DIPLOMACY

Up close and personal

31-Narendra-Modi Friends in need: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at White House | AFP

Modi and Trump find common ground at first meeting

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets US President Donald Trump on July 7 in Hamburg, Germany, for the G20 summit, there will be no need for introductions. They will meet as acquaintances who have shared three hugs, several handshakes and had a measure of each other’s personalities upclose. This acquainting with Trump was the most important aspect of Modi’s two-day Washington tour in June.

Trump has already met 15 of the G20 leaders. While Modi is in the list, Vladimir Putin hasn’t made it yet.

Media watchers, who dissected Trump’s handshakes with Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and Justin Trudeau, could find nothing awkward in his handshakes with Modi. In fact, Modi took the lead, engulfing Trump in his trademark jaadu ki jhappi (magical embrace), and Trump gracefully accepted it. Keen to establish a common ground, the president said, “I am proud to announce... Prime Minister Modi and I are world leaders in social media.” Modi scored an ace, inviting Trump’s daughter Ivanka to India for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. She accepted it with alacrity.

Trump gave Modi the privilege of being the first leader with whom he has dined at the White House. It was a working dinner, though, not a full banquet. “It was important that when the two meet in Hamburg, they meet as friends; that has gone well,” said former diplomat Vishnu Prakash.

Modi kept his usual flamboyance under control—a quiet interaction with the diaspora and a meet with CEOs. Prudently, no rockstar blitz in Trump’s backyard.

Beyond optics, they injected new warmth in the bilateral relationship. The US designated Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin a global terrorist. He has Pakistan’s open patronage. India reciprocated, condemning the North Korean regime, although it has scant interaction with the country. The two reaffirmed their determination to fight terror.

“The other objectives were to review key aspects in the relationship and go over concern areas for India—defence, terrorism, security. The trip has scored on all these counts,” said Prakash. Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had termed the India-US ties as the defining partnership of the 21st century.

There were elephants in the room that were not addressed. One was the vexing issue of H1-B visas, which the Trump regime wanted to “tweak”. The other one was Trump’s announcement to withdraw from the Paris Accord on climate change, accusing India of benefiting from foreign aid. The external affairs ministry kept this subject off the agenda. Modi has repeatedly asserted India’s commitment to climate, Paris or no Paris. Bharat Karnad, security analyst at Centre for Policy Research, said, “We avoided anything that could raise hackles. Trump was not so scrupulous. He mentioned that trade deficit with India needed to be corrected.”

America exuberantly offered maritime surveillance drones, though India is shopping around the world for combat drones (next stop being Israel). “India would be wise not to agree to this sale, and look elsewhere,” said Karnad.

Trump repeated his election promise that, in him, India would find a true friend in the White House. Observers, however, warn that while Modi’s first trip to Trump’s America may have been successful on its limited agenda, the path ahead needs to be trodden carefully.

This browser settings will not support to add bookmarks programmatically. Please press Ctrl+D or change settings to bookmark this page.
The Week

Related Reading