India's progress under PM Modi is outstanding: US Congressman Thanedar

Washington: India has made "outstanding progress" under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from being the 10th largest economy of the world to soon to be the third largest, a popular Indian American Congressman has said, adding that a revolution is going on in India because of digitisation.

“The progress (of India) is outstanding (in the last 10 years). When I think Prime Minister Modi was elected, India was like the 10th economy in the world, then it became the fifth economy and very soon to be the third largest economy in the world. So there is absolutely no doubt that India has made amazing progress,” Indian American Congressman Shri Thanedar told PTI in an interview.

Thanedar, 69, represents the 13th Congressional District of Michigan and is highly popular among Indian Americans across the country. A Marathi speaker, he travels to various parts of the US, meeting and interacting with various Indian American groups and organisations. He was in India as part of a Congressional delegation last August.

“It's a country of young people. I think it has more young people, percentage wise than most nations. That is the strength of India. India has now embraced technology. We are seeing the digitalisation of the financial systems, the banking systems. That digitalisation, that progress, that technology has reached smaller towns, villages. So there is a revolution going on in India,” Thanedar said.

“It's all very exciting to see. India continues to be a strong force in the world. No one can ignore India, including the United States. The United States must respect and honour the ability India has and the potential India and Indian people have. And I think President Biden understands that,” he told PTI in response to a question.

Prime Minister Modi, he said, established a good relationship with the previous administration and also this administration. “I think when I was at the White House, when Modiji came and we had the dinner in his honour, I could see the chemistry, the friendship between President Biden and Prime Minister Modi. It continues to strengthen,” he said.

“In my personal opinion, I think the relationship needs to be much better than what it is now. As you know, India started with a non-alignment position and many years India was trying to balance between the Soviet Union and the United States. But time has now come for India to fully trust and put its faith and friendship into the United States and focus on working closely together,” he said.

“We need to become much more stronger allies. We need to have much more collaboration in terms of defense and in terms of technology and commerce in general. I think there's a lot more that can be done, but I think we have a good relationship right now,” Thanedar said.