Obama’s visit a crown of thorns for Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims he is turning India into Vishwa Guru, or Teacher to the World, and countries are instinctively flocking to it for knowledge and guidance. But if India has indeed become such an irresistible magnet, why did Modi have to coax and cajole US President Barack Obama into gracing India’s Republic Day celebrations?

My inside information is that Modi had to ask Obama twice before he said yes. Modi first invited him telephonically before going to Myanmar and Australia. They met in Nay Pyi Taw during the East Asia Summit, but to Modi’s great disappointment Obama said nothing compelling to him.

According to one account, Modi “broached the subject again” in Brisbane on the sidelines of the G20 Summit. Fortunately for the Indian prime minister, the response from the US president then was positive.

There is a graver issue, though. The traditional Indian approach to hospitality is condensed in three Sanskrit words — Atithi Devo Bhava, or the Guest is Supreme. But how will Modi graciously host the president of a country that had banned his entry until he became the prime minister? The whole world knows about Modi’s American visa issue. And who doesn’t have an ego? Modi certainly has a king-size — sorry premier-size — ego evident from the way he treats his foes in national politics.

Is it humanly possible for Modi to forget the long humiliation and pamper the powerful Obamas in New Delhi? I suppose Modi is a nationalist who will not flinch from doing anything for India’s sake — and no sacrifice is too big for him if it is in the national interest. So let us hope that Modi keeps his emotions in check and plays the perfect host, putting country before self.

Modi bending over backwards to have the Obamas over is a grim reminder of the sheer necessity of cultivating America. But even as the countdown, before Air Force One lands in New Delhi, has begun, Modi’s second-in-command in the Indian government, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, sang a different tune, telling Lucknow University students that pandits, or Hindu religious scholars, know more about astronomy than “scientists sitting in US observatories”. He also condemned American imports like “hi and bye” for subverting Hindu culture.

Modi’s capitulation and Singh’s pin-pricks — call it grandstanding if you wish — mirror the complexities and challenges before India-US partnership, encompassing trade and investment besides security, defence and nuclear technology. Today, it may seem that Modi, who obviously has a long wish-list, is bowing and scraping before Uncle Sam. But Manmohan Singh’s 2008 compliment to George W. Bush still rings in our ears: “Mr President, the people of India deeply love you”. The face-to-face flattery in White House made Bush smile, but it also triggered outrage. It is still a blot on Singh’s otherwise clean foreign policy record.

A photo-op

America is obviously a priority for India. But America clearly has other priorities. Obama illustrated it by not mentioning India even once in his State of the Union address barely four days before flying to India. The deliberate omission has badly hurt the Modi government as it reinforces the view that the Obamas are coming to Delhi basically for a parade and a visit to the Taj Mahal.

But Washington wants its pound of flesh for the photo-op with Obama that Modi is pining for. It wants New Delhi to slow down the ‘Make in India’ drive because it does not suit American business interests. It is also very critical of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, which binds US reactor-makers to pay compensation for mishaps. The US wants India to discard protectionism in intellectual property rights, pharmaceuticals, solar panels, digital media and telecommunications to make bilateral trade “unconditionally free”.

To serve US interests, Modi resorted to ordinances after failing to pass legislation in parliament to enhance foreign direct investment in insurance and realty and redraw land acquisition laws. Ram Madhav, Bharatiya Janata Party’s global ambassador-at-large, admits in a timely blog that ordinances have cleared the decks for American investors accompanying Obama. Madhav wrote: “Indo-US trade stands at $100 billion [Dh367.8 billion] today. Modi has ambitious plans for a 10-fold growth of the Indian economy from the present $2 trillion. That gives enormous scope for bilateral trade also to grow to $500 billion as envisaged by the leaders of the two countries.”

Clearly, Obama’s visit triggered the ordinance rush. But I wonder if it is a wise move considering that the International Monetary Fund has just projected that India will anyway grow at 6.5 per cent in 2016, overtaking China whose growth was forecast to slow down to 6.3 per cent. India’s projected rate of growth this year is 6.3 per cent — up from 5.8 per cent last year. Moreover, the World Bank has highlighted India’s “bright” economic future, noting that “the probability of a poor person moving out of poverty in India in 2014 was as good as that in the US”.

Some may accuse me of raking up Modi’s US visa issue, but even Madhav concedes that the “visa acrimony” might have taken India-US relations from “bad to worse”, though Modi “displayed great statesmanship by leaving behind all the insults and ill-will and embarking on a charm offensive”.

Let’s see what the offensive delivers.

S.N.M. Abdi is a noted Indian journalist and commentator.