Modi’s US Visit: A balanced perspective

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has returned home to India from his six-day visit to the US to reach out to the Indian American community, buttress US-India trade relations, speak in several forums, hold meetings with country and business leaders to reassure, to encourage and promote investment in India. And do all this while avoiding or minimizing speaking about Kashmir.

Based upon the results, it must be concluded that Modi’s mission was partially accomplished. The definite high point was the massive rally in Houston for the event titled “Howdy Modi!”. The definite low point was discussion around Kashmir and on Kashmir at the UN and afterward. Other points fell somewhere in between.

More than 50,000 participated in the Houston rally where President Donald Trump joined Modi for the celebration. Both leaders expressed lavish admiration for one another. Trump essentially stuck to his prepared remarks and did not attempt to upstage Modi. The day in Houston belonged to Modi and the Indian American supporters there to share in his and their glory. It was made even more special by the fact that the size of the protest in Houston against the Modi administration’s acts in Kashmir was much smaller than projected and got very limited media coverage.

After that giddy start, many in the press predicted that when Trump and Modi met one-on-one in New York, a new “limited” trade agreement between India and the U.S would be announced. In spite of intense negotiations held between India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, US Ambassador Kenneth Juster, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and others, those expectations were not met. The official perspective and word from both sides is optimism and that there will be a “deal” of some type in the near future.

On the international relations and investment front, Modi and his entourage held more than 75 meetings. Their most significant and substantial business gettogethers were with representatives from 17 American energy companies in Houston and 40 multinational corporations like Mastercard, Visa and Walmart, at a roundtable in New York. The press reports that there was considerable dialogue in these sessions. The only tangible outcome was an MOU for USD2.5 billion between India’s largest LNG importer Petronet and the American energy company Tellurian.

In New York, Modi was one of many speakers at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum. He also received a Global Goalkeepers Award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his Clean Indian Mission. The lustre of that award was diminished somewhat by criticism from some academics and Nobel laureates and the resignation of a Gates Foundation employee to protest the award due to human rights concerns in India and issues in Kashmir.

During a 17-minute speech to the UNGA, Modi made no mention of Kashmir. Instead, he concentrated on celebrating India, the substantial progress that had been achieved on many fronts during his first term in office and calling for “peace and harmony” among nations of the world.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan spoke later at the UN and devoted half of his 50-minute speech to India and Kashmir and criticized Modi and his administration for what has transpired there. Among other things, he predicted, that “..when the curfew was lifted there would be a blood bath.”

Following Khan’s remarks, India exercised its right to respond to his criticisms by having Vidisha Maitra, an official in India’s Permanent Mission, speak to the UN, where she stated that India’s citizens do not need anyone to speak on their behalf “least of all those who have built an industry of terrorism from the ideology of hate”. She proceeded to call out Pakistan and Khan on many points.

The US visit represents a good start on the mission. To complete it fully and successfully, a mutually acceptable “limited” trade agreement must be struck; investor concerns about the Indian economy must be eliminated, and investments must start to flow in large amounts. Most importantly, the Kashmir situation must be resolved in a way that is beneficial to the citizens of that state and to the region as a whole. There must be true “peace and harmony.”

After all of that is done, Modi can say proudly and the media in India, the US and around the world can report correctly, “Mission Accomplished!”

Based upon the results, it must be concluded that Modi’s mission was partially accomplished. The definite high point was the massive rally in Houston for the event titled “Howdy Modi!” The definite low point was discussion around Kashmir and on Kashmir at the UN and afterward. Other points fell somewhere in between