Li congratulates Modi on reelection

Indian PM makes major cabinet changes for second term

BEIJING/NEW DELHI - Premier Li Keqiang has congratulated Narendra Modi on Modi's reelection as prime minister of India.

With the joint efforts, relations between China and India are moving ahead and cooperation between the two neighbors in various fields is deepening, which meet the common anticipation of both countries and their peoples and provide stability and positive energy to the region as well as the whole world, Li said in a congratulatory message sent to Modi on Thursday.

Li said he is willing to work together with Modi to constantly enhance closer development partnership between China and India.

On Friday in New Delhi, Modi named his trusted aide Amit Shah to the key Home Affairs Ministry as part of a major cabinet shakeup for his second term in office.

Nirmala Sitharaman moved from defense to become finance minister in a second shock, while career diplomat S. Jaishankar became foreign minister.

Shah was the president of Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party and had never served as a national minister. He was rewarded for the party's second landslide victory in the country's national election.

Shah will now have to pursue Modi's agenda in security, immigration and other key national issues.

Facing major challenges with the economy, job creation and a farm debt crisis, Modi replaced around three dozen ministers and deputy minister from the last administration, bringing in many new lawmakers.

The induction of Jaishankar, a China expert, as the new foreign minister was seen as a sign that Modi will put more emphasis on tricky diplomacy with neighboring countries in his second term.

Jaishankar, who was the top foreign ministry official until his retirement last year, was an influential adviser to Modi on diplomacy during his first five years in power.

Modi, 24 cabinet rank ministers and more than 30 deputy ministers were sworn in at the presidential palace on Thursday.

The 68-year-old prime minister walked up to take his oath of office to a standing ovation, with supporters in the crowd chanting "Modi, Modi".

"Honored to serve India!" he said on Twitter soon after.

"This team is a blend of youthful energy and administrative experience," he added. "Together, we will work for India's progress."

Presidents and prime ministers from neighboring Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives were present, but Pakistan was not among those invited.

Meanwhile, according to a top official at the government's main think tank, in the first 100 days of Modi's second term, a slew of "bigbang" economic reforms that should please foreign investors are likely to be pursued.

The reforms will include changes in labor laws, privatization moves, and creation of land banks for new industrial development, said Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman of NITI Aayog (National Institute for Transforming India), who reports directly to Modi.

"They (foreign investors) will have reasons to be happy. You will see a slew of reforms I can assure you of that. We are going to pretty much hit the ground running," Kumar told Reuters in an interview.

Modi is chairman of the think tank.

India's economic growth rate decelerated to a five-quarter low of 6.6 percent in the last three months of 2018, and is expected to fall further in the January-March quarter due to a sharp drop in consumption.

The economy needs far faster growth if it is to generate enough jobs for the millions of young people entering the labor market each month.

Kumar suggested the government start with reforming the state-owned banking sector and also create more money for spending on infrastructure and new public housing through more and quicker privatizations and better tax collection.

"We should (start with the banks). There will be big bang, there will be 100 days of action. We are all geared for that ... I have maintained that the fiscal policy should be counter cyclical. There is scope for that."

Reuters - China Daily - AFP - Xinhua

(China Daily 06/01/2019 page7)