Anil Anand
Houston- it was the first spoken word from moon by the US astronauts and is home to NASA’s Johnson Space Centre. So, it is known for its space and science contributions, and of course for the variety of industries, there are over 1,30,000 business establishments, the 4th largest city of the USA has.
The Howdy Modi— event has catapulted the world famous city to a new dimension. It was unprecedented that the US President, Donald Trump came out of the White House to share a platform with Indian Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, giving altogether new meaning, which meant differently to different schools of thought, to the city as well as the event. It is too early to even hazard a guess as to the benefits which the Modi-Trump public bonhomie has or would accrue to India.
The two leaders came together before a capacity crowd mostly the Indian origin Diaspora, gelled well, praised each other to greater lengths and left the venue for bilateral meetings that were held later in New York. All this happened in the strong backdrop of the fact that Trump is gearing up to face his second Presidential election due next year.
The event has significance both in terms of political and diplomatic elements with the former definitely overshadowing the latter. The quintessential politician that Modi is, he was in full flow displaying his excellent communication skills. “My friend Trump” was profusely praised by him for his (Trump’s) qualities of head and heart, administrative and diplomatic achievements interspersed with a message ‘ab ki baar Trump sarkar’ thereby hinting at the Presidential elections ahead and the preferences.
Not to lag behind Trump had similar expression of eulogy for “his friend Prime Minister Modi”. The body-chemistry was fabulous and the capacity crowd in ruptures if not delirious with joy.
The programme seemed to have been carefully planned and crafted keeping in view the zest for political agenda. The run up to the show was calibrated by Modi meeting delegations of Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs, Dawoodi Bohras prior to the event. All these groups were subsequently prominently seated in different groups and colourings so as not to miss the cameras. The significance of Pandit factor was in relation to partial abrogation of Article 370, the Sikh connect was on account of opening of the Kartarpur Sahab corridor in Pakistan and of course the Bohras for obvious reasons.
It would have been naive to ignore Trump though despite being the election year he still is the US President and the fact that Indo-US relations have acquired a different dimension under Modi and Trump. However, a more cautious and balanced approach was more desirable so as to prevent even a speculation that India has already put all its eggs in one basket and that it backs Trump.
What if a person of India origin, a Tulsi Gabbard or a Kamala Harris, becomes Democratic candidates and wins the election? This is a hypothetical question but very much in the realm of possibilities till the time last vote is counted. In fact there were reports that Gabbard had been invited for the mega-show by Indian organisers but she backed out at the last moment citing her prior commitments with election related issues. Her backing out was understandable, if she had been invited, as it was for everyone to see how Modi-Trump bonhomie unfolded on the stage.
There are two aspects to it that need some mulling. Firstly, an election is an external affair of any country and in this case America the largest and oldest democracy of the World. Secondly, India as a nation would have to deal with whosoever occupies the White House’s Oval office. Surely, it could be Trump for a second term or someone from the opposing Democrats.
Personal relations between leaders of two countries have a significant role to play in forging strong bilateral relations particularly when it happens to be USA and India under the fast changing global order. It happened in the case of Barak Obama and Manmohan Singh with Obama even describing the latter as his guru. But how the US regime adopted itself to impending political changes in India is a case study given the fact that the country’s dispensation was not favourably disposed towards Modi since his days as chief minister of Gujarat.
It is no one’s case to even speculate that the either the Ministry of External Affairs or others connected with planning this show did not take cognizance of the election factor. They must have fathomed the poll outcome aspect but ultimately these decisions are taken at the highest levels.
The care and caution are the buzz words in bilateralism between two countries and interest of an individual country supreme over anything else. The Americans are known to be no one’s friends while guarding their own interests. Not necessarily the Indian policy makers follow the American model but should not ignore the country’s interest which should be kept a notch over and above personal friendship of leaders.
The mega event that Houston turned out to be, it has raised mega hopes. Questions are being asked about the justification of such a show when country is facing economic crisis and job loss. Raising such questions can be termed as cynicism or the ruling dispensation might call it as opposition for the sake of opposition. But these cannot be ignored altogether.
To prove those raising these questions as wrong, the dispensation must ensure that the dividend arising as result of the mega-show and subsequent follow-up bilateral efforts addresses the current crisis. Care should be taken that the bilateral happen in an atmosphere of level playing field.
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