Subtleties involving Narendra Modi’s USA trip

Subtleties involving Narendra Modi’s USA trip

By Deepak Parvatiyar

From being a pariah blacklisted and banned from entering the USA for almost a decade, to being a state guest – ironies have many twists! Nothing could be more spectacular than Modi brandishing designer outfits to impress his suitors – a virtual who’s who of the US high societies -- who now jostle with each others to have a tete-a-tete with the new Indian prime minister with a perceptible business friendly image. 

Modi leaves for the US on September 25-26 for nearly seven days following an invitation by the US President Barrack Obama to visit the country. During his visit he will also address the UN General Assembly in New York on September 27.

There are many subtleties involved in Modi’s visit to the land of Uncle Sam – which had since 2005 denied him a Visa, holding him accountable for the deaths of about  ‘1200’ muslims (the USA estimate) in the Gujarat riots of 2001.

One such subtlety is that he would be fasting all through his visit as it coincides with the Hindu festival – Navratri. It is to be seen if it provides enough fodder to the American media to play up his perceived ‘Hindu Fundamentalist’ image at the backdrop of the ‘anti-Modi’ protest rallies and black flag demonstrations by certain groups such as the recently formed Alliance for Justice and Accountability (AJA) and the Sikh For Justice for his alleged role in the Gujarat riots. (Even a state cabinet run news portal in Communist China had published an article by a Pakistani journalist that called Modi a "Hindu fundamentalist" that coincided with the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India!).

Modi meets his host Obama in Washington only during the last leg of his visit – on September 30. There is no state dinner hosted in his honour though. Media reports citing White House officials say this was because “Modi did not hold the rank of head of state”. Yet, Obama had not only hosted a state dinner for Modi’s immediate predecessor Manmohan Singh but it was even the most expensive one wherein the Obama administration had spent a whopping USD 572,187.36 on November 24, 2009. Modi, though, will be at the White House for an ‘exclusive dinner’ (yet he will be fasting then!) with Obama and his top cabinet colleagues on September 29!

Yet another subtlety of his visit is that he would not be addressing the CEOs’ Forum – an influential conglomerate of Indian and American CEOs. It had been customary for a visiting Indian PM to address the Forum and even White House took its recommendations seriously. Consider a White House Communiqué  of 2009 that stated thus: “Recognizing the vital role bilateral commerce plays in the global strategic partnership, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh highlighted the importance of the U.S.-India CEO Forum and the progress made in implementing its recommendations.”

Modi instead meets the corporate honchos in Washington at the Chamber of Commerce -- a part of a US-India Business Council reception for him. 

Much is at stake during Modi’s visit to the USA as tensions grip the two democracies over trade and spying of the Bharatiya Janata Party before it came to power at the centre this year.

The biggest challenge for both Modi and Obama is to earn the trust of each other. Already the bilateral ties have ebbed on many counts as India –

• Ranks right at the top among United State Trade Representative's list of "baddies". (USTR is an agency of more than 200 committed professionals that negotiates directly with foreign governments to create trade agreements, to resolve disputes, and to participate in global trade policy organizations).
• Faces US sanctions for solar imports, and faces challenges from the US on its solar program at the World  Trade Organization.

 Besides, India's recent resistance to the WTO’s trade facilitation agreement on grounds that it did not address India’s food security concerns, and coincided with the US Secretary of State JohnKerry’s visit to New Delhi in July this year, too has not been received well by Washington. Only recently US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Nisha Biswal had said that India’s stance “undermines India's interests…”.

It is expected for Modi to do a lot of explanation on the controversial retroactive taxes and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as well.

Obviously, behind the pomp and show – much is being talked about his Madison Square Garden interaction with 18,000 strong members of the Indian diaspora during his stay at New York – lies much serious challenges before the Indian Prime Minister. He is in for some hard talks on:

·         India’s long pending demand for a ‘Totalisation Agreement’ to ensure social security coverage for Indians working in the US;

·         India’s concerns about the proposed US Immigration Bill -- The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S 744)-- that adversely impacts the Indian IT industry by creating an uneven playing field if passed in the current form. The new bill provides imposition of new restrictions and higher fees on H-1B and L1 visa programmes on the international IT services sector;

·         The Indo-US civil nuclear deal that has got stuck midway over the differences on the ways to implement the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act or Nuclear Liability Act. (It may be mentioned that US disagrees to the Indian clause to the Liability Law that enables Indian plant operators to obtain compensation from foreign suppliers, in case of any damage caused by nuclear accidents. The US wants India to align its liability law with the international law - Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage). The present deadlock has dismayed the US as this has prevented the participation of the US nulear industry in the Indian nuclear space even after six years of the Indo-US pact;

·         Intellectual Property Rights, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry;

·         US conditional offer to provide clean technologies for low carbon growth that India has rejected on grounds that it could be possible only if the US provide technical knowhow on clean technologies without any riders.

Can Modi deliver in course of his maiden visit to the US as Indian Prime Minister?

It is worth pointing out that though Washington was late to warm up to Modi, Obama indeed has been quick to rectify the American stance vis a vis the Indian Prime Minister. This was marked with the visits in quick succession by  three top members of his team — secretary of state John Kerry, defence secretary Chuck Hagel and commerce secretary Penny Pritzker – to India.

Obviously this indicates the USA’s desire to engage Modi. But can Modi leverage this US mood swing to his gain? He is expected to clinch deals with the USA on defence supplies and on investment fronts. Yet, even prospective investors would be keenly watching his performance at the world stage in the USA! On political front, he though starts on the right note by meeting the Clintons – particularly when former President Bill’s wife Hillary Clinton is widely seen as a future Presidential candidate. And his reported refusal to meet Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief at the UN General Assembly, too will have a media impact.

Last but not the least, his meeting with Nobel Prize-winner Harold Eliot Varmus, director of the National Cancer Institute, his visit to Ground Zero (the site of the 9/11 terror strike in New York) and his address at the annual festival of Global Citizen Initiative, a movement for eradication of extreme poverty, would definitely give him desired publicity on his concerns on the contentious issues – health, terrorism and poverty, respectively, on the global stage. Afterall, Modi does need an image makeover. Particularly in the USA!