Seema Sirohi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s performance on the American pitch was a hit. The five-day “test match” was full of drama, conceived and executed with precision. There was content, symbolism, and clear signals to India’s two tough neighbours.
Call it a reboot, a re-launch, or an orbital climb, but the "shady" past is behind us. There is a robust, forward-looking agenda, but it must translate into facts on the ground before real celebration can begin.
What Modi clearly accomplished was to make a leap in the American mind from 2002 to 2014. Yes, there were protesters, a letter by 11 Congressmen against him to the White House, and even an anti-Modi hearing on Capitol Hill timed to create a stir. But no Congressman attended. Modi was conducting India’s business this time, and US Congressmen are smart to know where not to be seen. They were, however, seen at Madison Square Garden for Modi. They stood in a circle around him in a semi-ritualistic assembly. The symbolism was obvious to the US establishment.
The Obama administration also went out of its way to make the visit successful in terms of optics. It needed to convincingly portray official respect for Modi, because of the visa issue. And it did. From “kem cho?” on, it was a charm offensive. And Americans can be very charming when they want or need to be.
Modi’s guide to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial was Barack Obama himself -- the living embodiment of King’s dream as the first African-American president. The two also “wrote” a joint op-ed and issued a far-reaching vision statement. They talked of their partnership as a “model for the rest of the world.”
When you look closely, the tens of official documents issued during the visit are actually Modispeak -- his development agenda for India of smart cities, clean water, hygiene, sanitation and digitalisation. India desperately needs all of the above. Modi came on so strong that a few Americans were left wondering whether he was talking to them or just doing campaign stops abroad.
It was, indeed, a new script for an official visit. The essence: “I am going to change India. You are welcome to come with me, if you like.” It was a confident message, not a plea. Modi painted his vision for India with great gusto, forcing the Americans to pay attention. They could come along for the ride now, or miss the boat. He joked with US businessmen not to wait, or the queue to invest in India would get too long. It went down well with the business community that likes straight talk. The CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, told Modi he would host an investors’ conference in India next year.
On the people’s front, Modi connected well both with adoring NRIs at Madison Square Garden and with 60,000 regular Americans at Central Park, assembled for the Global Citizen Festival to support global causes. Modi drew cheers with a short speech, ending with the iconic line from Star Wars familiar to all Americans: “May the force be with you.” But he was making sure the “force” was with him.
On the business front, Modi may have arrested the growing tendency to write off India. American businessmen were enthusiastic about his message of “government as facilitator” not as overlord, and of ending “tax terrorism.” They seemed convinced enough to take a second look at India, but whether they jump in with both feet will depend on Modi’s ability to replace the “red tape with a red carpet” between now and the next Budget.
On the official front, both sides moved significantly forward, and in each other’s direction. Long-held positions were modified, or Modi-fied. The United States clearly agreed to turn up the heat on Pakistan. It committed to going after terrorist groups beyond al-Qaeda, and against the Pakistan-based hydra-headed monsters of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, the D-Company and the Haqqani Network.
New Delhi has always felt Washington makes a distinction between groups that threaten the West and those that target India. This will hopefully change now. American thinking has clearly evolved because of the sudden spread of the jihadist group Islamic State and the stark reality of the traveling jihadi. While “joint and concerted efforts” to dismantle terrorist safe havens and criminal networks does NOT mean joint operations, it does mean sharing of more intelligence between India and the US and more diplomatic pressure on the Pakistan Army-ISI complex. Interestingly, Pakistani liberals also welcomed the announcement. At the very least, it should stop Hafiz Saeed’s “bhangra” on the streets, said one.
Equally significant was the signal to China, the other neighbour that threatens the Indian-American peace of mind and the oceans. Obama and Modi expressed “concern about rising tensions over maritime territorial disputes, and affirmed the importance of maritime security and freedom of navigation and overflight throughout the region, especially in the South China Sea.”
Both India and the United States are on record about China’s muscular behaviour, and they don’t like it. This time they said it clearly, especially India which likes to play safe. What it means in practical terms is still unclear, but it is diplomatic movement for sure.
(Seema Sirohi is a writer on foreign policy and long-time observer of India-US relations.)
