It probably will not be mentioned in his CV, but in the year 2000, Narendra Modi spent almost an entire summer in the US. This was during Modi’s wilderness years: He was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary, but had failed to deliver results in the key states that he had been entrusted — Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. He was accused of promoting infighting and of playing nasty political games. He was virtually a persona non grata in Gujarat too: The state had seen four chief ministers in three years and Modi had been kept away from his home turf. The bracing air of New York’s Central Park and the warmth of the Gujarati diaspora provided him a welcome respite from the travails back home. He even considered enrolling in a course in communication. When Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited New York that year, he had to remind Modi that it was time to come back — so taken in was he by the NRI (non-resident India) hospitality.
Modi did return and went on to become the chief minister of Gujarat in 2001. A few months later, the Gujarat communal riots transformed Modi from just another political figure into a Hindutva icon: ‘A hero of hatred’ was how an India Today cover had described him at the time. In 2005, his US visa was revoked after human rights organisations petitioned Capitol Hill, accusing Modi of violating religious freedoms.
Almost 15 years later, Modi has returned to the land that has both embraced and shunned him, which is why the Indian prime minister’s visit is being so closely watched. The denial of a US visa for almost a decade hurt Modi personally, if not politically. Modi has admired America and the American way of life. He had seen enough in that one summer to be inspired by American entrepreneurship and the sheer energy of American society. And yet, the American leadership did not see Modi in benign terms. He was identified with despots and dictators around the world who had failed the human rights test.
If the social and political ostracism by the US had hurt him, Modi tried to show he was not affected. He launched his Vibrant Gujarat programme in 2005, designed to showcase Gujarat as the ideal business destination to the world. “Gujarat’s business is business” was the presiding mantra. The real intention was to discard the baggage of the riots and position Modi as a CEO-like figure to the world. If the American political leadership would not break bread with him, he would seek support from the business community. He even hired a global public relations firm to boost his appeal in Washington as a leader who could no longer be ignored.
However, he was ignored for almost a decade. Even after western capitals like London and Bonn slowly reached out to him, Washington did not respond positively. Modi’s stunning win in the 2014 general elections changed the equation. Validated by an election triumph, Modi decided to keep the Americans waiting. At his swearing-in, he invited all the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) leaders, his first foreign visit was to neighbouring Bhutan, the first congratulatory tweets he responded to were from Japan and Russia. America had kept him at bay for years, now Modi, keen to make a point, wanted to keep Washington waiting.
It is against this turbulent backdrop that Modi has now stepped onto American soil for the first time since he became Gujarat chief minister in 2001. This is not in the true sense a bilateral visit: His visa cancellation has still not been officially overturned. Modi addressed the multilateral United Nations General Assembly as a world leader, the short trip to Washington to meet US President Barack Obama is only a cherry on the top. Modi would have liked to address a joint session of the US Congress, a privilege that was granted to Vajpayee and Rajiv Gandhi. That would have been the ultimate vindication for a leader who would like to recast his image as a statesman-politician.
Modi addressed global CEOs and spoke to NRIs at Madison Square Garden in New York on Sunday. At each formal event, Modi asserted his self-identity as a ‘nationalist’ politician who waves the Indian tricolour and means business (he also dressed nattily for every occasion!) Modi is a master event manager and marketing man: He has so far used every moment in the US to position himself as a leader the world must now reckon with. ‘Make in India’ is his new slogan: An invitation to the world to make India a manufacturing hub.
But the key was his dinner meeting with Obama. It was not a blind date, but a slightly tentative first engagement between two leaders who stand on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum. Interestingly, the Modi and Obama election campaigns have a lot in common. Both, for example, made heavy use of social media and technology to micro-manage their campaigns. And both are consummate public speakers. It is unlikely that either leader will raise the issue of the 2002 riots and the visa controversy. This is meant to be a feel-good visit; the ghosts of the past are being kept firmly aside. The BJP general secretary of the summer of 2000 is now the prime minister of a majority BJP government. Narendra Modi has come a very long way as his American hosts are finding out.
Rajdeep Sardesai is a senior Indian journalist. His forthcoming book on the Indian elections: 2014: The elections that changed India, will be published by Penguin and released in November.