PM shouldn’t have endorsed Trump: Oppn
NEWDELHI: The Congress on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have avoided supporting US President Donald Trumpduringthe“howdymodi” event at Houston on Sunday.
During the event attended by over 50,000 people, majority of them Indian-americans, Modi said, “Abki baar, Trump sarkar”, an echo of his party’s pet poll slogan, “Abki baar, Modi sarkar”. Trump is seeking re-election in the US polls due next year.
“There is a time-honoured convention of India’s foreign policy that when we engage with a foreign government we do not take a partisan position in domestic electoral politics,” senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said. “PM should have honoured that convention. The PM using that platform to exhort and raising the slogan on ‘Ab Ki Baar Trump Sarkar’ was better avoided because we have engaged with Republican Administration and Democratic Administration.”
PM Modi, who is in the US on a week-long visit, shared the stage with President Trump at the gala event on Sunday.
But the party also clarified that “Howdy Modi” wouldn’t adversely affect Indo-us rapport.
Modi later tweeted: “Dear @POTUS @realdonaldtrump, your presence at #Howdymodi in Houston was a watershed moment in India-usa ties.”
Underlining that New Delhi has maintained good rapport with the US, irrespective of which party was in power, Sharma said during the Republican administration under President George W Bush India negotiated the historic Indo-us Nuclear Agreement, which was signed on October 8, 2008. “The Indian leadership did not take any position to support or endorse the Republicans. Obama took over as US President and we carried forward that engagement with the Democratic President as effectively as we have done with the previous administration,” he added.
While wishing luck to Modi for the visit, the Congress leader also maintained that “it would have been better that the Prime Minister had shed his aversion to Pandit Nehru and joined in endorsing what the US Senators were saying about Jawaharlal Nehru.” He was referring to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s comment, “[India], like America, [is] proud of its ancient traditions to secure a future according to Gandhi’s teaching and Nehru’s vision of India as a secular democracy where respect for pluralism and human rights safeguard every individual.”
Later, Congress leader Milind Deora hailed Modi’s visit and dubbed Modi’s Houston speech as a “momentous first for India’s soft power diplomacy”, adding that his father, late Murli Deora was one of the early architects of deeper Indo-us ties. Modi promptly replied: “You are absolutely correct when you highlight my friend, late Murli Deora Ji’s commitment to strong ties with USA. He would have been really glad to see the strengthening of ties between our nations. The warmth and hospitality of @POTUS was outstanding.”
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) criticized the fanfare and asked the government to disclose how much it spent for the event. “The government should come out how much it has spent to help Trump’s re-election bid. These shows won’t make any difference to common people on jobs or reviving economy. He was talking about J&K in Houston but he hasn’t opened his mouth on the issue in India for over a month,” said CPI(M) politburo member Nilotpal Basu.
India recognises that the US President, irrespective of moral judgments of his policy positions, controls the levers of power. The aim was to bring back ties with US on an even keel, and neutralise any support he may offer to Pakistan.
Modi praised Trump’s leadership, commitment to US, economic record, negotiating skills and stand on terror. And offered this public support in front of a huge Indian-american constituency, where Trump seeks to make inroads.
Islamabad was seeking to paint India in a corner, portray it as Fascist, internationalise Jammu and Kashmir. Modi’s aim was to show to Pakistan that it was instead India which commanded international support, particularly that of the US.
By unequivocally defending the decision on Article 370, linking it to terrorism, calling for a “decisive battle” against terrorism, tracing both 9/11 and 26/11 to a common source, and then hailing Trump as a leader committed to fighting terrorism - soon after he had spoken of “radical Islamic terrorism” - Modi was telling Pakistan that New Delhi and Washington were on the same page. And its hopes of international support were misplaced.
Aware of a growing narrative that India was turning authoritarian and majoritarian, Modi’s aim was to allay such apprehensions and reach out to skeptics and critics.
The PM focused on India’s remarkable diversity in terms of religions, traditions, languages, regions. He spoke of India’s democratic strength, and recent elections which saw a remarkably high turnout. His reference to the government’s welfare schemes for the poor was an attempt to showcase an India that cared for its least privileged, and was moving towards and inclusive and egalitarian society. There have been concerns about India’s economic slowdown and trajectory. Trade has been an irritant. Modi’s aim was to show that India was committed to reforms and embracing business.
Modi spoke of India as a modernising country — a country which was leveraging technology, where cheap data was available to hundreds of millions of people; where the government was easing conditions for doing business, cutting red tape, slashing corporate taxes; and which had robust growth, increased investments, and was ready to embrace the world.
DURING THE ‘HOWDY MODI’ EVENT IN HOUSTON, THE PM HAD SAID, ‘ABKI BAAR, TRUMP SARKAR’
Consolidate support for himself personally, for India as a whole, and showcase the power of the diaspora to the US.
By his mere presence and the fact that Trump joined him for the rally, Modi won half the battle and gave Indian-americans a sense of pride. By referring to their contribution to both US and India and in deepening bonds between the two countries, he sought to highlight the people-to-people linkage and gave them a sense of power.