Sept. 17: Five men and two women, three of them Americans, all of South Asian origin, sat across a table in Washington on Thursday and decided to infuse new life into the so-called Gujarat model of development which has been under strain because of the Patidar agitation, Dalit violence and political uncertainty on account of chief ministerial changes.

The US agreed to be a "partner country" at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit next January as a result of this meeting, overruling US consul general in Mumbai Thomas Vajda's reservations expressed to the new cstate <>hief minister, Vijay Rupani, a week ago about his government's invitation to the Americans in this regard.

In the US saga of a growing clout among Indian Americans, this was perhaps the first time that South Asians had collectively swung the pendulum in favour of a decision affecting India which was also critical for the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his promise of achchhe din.

Any American rejection of an invitation by Gujarat to partner in its flagship business and investment summit after secretary of state John Kerry's fulsome endorsement of the Gujarat model in 2015, soon after Modi became Prime Minister, would have been viewed by sceptics of Modi's record in New Delhi as a vote of no-confidence in his home state.

One of the three South Asian Americans who championed the decision in favour of US partnership for the Gandhinagar summit were Nisha Biswal, a Gujarati herself who is now the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs. She hosted the meeting with Bharat Lal, Gujarat's resident commissioner in New Delhi, who has been generating a fresh wave of enthusiasm for the Gujarat model with a series of roadshows in the American east coast in the last one week.

That Lal had succeeded in overcoming any hesitations that official America may have harboured about Gujarat became obvious when the state department quoted Biswal in a readout as saying that she "praised Resident Commissioner Lal for his efforts to make the state of Gujarat a model of innovation and sustainable economic growth and reform for India".

The readout continued: "She also announced the US intent to participate as a partner country in the 2017 Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit."

The other two South Asian Americans who attended the crucial meeting and voted for Gujarat were Arun Kumar, director general of the US and Foreign Commercial Service and assistant secretary for Global Markets at the US department of commerce, and Ziad Haider, special representative for commercial and business affairs at the state department.

In addition to privately expressing his reservations to the chief minister, the consul general had said at a press conference a week ago: "The US was honoured to be a partner country in 2015 when secretary (of state) Kerry led a large delegation.... The one thing that I pointed to the chief minister and his staff is that the event takes place roughly one week before the inauguration of the new US President. So we are right at the tail end of one administration and right before a new one takes office."

He added: "The timing is a little bit challenging, but we will give it a very serious consideration. Regardless of the US government representation because of the timing issue, we will expect a large and active business delegation. There is an increasing interest among US businesses in India for various reasons and Vibrant Gujarat is a great platform for them to have."

Peter Lavoy, special assistant to the President and senior director for South Asia at the National Security Council, and Charles Rivkin, assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, rallied behind the South Asian Americans to swing the decision to continue supporting the Gujarat model of growth.

In addition to Lal, three Indians took part in the meeting and argued for Gujarat. They were Taranjit Singh Sandhu, charge d'affaires of India in Washington, Reenat Sandhu, minister (commerce) at the Indian embassy in Washington, and Deepak Bagla, CEO of Invest India, the official investment promotion and facilitation agency of the Indian government tasked as the first point of reference for potential investors.

In addition to Washington, Lal took the Gujarat roadshows for the January summit to Chicago, Houston and New York. Lal told potential investors across the US east coast that "Gujarat has been a trend-setting state and the progress that India is witnessing today, Gujarat has seen that progress in the last one decade. Our objective is to strengthen relationships and promote cooperation between various countries and India and more specifically the state of Gujarat".

Speaking at the last Vibrant Gujarat Summit plenary in January 2015, Kerry had said "this Prime Minister (Modi) is on the right track. And it is clear that his policies are beginning to reverberate and be developed by people".

Kerry also spoke at the opening ceremony of the summit when he said that he went to Gujarat "because this is the home state of your visionary Prime Minister, your Prime Minister who has brought a particular energy to this transformational moment, but also because he has already made the name Gujarat synonymous with possibilities, with change, with energy."

By agreeing to be a partner country again in 2017, the Americans will demonstrate that they are still committed to the Gujarat model of development.