No country questioned surgical strikes: Modi

27/06/2017

WASHINGTON, Jun 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the surgical strikes carried out across the LoC proved that India would not hesitate to take the toughest measures to defend itself, while noting that no country in the world had questioned it — an apparent swipe at Pakistan.
Addressing Indian-Americans at a reception in Virginia, Modi asserted that India has been successful in convincing the world about “the face of terrorism that is destroying peace and normal life” in the country.
“When we talked of terrorism 20 years back, many in the world said it was a law and order problem and didn’t understand it. Now terrorists have explained terrorism to them so we don’t have to,” he said.
Modi said the surgical strikes demonstrated that India, which normally follows the principle of restraint, can also defend its sovereignty and ensure its security when needed.
“When India carried out the surgical strikes, the world realised the our strength and saw that while we exercise restraint, when the need arises, India can also show its strength and might in dealing with terror and protecting itself,” he said to thunderous applause from the diaspora.
India conducted surgical strikes on terror pads across the Line of Control on September 29 last year, 11 days after the Uri attack which claimed the lives of 19 Indian soldiers.
The Prime Minister said that the world could have put India in the dock for carrying out the attack accoss the LoC. “But for the first time not one nation in the world raised a single question, about India’s major step to conduct the surgical strikes against terror camps on Pakistani soil.”
“It is a different matter for those who had to suffer due to the surgical strikes,” Modi said, taking another jibe at Pakistan, amid laughter from the audience.
The Prime Minister had some choice barbs for China as well, saying India does not believe in disturbing the global order to achieve its goals.
“This is India’s tradition and culture,” he noted, apparently referring to China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.
“We are bound by international law because that is our character and nature. For us the concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — the world is one family — are not just words. This is our nature and character,” he said.
The Prime Minister said India, while following international laws and norms, is also capable of taking the “toughest of steps for our sovereignty, security, peace, our people and progress”.
“Whenever the need arises we have done it and the world will never be able to stop us,” he said.
India's implementation of the "complex" Goods and Services Tax (GST) could be studied by US business schools, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, as he invited top American companies to invest in the country which has initiated major reforms.
"The implementation of the landmark initiative of GST could be a subject of studies in US business schools," Modi said on Sunday while interacting with 20 top American CEOs at a roundtable here ahead of his first meeting with US President Donald Trump.
On GST, the Prime Minister said that this is becoming a reality after years of effort, ahead of the roll out of the landmark tax reform measure from July 1.
He added that its implementation is a "complex" task and went on to suggest that this could be the subject of future case-studies.
Implementation of the GST shows India can take big decisions and implement them swiftly, the prime minister said at the interaction with the group of CEOs that included Tim Cook of Apple, Sunder Pichai from Google, John Chambers from Cisco and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.
Modi told them that his government was working on principles such as Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.
The Prime Minister spoke of the recent reforms, and noted that the Union Government alone has initiated 7000 reforms. He said this indicates India's quest for global benchmarks. He mentioned the Government's emphasis on efficiency, transparency, growth and benefit for all.
Pichai told reporters after the meeting that American businesses were excited about investing in India.
Praising the steps being taken by the Indian government in the last three years, he said the US companies are looking forward to the roll out of the GST.
"Good," said Cook as he emerged out of the meeting.
The US-India Business Council (USIBC) president Mukesh Aghi said the CEOs praised the reforms being undertaken by the Prime Minister and underscore his efforts to make India a business-friendly destination.
Prime Minister Modi also said that if America becomes stronger, India will be a natural beneficiary. He also added that India believes that a strong America is good for the world.
He sought enhanced attention from the CEOs in areas such as women empowerment, renewable energy, startups and innovation. He suggested linking sanitary practices, products and technologies with the requirements of school going girls.
He reiterated that his primary interest is improving the quality of life in India.
Touted as the biggest taxation reform since Independence, GST will unify 16 different taxes including excise, service tax and VAT, and transform India into a single market for seamless movement of goods and services.
The powerful GST Council, comprising Centre and states, has recommended a four-tier tax structure -- 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent. On top of the highest slab, a cess will be imposed on luxury and demerit goods to compensate the states for revenue loss in the first five years of GST implementation.
GST rates would depend upon whether the commodity is used by a rich person or a common man.
State and Union Territory GST laws were passed by all the states and Union Territories of India except the northern state of Jammu & Kashmir, paving the way for smooth roll out of the tax from July 1.
Highlighting his achievements in rooting out corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there has been “not even one taint or blot” on his government in the past three years.
Modi said corruption was the main reason why governments in India were voted out in the past.
“Indians hate corruption,” he told the nearly 600 Indian-American community members at a reception in Virginia.
The prime minister assured the Indian diaspora in the US that his government will continue to strive to take India to newer heights. “I humbly state that whatever work my government has done in the last three years, till now there is not even one taint or blot on this government.”
He underscored that technology has brought about transparency and is being used to achieve great heights across sectors in India.
“I can give various examples where India is making great achievements with the help of technology,” whether it is space or agriculture.
“Renewed focus is being given to technology-driven governance and development,” he said.
In several parameters, the country is moving at a rapid pace. Noting that infrastructure is essential for sustainable development, Modi said the focus is on global benchmark, setting high standards of development. The increase in aspiration of the common people is the greatest cause of this fast track development of the country. “We are working to convert the aspiration of the people of India,” he said amidst applause from the audience.
Modi said that India is now receiving record number of foreign direct investment and all credit agencies and multilateral fora are giving a positive rating about India.
“The world today sees India as a top investment direction,” he said and urged the diaspora to work for and help in the development of India. He added that India is growing at an unprecedented pace.
He lauded the contribution of Indians living in America, saying they flourished once they received a conducive environment to grow and prosper in the US.
“The billion strong Indians in India are also now getting a conducive environment and they are also changing the face of India at a fast pace,” he said.
Modi assured the diaspora he will work to fulfil the dreams they have seen for their country’s development.
Several CEOs of top American companies who met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to invest a "very large" amount" in India, one of the participants of the meeting has said.
"Some did step up and say they have plans to invest more.
I'm not at liberty of telling those numbers, but I think I would say almost half a dozen of them made a very large dollar number commitment also as they move forward," Mukesh Aghi, the president of the US India Business Council (USIBC) said.
Aghi joined the top 20 American CEOs for a roundtable with the prime minister yesterday. The meeting lasted for about 90 minutes. Aghi refused to reveal any further details of the close-door meeting.
Responding to a question, Aghi described the roundtable as "good meeting, positive meeting focused on win-win between India and the US".
Both the CEOs and the prime minister were looking forward to building this relationship, he said, adding that Modi responded to every question raised by the CEOs.
"So I think it was a good meeting," he said.
"(He was) definitely focused a lot on technology transfer. India is not just about investment, it's about being good to the rest of the world itself. So I think, I would say I walked away with a very very positive feeling," he said.
In addition to having discussion on defence, digitisation and healthcare, some of the CEOs also raised the issue of ease of doing business and trade barriers.
"But overall, I would say it was very very positive, saying that India's a fantastic opportunity. I would like to see this moment in going on," he said.
Aghi said that there is no clash between Modi's 'Make in India' and Donald Trump's 'America First'.
"I think there's no clash there....Make in India is focused on trying to create jobs there, whereas Trump's policy of making America great again is creating jobs here," he said.
Citing an example, Aghi said India if decides to go with either F16 and Lockheed starts making the fighter jets in India, components will still come from the US.
"So, there's job creation in the US and job creation in India too," he noted.
Aghi said during the roundtable, the hospitality industry raised the issue of 28 per cent tax on hotel rates or chocolates under the new Goods Services Tax structure.
"Those were brought up and he said we'll look into that and try to see how we can address that," said the USIBC president.
The issue of H-1B visas did not come up, so did the issues of intellectual property rights and price caps on stents, he said.
"I think the issue of price cap did not come up, but he did talk about looking at Johnson & Johnson, saying let's put a campaign together, especially for school or for girls, sanitary napkins as a joint partnership itself," Aghi said.
According to Aghi, Modi appeared to be very confident ahead of his first meeting with Trump.
"I think he feels very comfortable meeting with President Trump. He said that his last two conversations with the president were very positive and he's looking forward to building this relationship with the president when he sees him," he said.
"We are looking at a long 10-year term (for) Prime Minister. They're looking at a long-term investment coming through. So, I think the local populist agenda never did come up and I think the CEOs are still keen on India as a market, he said.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in an tweet said that he would continue to invest in India.

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