Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met Indian-American South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, one of the brightest stars of the Republican Party, and discussed areas of possible cooperation including investment opportunities in India.

Haley, who is the first woman to serve as governor of South Carolina, told Modi that she was excited about the opportunities in India.

At the age of 42, Haley is the youngest current governor in the United States. She is one of two sitting Indian-American governors in the US, the other being Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

She is also one of the Republican Party's most promising rising stars.

Haley is also the third person, who is not Euro-American to have been elected as governor of a Southern state, after Virginia's L Douglas Wilder and Louisiana's Jindal.

Modi met Haley hours before his speech at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in New York on September. Photohgraph: Press Information Bureau