Modi's Determination Same as in Second Term; Local Instabilities like Manipur Need to be Tackled: Parekh

Despite the "little setback" of bagging lesser number of seats, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running the country with the same determination as he did in the second term, veteran industry leader Deepak Parekh said on Wednesday.

There will never be a "political vaccum" in India and competent leaders will "spring up" in the country, "irrespective" of party lines, Parekh said speaking at a Milken Institute event here.

Parekh said he does not see any problem in governance during Modi's third term but for certain pockets of instability.

"He's running the country as well as he did in the second term, as determined as he was in the second term," Parekh said.

"There may be instability in certain states. As we are seeing now in Manipur, we are having some problems. That will continue because they are local problems. And we have to tackle that," he added.

Parekh also added that the local police in Manipur has sought the Centre's help in sorting out the issue.

There can also be some "religious" problem in some part of the country, Parekh said, specifically mentioning West Bengal which is witnessing protests following the rape and murder of a doctor.

Speaking at the launch of the India operations of the American think tank, Parekh said there are only two places in the world to invest, which is the US and India.

He also went public with his disappointments at low investments by American corporations in India and added that we need to look at the ease of doing business initiatives for them to flow.

"What I fail to understand is, why has corporate US not come to India?" He said, pointing out that European and Singaporean companies have invested in key sectors such as airports, ports and railways.

He also said that Indian growth has been much higher than the world growth and it will be "foolish" not to invest in India.