TOPIC: 08th of June - Indian PM Modi - joint meeting with US Congress

It seems that next week there will be an important date, the 08th of June.

On June 8, Narendra Modi will become the sixth Indian Prime Minister to address US lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington DC.
indianexpress.com/article/explained/pm-n...ill-address-2831386/
also
indianexpress.com/article/india/india-ne...s-relations-2776205/

Ambassador Singh said: "It is a reflection of the bipartisan support in the US to the relationship with India. It is also a reflection of the value people attach to this relationship."
www.ibtimes.co.uk/modi-us-indian-prime-m...ech-congress-1563365

A day to monitor....

Kissing date no doubt

India may pledge to block generic exports. Just like USA officially will not allow generic imports.

The message: YOU!, you cannot import generics from India! It's illegal!

But it's India. Someone is going to sell you the drugs, cuz it's not heroin.

No package yet has been blocked and destroyed in USA

USA! The Senate has publicly criticized Gilead! The gate is open folks!

@Greedfighter: There is one detail that makes me think that nor India nor US will be able to stop the people's import of HCV drugs: the import is allowed due to the Art. 60 from TRIPS, so no matter what US and India will agree, I doubt this import will be stopped so easily.
If you look for instance at another case, at the DOHA DECLARATION, changes that are being made to an agreement that was already signed by several other countries takes a huge amount of time, by which, hopefully, more and more people would be treated by means of HCV medication.

So, the meeting took place today.
The full speech can be read here: www.rediff.com/news/report/full-text-of-...ongress/20160608.htm

Couple of highlights (but please be aware that in such a political context, everyone can understand everything):

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- SIRI tells us that India's ancient heritage of Yoga has over 30 million practitioners in the US.It is estimated that more Americans bend for yoga than to throw a curve ball. And, no Mr Speaker, we have not yet claimed intellectual property right on Yoga.

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Mr Speaker, in every sector of India's forward march, I see the US as an indispensable partner. Many of you also believe that a stronger and prosperous India is in America’s strategic interest. Let us work together to convert shared ideals into practical cooperation. There can be no doubt that in advancing this relationship, both nations stand to gain in great measure.

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Transformative American technologies in India and growing investment by Indian companies in the United States both have a positive impact on the lives of our citizens. Today, for their global research and development centres, India is the destination of choice for the US companies. Looking eastward from India, across the Pacific, the innovation strength of our two countries comes together in California.
Here, the innovative genius of America and India's intellectual creativity are working to shape new industries of the future

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for the next one, I like how it sounds (as a kind of "caution: do not involve to much in my affairs ")
Mr Speaker and Distinguished Members, as we deepen our partnership, there would be times when we would have differing perspectives. But, since our interests and concerns converge, the autonomy in decision making and diversity in our perspectives can only add value to our partnership.

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So, as we embark on a new journey, and seek new goals, let us focus not just on matters routine but transformational ideas. Ideas which can focus not just on creating wealth but also creating value for our societies; not just on immediate gains but also long term benefits Not just on sharing best practices but also shaping partnerships; and, not just on building a bright future for our peoples, but in being a bridge to a more united, humane and prosperous world. And, important for the success of this journey would be a need to view it with new eyes and new sensitivities. When we do this, we will realise the full promise of this extraordinary relationship.



Well, politics .....

Hmm, if you wipe off the flowery rhetoric it reads something like "India is an emerging powerhouse and while we are happy to do business, we will not supplicate ourselves to you"

And in between the friends from MSF have been doing this for 2 days :

"MSF Access Campaign
‏@MSF_access
For 2 days we drove around Washington DC. We hope @narendramodi @BarackObama saw our message! #ModiinUS #ModiinDC"