Global eye modi in washington

Global eye modi in washington

There were warm words and hugs, which could dissipate at any moment.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi's limousine (खुलने वाली मोटरगाड़ी) pulled away from the White House, officials in both New Delhi and Washington could breathe a sigh of relief. The much-anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world's largest and oldest democracies and Twitter champions ended with warm words and hugs. There was no early morning presidential tweet requiring spin doctors to perform damage control. Nor did the rather terse (Brief, संक्षिप्त) joint communique, in keeping with low expectations from the visit, set foreign chanceries (कार्यालय) atwitter. Chinese media stopped at issuing its standard mild warning about the danger of entangling (कठिनाई में डालने वाला) alliances with Washington. In the world of Trumpian diplomacy, the Modi visit has to be considered a success, even if it was achieved by avoiding hard issues.
Modi, praised by Trump for having done “a great job economically”, could take home drones to track Chinese submarines in the Indian Ocean, military transport planes and attack helicopters, and strong words of support for India's battle against Pakistan-based terrorists. Trump, who has dropped the White House's traditional annual iftar dinner, was enthusiastic (उत्साहित) about joining hands with India in defeating “radical Islamic terrorism”.
In keeping with his transactional approach to foreign policy, Trump never mentioned strategic relationships but thanked India for buying US defence equipment. The President waxed eloquent (वाक्‍पटु) about SpiceJet's order of 40 Boeing airplanes “which will support thousands and thousands of American jobs”.Vice-President Pence thanked Infosys for its plan to create 10,000 jobs in his home state of Indiana. India has also committed to buy US natural gas and nuclear power plants. In keeping with the developing custom of gift bearing and flattering the Trump family, India extended an invitation to First Daughter Ivanka to lead the American delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad this autumn. Modi fortuitously (संयोगवश) landed in Washington just as the China fever created by the April visit of Xi Jinping (“a great guy”, as Trump called him) had cooled. Although official statements cautiously avoided mentioning China, the joint statements left no doubt that both countries worry about China's expanding claims and control in South China Sea. A few days earlier Trump had tweeted his disappointment about China's failure to restrain (stop) North Korea. At US insistence, India wrote a strong paragraph condemning (निंदा) North Korea to be on the same page with the Americans.
Trump, of course, was blunt in reminding Modi to remove barriers to the “export of US goods to your markets and that we reduce our trade deficit with your country”. But China, which was earlier accused by Trump of “raping” the US with its dumping, is not off the hook. US administration sources have indicated that China could be punished for building up a surplus of steel and other commodities and dumping them on the world. In another move, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who had earlier avoided personally releasing the State Department's annual human rights report, took the stage to release the human trafficking report in which China was singled out for employing thousands of North Korean workers and transferring funds directly to Pyongyang in violation of the embargo (an official ban) . The US has since imposed sanctions on Chinese institutions dealing with North Korea.
India, however, has no reason to feel schadenfreude (pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune) over Chinese discomfort. Trump has criticised India, without any factual basis, for milking countries of billions of dollars of aid in the name of fighting climate change. Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris Climate change accord ¬ widely criticised by the world, including India ¬ was the elephant in the room, as was the contentious (विवादास्पद) US plan to curb H-1B visas for Indian tech workers. By avoiding tough issues and stressing common interest in fighting terrorism Modi fared better than other visitors. But given Trump's capricious nature, the momentary warmth of his hug with Modi could dissipate at any moment with the next Twitter tantrum.