.
This effort to consolidate, strengthen and improve the profile of the Indian-American community is aimed at ensuring that they are able to lobby and wield greater influence on US policy-making, just as the powerful Jewish lobby influences state policy, he said.
While earlier governments, including the NDA regime under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, attempted it, the scale was different with methods confined to the mostly closed-door interactions with community leaders.
But it will be different this time. While closed door meetings are very much on the agenda, the high point will be public rallies of Indian-Americans. In the US, where scale matters, Modi's team first tried booking the Yankee Stadium in New York with a capacity of nearly 50,000 for his public address. Since the venue was already booked, the organizers had to settle for Maddison Square Garden with a capacity of 20,000, it is learnt.
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Since the American system does not work only at the government-to-government level and the US follows the minimum government policy, the basic idea for the Modi government is to engage at all levels, according to an expert on Indo-US relations.
During an interaction in New York on September 27 with top Indians in America, Modi is likely to meet Romesh Wadhwani(CEO, Symphony Technology Group), Francis D Souza (CEO, Cognizance), Shantanu Narayen (CEO, Adobe Systems), Renu Khator (President, University of Houston), Nitin Nohria (Dean, Harvard School), Subra Suresh (President, Carnegie Mellon University), Neera Tandon(President, Centre for American Progress), Dinesh Paliwal (CEO, Harman International), Sonal Shah (Director of Office, Social Innovation and Civil Participation) and S Somasegar of Microsoft Corporation.
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