01-21-2007, 04:02 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Modi draws global flock </b>
Pioneer.com
Ashok Malik | Gandhinagar
In March 2005, the US famously denied Narendra Modi a visa and the British Government followed Big Brother's lead in saying that the Gujarat Chief Minister was unwelcome. The instant assessment was that the American ban was a black warrant for Modi's political career and that he would be isolated and ostracised by the rest of the world.
Two years on, reality has turned out otherwise. As was apparent at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit on January 12-13, Modi's stewardship of Gujarat's red-hot economy had foreign business and Government delegations flocking to Gandhinagar.
From Balaji Sadasivan, Singapore's minister of state for foreign affairs, to top functionaries from the <b>governments of Shenzhen and Sichuan, from American water treatment giant ITT - which sent its CEO, CFO and CIO in a private plane - to companies from Norway and Israel, from America's Dow Chemicals to Port of Singapore Authority: Vibrant Gujarat was a global village.</b>
The Chinese and Singaporean delegations came after Modi's visits to those countries in October-November 2006. Since March 2005, the Gujarat chief minister had also visited Russia - studying agricultural technology in the province of Astrakhan - Israel and Switzerland. In 2004, he had travelled to Australia and, early in his term, to the United Kingdom.
In April, Modi goes on a business visit to Japan, with a trip planned for Sri Lanka later in 2007. The chief minister is said to be keen to visit Africa - which has a large Gujarati expatriate community and from where he has many invitations pending - but is unable to find the time.
<b>In a recent visit to India - in the course of which his wife and he adopted a Gujarati girl child - the governor of Utah, John Huntsman, met Modi and praised Gujarat's achievements. </b>
The most important international friendship Modi has forged is, however, with Goh Chok Tong, former prime minister of Singapore and at one time said to be an American nominee for the UN Secretary General's job.
"He came to Gujarat on a private visit in 2004-05," Modi says of Goh, "and was very impressed by what he saw. We met and he told me he would do all he could to help us. He has now become Gujarat's unofficial ambassador."
When Modi travelled to Singapore, Goh arranged meetings for him and invited him over. He has promised to introduce the younger man to senior politicians in Japan, before the Gujarat chief minister's April visit.
As things stand, more than isolate Modi, the cussed babus at the State Department and in Whitehall seem to be the ones out of tune with major countries. Not that it stopped, of course, a representative from the US consulate in Mumbai turning up at Vibrant Gujarat.
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Pioneer.com
Ashok Malik | Gandhinagar
In March 2005, the US famously denied Narendra Modi a visa and the British Government followed Big Brother's lead in saying that the Gujarat Chief Minister was unwelcome. The instant assessment was that the American ban was a black warrant for Modi's political career and that he would be isolated and ostracised by the rest of the world.
Two years on, reality has turned out otherwise. As was apparent at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors' Summit on January 12-13, Modi's stewardship of Gujarat's red-hot economy had foreign business and Government delegations flocking to Gandhinagar.
From Balaji Sadasivan, Singapore's minister of state for foreign affairs, to top functionaries from the <b>governments of Shenzhen and Sichuan, from American water treatment giant ITT - which sent its CEO, CFO and CIO in a private plane - to companies from Norway and Israel, from America's Dow Chemicals to Port of Singapore Authority: Vibrant Gujarat was a global village.</b>
The Chinese and Singaporean delegations came after Modi's visits to those countries in October-November 2006. Since March 2005, the Gujarat chief minister had also visited Russia - studying agricultural technology in the province of Astrakhan - Israel and Switzerland. In 2004, he had travelled to Australia and, early in his term, to the United Kingdom.
In April, Modi goes on a business visit to Japan, with a trip planned for Sri Lanka later in 2007. The chief minister is said to be keen to visit Africa - which has a large Gujarati expatriate community and from where he has many invitations pending - but is unable to find the time.
<b>In a recent visit to India - in the course of which his wife and he adopted a Gujarati girl child - the governor of Utah, John Huntsman, met Modi and praised Gujarat's achievements. </b>
The most important international friendship Modi has forged is, however, with Goh Chok Tong, former prime minister of Singapore and at one time said to be an American nominee for the UN Secretary General's job.
"He came to Gujarat on a private visit in 2004-05," Modi says of Goh, "and was very impressed by what he saw. We met and he told me he would do all he could to help us. He has now become Gujarat's unofficial ambassador."
When Modi travelled to Singapore, Goh arranged meetings for him and invited him over. He has promised to introduce the younger man to senior politicians in Japan, before the Gujarat chief minister's April visit.
As things stand, more than isolate Modi, the cussed babus at the State Department and in Whitehall seem to be the ones out of tune with major countries. Not that it stopped, of course, a representative from the US consulate in Mumbai turning up at Vibrant Gujarat.
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