Trump says India’s unity an inspiration
President Donald Trump began a whirlwind visit to the world’s largest democracy yesterday by praising what he called India’s unity and tolerance, but offering no public critique of recent actions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that have been widely condemned as discriminatory.
Amid pageantry and crowds that were enormous but apparently shy of the president’s predictions, Trump and Modi celebrated their warm personal bond and shared nationalist political philosophy while talking up economic and military co-operation that is a bulwark to China.
‘‘India is a country that proudly embraces freedom, liberty, individual rights, the rule of law and the dignity of every human being,’’ Trump said. ‘‘Your nation has always been admired around the Earth as the place where millions upon millions of Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs and Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Jews worship side by side in harmony; where you speak more than 100 languages and come from more than two dozen states, yet you have always stood strong as one great Indian nation. Your unity is an inspiration to the world.’’
Trump returned to the theme repeatedly but did not mention Modi’s controversial citizenship law passed in December or the state of emergency his Hindu nationalist government imposed on Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state.
The references to India’s democratic political system and diversity were apparently meant to air US concerns without publicly criticising Trump’s host, who beamed nearby. In the run-up to the trip, a senior White House official said Trump would raise the issue of religious freedom with Modi in private. But the decision not to discuss the issue publicly repeats a pattern of Trump rarely addressing human rights issues while abroad.
The Modi government has faced considerable international criticism – including from Republican members of Congress – over its crackdown in Kashmir. The religion-based citizenship bill has led to protests nationwide. Yesterday, even as Trump was on his way to Delhi, violence erupted in the country’s capital between supporters and protesters of the law, leaving two dead.
The new law gives undocumented immigrants of six religions a fast-track path to citizenship but excludes Islam – a faith 200 million Indian citizens practice.
Modi, whose critics call his Hindu nationalism discriminatory, hit the same inclusive theme as he welcomed Trump.
The quick trip is long on symbolism and short on substance, although Trump announced new military sales. The trade agreement that he said would be ready last year may now wait until after the US presidential election.
On the first day of the two-day trip, the president and first lady Melania Trump toured an ashram where Mohandas Gandhi, the father of modern India, once lived and later the Taj Mahal, uncharacteristically emptied of tourists and glowing in the late-day light.
‘‘Really incredible, an incredible place,’’ Trump remarked to reporters about the 17th-century white marble mausoleum, a Unesco World Heritage Site.
Although half a world away from home, the ‘‘Namaste Trump’’ rally – the centrepiece of his 36-hour visit to India that included a picture-perfect tour of the Taj Mahal and meetings in the nation’s capital – had familiar traces of the president’s campaign rallies.
Instead of red ‘‘Make America Great Again’’ hats, the attendees at Motera Stadium wore white caps emblazoned with the event’s name and the two countries’ flags. Trump’s signature walk-off theme, the Rolling Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want, played as the event concluded. – Washington