Obama’s India visit must focus on economic ties, Baker Institute expert says

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David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Obama’s India visit must focus on economic ties, Baker Institute expert says

HOUSTON – (Jan. 22, 2015) – When President Barack Obama makes a landmark visit to India this Sunday, he will be the chief guest at New Delhi’s showpiece Republic Day parade. He is not scheduled to visit any other country before returning to Washington, D.C., which is rare for a presidential trip. Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi must be bold and creative to rejuvenate their countries’ economic ties, according to Russell Green, an India expert and economist at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Credit: thinkstockphotos.com/Rice University

“Given the obvious warmth of the U.S.-India relationship reflected in this visit, the bilateral economic agenda deserves a real injection of energy,” Green said, “All of the exciting developments between the two governments lie elsewhere, notably security cooperation. A strong push to complete U.S.-India Bilateral Investment Treaty negotiations, for instance, would provide great momentum toward discussing a broader trade agreement.”

Green, the Baker Institute’s Will Clayton Fellow in International Economics and an adjunct assistant professor of economics at Rice, is available to comment on U.S. policy toward India, India’s economy and Modi’s reform efforts since he took office in May 2014. Green served as the U.S. Treasury Department’s first financial attaché to India from 2008 to 2011.

“Most important to boost the U.S.-India economic relationship would be improving the business climate in India, which falls to the Indian government,” Green said. “Fortunately Modi has picked this as his job No. 1. His drive to improve India’s ease-of-doing-business ranking should help deepen cross-border ties almost as much as it would help domestic businesses.”

Green recently published a Baker Institute study, “Can ‘Make in India’ Make Jobs?,” which examines the potential impact on employment of Modi’s new “Make in India” campaign to develop India’s manufacturing sector.

For more information or to interview Green, contact Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

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Related materials:

Green biography: http://bakerinstitute.org/experts/russell-green.

Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top 15 university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.