Editorial article chosen:
The Editorial Board. (2014). India and America, Beginning Again. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/opinion/india-and-america-beginning-again.html
Introduction
The editorial discusses about the political environment change in India. In May 2014, India elected its new Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In September 2014, Narendra Modi and US President Obama had their first talks focused on improving the bilateral relationships in terms of political aspects and business aspects. The article is based on evaluating the bilateral relationships between the two countries and which issues were focused on in the meeting.
Analysis
Political environment of a country and bilateral relationships between countries play an import role in business relations and business growth in the countries. Government support and level of government intervention sets the tone of the business climate and the level of international trade between nations (Amason, 2011). The article identifies the effectiveness of the talks between Narendra Modi and US President Obama, the aspects that they discussed and what were left out.
Both the US and India being democracies have similar approach to politics and business. The Editorial Board argues that in spite of the political similarities, over the last decade US has not been able to capitalise on this idea. Both the US and India has several challenges to be addressed and this necessitated maintaining an effective and mutually beneficial relationship between the countries.
The trade relations between US and India have grown manifold over the past decade and the target is to increase it fivefold over the next few years. The major promise that Mr Modi made to the Indians and the globe is that his government will focus on economic growth and development. Mr. Modi has invited US to invest in India and support India in its infrastructural development and power needs. The US government also wants to capitsalise on this opportunity. The talks included both of them agreeing to enter into joint investment initiative and partnership agreements to address social issues (The Editorial Board, 2014).
Alongside identifying the strong points of the conversation, the Editorial board identified that the talks failed to address the two crucial aspects - trade and taxes – that has not been resolved over a long period of time (The Editorial Board, 2014). One of the major international agreements that is likely to be the sore point in this regard is India’s negotiation with World Trade Organization to accept its new pact only if it addresses food security concerns of the Indian government. Also, no discussions happened to address the concerns of the US companies that arises from the Indian tax laws. Moreover, the US companies failed to be benefitted from their nuclear power dealings though civilian nuclear energy cooperation was agreed upon by both the governments in 2008, because of the difficult liability laws in India (The Editorial Board, 2014).
The talks have some effective outcomes in terms of agreements related to the political environment of India. This included maritime security concerns that are threatened by China, terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But, the long standing strategic issues between India and its neighbour Pakistan were not discussed in the talks (The Editorial Board, 2014).
The editorial board comments that it will be interesting to see in future if Hindu nationalist Mr Modi who was denied US visa for the last decade can successfully meet his promises of a better economy and protecting rights of all Indians. The editorial board identifies that both the countries have the potential to gain from an effective collaboration. The editorial board recognises that whether talks translate to strategic partnership can only be evaluated in the future.
Conclusion
The flow of the argument in the editorial is logical and fact based. The argument identifies the context and then discusses the positives and the negatives and identifies the concerns that require to be addressed. It supports the arguments with facts and figures. The topic is crucial and can be discussed in vast depths. But considering the scope of the editorial, the discussion has been limited. In spite of the limitations, the editorial board has been able to effectively recognise the significant points and presented in an effective and logical manner.
References
Amason, A. (2011). Strategic Management: From Theory to Practice Routledge.
The Editorial Board. (2014). India and America, Beginning Again. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/06/opinion/india-and-america-beginning- again.html
