There may not be too many big takeaways from the visit of US President Donald Trump to India as the trajectory of Indo-US relations has been only going up despite regime changes with respective heads of State striking up some sort of optical chemistry. The civil nuclear deal began a new season of engagement, one that has helped each fill-up the other’s strategic requirement. For the US, there’s our sizeable market and value as a bulwark against a hegemonic China in the region. For India, that has meant de-hyphenation from Pakistan and the US’ own narrowed down zoom of our neighbour’s relevance in the strategic backyard of Afghanistan, humouring it within that context. It has also meant US endorsement of the changed status of Kashmir. So, this visit would have yielded as much had Trump or Modi not pushed Yeh Dosti visuals. The continuity of the Indo-US relations is no more in doubt. The greatest takeaways are, therefore, for the two men who are bound by a similar personality, politics and ideology, of justifying even autocracy and divisive excesses as putting their nations first. To that extent, Trump has wisely chosen India to build up momentum for his campaign at home, besmirched by the impeachment move. He has simply used India’s demographics and population to prove a US President has magnified his global popularity.

Hence the preoccupation with the scale of events and spectacles. Considering that he has yet to broker a worthwhile truce despite his global ambitions to be seen as a peacemaker or a big enough economic pact that justifies his protectionist policies, the big defence deals with India will give him a talking point about generating jobs back home. Apart from the billions that Indian companies will be investing in the US energy market. For Modi, the ceremonial genuflection is intended for the same reason, to prove that his leadership has the endorsement of none other than the US President and that for all the opposition by both political parties and civil society at home, he has the US-sanctioned trust and a broader silence on Kashmir, no matter the pyrrhic bursts of angst. Yes, there’s a subtext in the larger hyperboles of stronger ties and comradeship, like the mention of India’s diversity as a democracy and Pakistan’s efforts at curbing terrorism, albeit at US insistence. Also, Trump renewed his willingness to mediate between India and Pakistan on Kashmir, leaving it up to Modi to decide. He even mentioned religious freedoms, saying a lookback would prove that India had worked hard for religious freedom and that Modi wasn’t against it. That was a not so subtle hint about the historical timeline and the changed contemporary situation. And while he announced that India was all for Afghan peace, the Government would be anxious about the Taliban’s role in the new regime, one that would be controlled by Pakistan and one it would use to extract some concessions from the US that is dependent on it. The US has definitely softened towards our neighbour of late. And in insisting that the 5G network be used in a transparent and accountable manner and not as a conduit of censorship, there was a hidden message for India, too, though the target implied was China. Clearly, Trump doesn’t forget to remind us of our weaknesses and his coercive strengths. There was a gentle heave, not a hard push though.

The economic partnership is a work in progress, and India won’t be as servile as the US expects it to be. Trump has been punishing on that front, taking us out from the Generalized System of Preferences List, saying India is no longer a “developing” country. The tit-for-tat tariff war continues and although we have cut import duties on the Harley Davidson by about 50 per cent, Trump reiterated it again.

(The writer is Prashant Tewari, Editor-In-Chief of The Opinion Express Group) 

There may not be too many big takeaways from the visit of US President Donald Trump to India as the trajectory of Indo-US relations has been only going up despite regime changes with respective heads of State striking up some sort of optical chemistry. The civil nuclear deal began a new season of engagement, one that has helped each fill-up the other’s strategic requirement. For the US, there’s our sizeable market and value as a bulwark against a hegemonic China in the region. For India, that has meant de-hyphenation from Pakistan and the US’ own narrowed down zoom of our neighbour’s relevance in the strategic backyard of Afghanistan, humouring it within that context. It has also meant US endorsement of the changed status of Kashmir. So, this visit would have yielded as much had Trump or Modi not pushed Yeh Dosti visuals. The continuity of the Indo-US relations is no more in doubt. The greatest takeaways are, therefore, for the two men who are bound by a similar personality, politics and ideology, of justifying even autocracy and divisive excesses as putting their nations first. To that extent, Trump has wisely chosen India to build up momentum for his campaign at home, besmirched by the impeachment move. He has simply used India’s demographics and population to prove a US President has magnified his global popularity.

Hence the preoccupation with the scale of events and spectacles. Considering that he has yet to broker a worthwhile truce despite his global ambitions to be seen as a peacemaker or a big enough economic pact that justifies his protectionist policies, the big defence deals with India will give him a talking point about generating jobs back home. Apart from the billions that Indian companies will be investing in the US energy market. For Modi, the ceremonial genuflection is intended for the same reason, to prove that his leadership has the endorsement of none other than the US President and that for all the opposition by both political parties and civil society at home, he has the US-sanctioned trust and a broader silence on Kashmir, no matter the pyrrhic bursts of angst. Yes, there’s a subtext in the larger hyperboles of stronger ties and comradeship, like the mention of India’s diversity as a democracy and Pakistan’s efforts at curbing terrorism, albeit at US insistence. Also, Trump renewed his willingness to mediate between India and Pakistan on Kashmir, leaving it up to Modi to decide. He even mentioned religious freedoms, saying a lookback would prove that India had worked hard for religious freedom and that Modi wasn’t against it. That was a not so subtle hint about the historical timeline and the changed contemporary situation. And while he announced that India was all for Afghan peace, the Government would be anxious about the Taliban’s role in the new regime, one that would be controlled by Pakistan and one it would use to extract some concessions from the US that is dependent on it. The US has definitely softened towards our neighbour of late. And in insisting that the 5G network be used in a transparent and accountable manner and not as a conduit of censorship, there was a hidden message for India, too, though the target implied was China. Clearly, Trump doesn’t forget to remind us of our weaknesses and his coercive strengths. There was a gentle heave, not a hard push though.

The economic partnership is a work in progress, and India won’t be as servile as the US expects it to be. Trump has been punishing on that front, taking us out from the Generalized System of Preferences List, saying India is no longer a “developing” country. The tit-for-tat tariff war continues and although we have cut import duties on the Harley Davidson by about 50 per cent, Trump reiterated it again.

(The writer is Prashant Tewari, Editor-In-Chief of The Opinion Express Group)