Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Singh Puri, on Saturday termed PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the US as “historic” and a significant landmark that re-affirmed his “stature as a global leader”.

According to him, India is now the fifth largest economy in the world, and is on course to become the third largest economy soon. The bilateral trade between India and the USA has doubled since 2014; and currently stands at $191 billion.

India’s growth story is also leading to “employment spin-off” in the USA and elsewhere. Puri cited the example of Air India and Indigo placing aircraft orders with Boeing and Airbus as one such instance.

“If you look at what is happening globally, India is not only a bright spot (and) fastest growing economy; but the employment opportunity that the Indian growth is generating in the USA and also in Europe, is contributing to global growth,” he said during a press meet at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.

According to Puri, Google and Amazon are mulling investments to the tune of $10 billion and $15 billion in India and “these investments are in the global good”. “These are investments not just in India, but will have a (beneficial) effect on global economy. These are investments in global good,” he said.