PM Modi invites US firms to invest in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday invited US companies to invest in India's healthcare, infrastructure, defence, energy, farm and insurance sectors, saying the country offers openness, opportunities and options for investments.

"Today, there is global optimism towards India. This is because India offers a perfect combination of openness, opportunities, and options. Let me elaborate. India celebrates openness in people and in governance," Modi said while addressing the US-India Business Council.

He said the coronavirus pandemic has showed the importance of economic resilience, which can be achieved by stronger domestic economic capacities.

"This means improved domestic capacity for manufacturing, restoring the health of the financial system, and diversification of international trade," he added.

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"India is emerging as a land of opportunities. Let me give you one example of the tech sector. Recently, an interesting report came out in India. It said for the first time ever, there are more rural internet users than even urban internet users," he said.

Stating that open markets mean more opportunities, Modi said during the last six years the government has made many efforts to make the Indian economy more open and reform-oriented.

Reforms have ensured increased competitiveness, transparency, digitisation, innovation and policy stability, the Prime Minister said.

India, which has earned the trust of many nations around the world, including that of the United States, can attract global supply chains away from China and reduce its reliance on Chinese companies, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in his virtual keynote address to the annual 'India Ideas Summit' of the US India Business Council (USIBC).

He further added that it was important that democracies like the US and India work together, especially as they see more clear than ever the true scope of the challenges posed by the Chinese Communist Party.

At the same time, the top US diplomat also underlined the need for India to encourage an environment that is "more open" to increased trade and investment from America.

Pompeo also pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to the next G-7 Summit to be hosted by the US.

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)