After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diplomatic coup in getting President Barack Obama’s nod to be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations, the Washington establishment is getting into a diplomatic overdrive for a visit seldom finalised at such a short notice.
For starters, the Obama administration’s point person for South Asia, Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal, is already off to New Delhi and will be there on Monday for consultations.
Biswal’s trip to India and four other countries had already been scheduled, but it has assumed an altogether new meaning and importance with Modi’s surprise announcement on Friday of his invitation to the US President and its prompt acceptance conveyed by the White House.
“I’m not going to connect it to the President’s trip,” State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said, but noted: “Of course, it gives her the opportunity, though, to contribute to developing the agenda for the President’s visit. But that’s led by the White House, naturally.”