Stakes are high for Prime Minister’s first visit to the US under Trump Administration
There will be no Madison Square Garden moment this time around for Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his forthcoming trip to the United States. When the Prime Minister lands in the US later this month, the last thing on mind will be the delirious crowds of Indians and Indian-Americans giving him a rock star welcome. Instead, Modi would be at his sober best, waiting to meet and judge a new American President whose attitude towards India remains as yet unclear. Meeting President Donald Trump can be a culture shock for the Indian Prime Minister who had not only dealt with President Barack Obama but also established an excellent personal rapport to the extent that both leaders came to be on first-name terms. That said, heads of Governments keep changing, and the mark of a good leader is to as quickly develop cordiality with another to mutually benefit the nations they represent. To this end, Prime Minister Modi can be trusted to push with force India's interests.
It is possible that he may forge an instant relationship with Trump, or that relationship could take a while to mature. Nonetheless, the convergence of Indian and American interests means that no leader can afford to be anything but cordial. Of course, there can be obstacles, either substantial or interpretational. For instance, when President Trump recently mentioned India in a negative manner while announcing his country's withdrawal from the Paris climate change deal, it left a bitter taste in the mouth of Indians ahead of Modi's meeting with the US President. On the flip side, it must be admitted that Trump has, on numerous occasions, before and after he became President, expressed strong support to India — and there has been no dilution in that. It's good that New Delhi did not take Trump's accusation seriously, that India was seeking to greedily draw funds for itself under the pretext of the Paris climate accord, and decided to go ahead with the first meeting between the two leaders. India mustn't forget that it has many powerful friends within both the Republican and the Democratic camps and they are unlikely to sit by and allow India to be sidelined by elements in the US administration.
If the Modi-Trump meeting this month-end goes off well, it will set the right tone for the two leaders to take their engagement forward when the two come face to face barely 14 days after that — at the G-20 summit in Hamburg. It would be interesting — if not for anything, purely from an academic perspective, to see if Prime Minister Modi gets the attention given to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping recently. Xi received a more than cordial welcome given that Trump had had the worst things to say about Beijing throughout his campaign, even questioning the One China policy which has come to be taken for granted by preceding US Governments. President Trump quickly made amends, and just in time for Xi's meeting.