PM Modi reached US today on a two-day visit, will meet US Industry leaders
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet a group of at least 20 top American executives at a roundtable today in Washington, where he is on a two-day visit. The session - at 11.25 am local time - is ahead of his other big engagement of the day - a meeting with the Indian community in neighbouring Virginia.
PM Modi is expected to speak to the CEOs on the opportunities in India, who will include Apple's Tim Cook, Walmart's Doug McMillon, Caterpillar's Jim Umpleby, Google's Sundar Pichai and Microsoft's Satya Nadella.
Besides, Mariott International chief Arne Sorenson, Johnson & Johnson's Alex Gorsky, Mastercard's Ajay Banga, Warburg Pincus's Charles Kaye and Carlyle Group's David Rubenstein are also expected to attend the session at the Hotel Willard Intercontinental.
The Prime Minister is expected to give a hearing to the executives, whose chief concerns are said to include the macroeconomic scenario in India since demonetization and job creation, given PM Modi's focus on 'Make in India'.
PM Modi will be the first foreign dignitary invited for a dinner to the White House under the Trump administration. The White House has said it was "seeking to roll out the red carpet" for PM Modi. President Trump has tweeted that PM Modi is a "true friend" with whom he has "important strategic issues to discuss".
US industrialists want the issues under discussion to include removal of trade barriers and investment. Four leading lawmakers have met President Trump, asking him to press the issue with PM Modi.
The lawmakers - Republican House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady and Ranking Member Richard Neal, and Republican Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and Ranking Member Ron Wyden - have also written to President Trump, saying the bilateral economic relationship "severely under-performs" as a result of India's failure to enact market-based reforms, Reuters reported.
"Many sectors of the Indian economy remain highly and unjustifiably protected, and India continues to be a difficult place for American companies to do business," Reuters quoted from the letter.