When Prime Minister Narendra Modi met academics, policy analysts, health experts, economists and others in New York on Tuesday, he listened, seeking advice on what India needs to do to do better, how the relationship between India and the US can achieve greater momentum, and the latest intellectual trends in different policy domains. He also projected India’s achievements while showing an awareness of its challenges. (CLICK HERE FOR PM Modi US Visit Live Updates)
Multiple people who met Modi in New York told HT that they were struck by his keenness to hear their views and came away impressed with his ability to distil the big picture in various domains as well as lay out India’s world view.
The structure of the meetings largely revolved around brief remarks by the PM, him asking participants for their remarks, opinions, inputs and assessments about their domains and India, and then offering remarks. All meetings were held in Lotte New York Palace hotel on Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan where the PM stayed on Tuesday.
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Academia and policy
{{/usCountry}}Academia and policy
{{/usCountry}}Modi met six people from the think tank community. They included 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.
“Met a group of people associated with key think tanks. We talked about different aspects of policy making and the emerging global trends. Emphasised on the positive changes in India and how they are being powered by our youth,” Modi tweeted. An official statement said that they had 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. They came back with the sense that India was confident of what it had achieved and acutely aware of the challenges it faced. It is understood that Modi emphasised the importance of democratic values and democratic norms, and the need for democracies to work together with each other as well with third countries to strengthen democracy as only democracies respect people’s rights and don’t pose a threat.
Modi also meet other academic leaders in New York. They included chancellor of the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign Robert Jones, 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 University of Chicago Madhav V Rajan, Ohio State University’s distinguished professor Rattan Lal, and Stanford’s 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 (iCET). HT reported last week that this task force, in its interim recommendations, is proposing joint institutes in several research domains, a joint seed fund, and more academic exchanges among other proposals which may figure in the joint statement during the PM’s visit to Washington.
After meeting the group, Modi tweeted, “In New York City, held an extensive interaction with a group of academics. 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, the thinker and author of the hugely influential book, 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.”
Health, economy, space and culture
Modi also met a group of health experts. Among them were Peter Hotez of the National School of Tropical Medicine in Texas who played a key role in developing the Covid-19 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 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 the use of digital technologies for quality health care, 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, Aadhar, 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 decriminalisation 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 space domain, and opportunities for the private sector and for academic collaboration under India’s National Space Policy.
Modi met Robert Thurman, a Buddhist scholar and a Padma Shri awardee. While an official statement said that the two had discussed India’s Buddhist connect and India’s efforts to preserve its Buddhist heritage, the PM tweeted that his interaction was outstanding. “I admire his passion towards research and scholarship on aspects relating to Buddhism. I highlighted India’s Buddhist heritage and how Buddhism can help overcome many challenges our world faces.” Thurman is the co-founder of Tibet House US, which was founded at the request of the Dalai Lama in 1987 to help preserve Tibet’s unique culture.
Modi also met Falguni Shah, a Grammy award-winning singer and composer who performs under the name Falu, and who recently released a song building on India’s push for millets that features a musical composition built around a speech by the Prime Minister on millets.