From being a perennial “yet to achieve its full potential” bilateral to one fraught with disputes over intellectual property rights, trade and failures of diplomacy, India-U.S. relations are now being touted by President Barack Obama as “the defining partnership” of the 21st century. So will this time be different? “Shared values and interests” were the dominant themes of Prime Minister Modi’s just-concluded visit to the U.S., and articulated in agreements to collaborate in sectors as diverse as high-tech, smart cities, space and sanitation.
Where do India-U.S. relations stand now, and does Modi’s visit create a foundation to build better ties? Are there any concrete takeaways from Modi’s meetings with top U.S. political and industry leaders? Will Corporate America take up Modi’s offer to “Make in India” and make India-U.S. a $1 trillion partnership by 2030? Can the two nations build on common ground in business, security and energy, where their interests converge, and work around potential obstacles of IP and trade facilitation? Do India and the U.S., at last, have a clear roadmap for a working relationship?
On 9th October 2014, Gateway House hosted a discussion with Rajeev Dubey, President – Group HR, Corporate Services, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited and Neelam Deo, Directory, Gateway House. The session was moderated by Manjeet Kripalani, Co-founder and Executive Director, Gateway House.
This meeting was 5th in the Gateway House G20 Series for 2014-2015.
Rajeev Dubey is the President (Group HR, Corporate Services & After-Marlet) of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited. He is also the Chairman of Mahindra Insurance Brokers and First Choice Services and serves on the boards of several Mahindra companies. He joined Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd in 2004 after twenty-nine years at the Tata Group. He is a member of the National Executive Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He serves on the Boards of Walchand Talent First, the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management and Technology, the School of Inspired Leadership, and Magic Bus—an NGO that works with underprivileged youth.
Neelam Deo is director at Gateway House, prior to which she served as consul general in New York. She has been the Indian ambassador to Denmark and Ivory Coast with concurrent accreditation to several West African countries. She has served in Indian embassies in Washington D.C, Bangkok and Rome. During her assignments in the Ministry of External Affairs, she was joint secretary for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and the Maldives. Neelam Deo holds a graduate degree from the Delhi School of Economics.
Manjeet Kripalani is the former India Bureau chief of Businessweek magazine. During her extensive career in journalism (BusinessWeek, Worth and Forbes magazines), she has won several awards, including the Gerald Loeb Award, the George Polk Award, Overseas Press Club and Daniel Pearl Awards. Kripalani was the 2006-07 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, which inspired her to found Gateway House. Her political career spans being the deputy press secretary to Steve Forbes during his first run in 1995-96 as Republican candidate for US President, to being press secretary for the Lok Sabha campaign for independent candidate Meera Sanyal in 2008. She holds two bachelor’s degrees from Bombay University and a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University. She sits on the board of the International Centre for Journalists, the Overseas Press Club, and the Indian Liberal Group, which are all non-profit organizations.
Gateway House meetings are off-the-record and not-for-attribution.