India is passionate about innovation and will astound the world, says US diplomat

A top American diplomat said India will astound itself as the country is passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship.

Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H Rivkin said India will also astonish the world owing to its growing vibrancy.

Rivkin had recently led a high-powered US delegation on the American Innovation Roadshow to promote economic growth in four cities-New Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

"I was so impressed by what I saw. In every incubator we visited, members of our delegation, especially the solar companies, identified tangible commercial and investment opportunities," said Rivkin.

"In every meeting, I experienced in a very refreshing way exactly what binds our two countries together: a shared passion for innovation and entrepreneurship. In fact, Americans and Indian entrepreneurs have become part of a shared culture that reveres innovation," Rivkin said.

Referring to the recent decisions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increasingly devolve federal funding to the States and encouraging them to actively compete with one another in a "race to the top" for foreign investment, Rivkin said this new dynamic was evident in their conversations with state leaders.