Kolkata, May 7 : The US today agreed to treat West Bengal as a partner state for investment after a high profile meeting between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee here.
“As per partner state, they will invest in West Bengal which was not taking place due to the political situation in the past”, Banerjee told reporters after a meeting with Clinton at the Writers' Buildings, which began with a handshake and a namaste.
Clinton dressed in a blue suit and Banerjee in her trademark white sari with blue border and chappals, both declared among the 100 most influential persons globally by Time Magazine, held talks for 52 minutes.
“A few states of USA will be partners for development in West Bengal”, she quoted Clinton as assuring her.
She said that the areas identified for US investment were IT, transfer of technology, the software sector, manufacturing, deep sea port, tourism, health care and education.
“They will give full support for economic and business development.They saw many new opportunities in the state and promised all help for development and said there was a lot of scope for employment generation in West Bengal”, Banerjee said.
She said that a committee comprising Chief Secretary Samar Ghosh and US Ambassador Nancy Powell has been formed for continuous coordination and monitoring of progress of projects, which could also be taken up in PPP mode.
The chief minister said “We are facing a USD 40 million debt condition which we have stated we will overcome.”
Clinton welcomed the political change in the state after 34 years.
“She congratulated us. She said she knew about my struggle and the way we have won (the elections).
Earlier, there was little US investment here”, Banerjee said and in an apparent dig at the Left she asked them to cease politicking over the US gesture.
“Clinton appreciated the passion for work of our government and implementation of programmes in the mission mode and she said they kept themselves informed”, the chief minister said describing her meeting as “positive, constructive, creative and concrete”.
“We are all happy and we think that West Bengal should be a destination for investment. This is not my credit but the victory of the Ma, Mati, Manush (Mother, Land and people)”, she said.
Banerjee said that she had informed Clinton that the situation in the Darjeeling hills and junglemahal was normal now.
“There were some problems in Darjeeling and junglemahal when we came to power. Now it is settled and peace has been restored”.
Taking pride in Clinton's visit, she said, “this is a matter of pride that a US Secretary of State has come and talked to us here for the first time after Independence.”
The chief minister, however, said that the Teesta water-sharing agreement and FDI in retail issues did not figure in the discussion or outsourcing.
“Let me tell you very clearly. Teesta? No. FDI? No. They did not raise it nor was it discussed. Only development issues were discussed”, she said to persistent questions.
To a question, she said, “It may be your guess.
Strategic issues, security issues, they did not discuss. “My political boundary is limited where I can discuss within my boundary”, the chief minister said.
Asked whether the Indo-US civil nuclear deal was discussed, she replied, “I am a small person, I know my limitations”.
Banerjee said she informed Clinton that 19 human rights courts had been set up in the state.
Stating that she laid emphasis on the development of the entertainment industry, the chief minister requested for joint endeavour to promote Bengal's entertainment industry along with Hollywood and Bollywood.
“Clinton said they will discuss and let us know”, the chief minister said.
She told the US secretary of state that Shahrukh Khan was the brand ambassador for West Bengal and frequently visited the US to which Clinton replied that he was very popular in the US and had fans there.
The chief minister said that Clinton gifted her a mat with Tagore's picture embossed on it with a line from his song ‘aguner parashmoni chhoaon prane' inscribed on it.
Banerjee said she sought Clinton's cooperation to hold a world youth festival to commemorate Swami Vivekananda's address at the Chicago world religious festival where he had addressed the gathering as ‘brothers and sisters of America'. “She told me that she will speak to the Mayor of Chicago and let me know”, Banerjee said.
Banerjee said that if possible, President Barack Obama should come to such a programme here as also Clinton and her daughter Chelsea.
The chief minister presented Clinton a scarf from Santiniketan, an English translation of Tagore's Gitanjali, a copy of Gitabitan, the collected works of Swami Vivekananda and a book on Sri Ramakrishna brought from the Belur Math.
There was unprecedented security at Writers' Building.
Ministers and the media, save lens men, were allowed entry through a side gate.
Sniffer dogs were used to check bags of cameramen before they were allowed in.
The FBI had inspected the entire building at least three times with the Kolkata Police, paying special attention to stairs and corridors through which the American entourage passed for the meeting with Banerjee.
