NaMos US visit sparks a diplomatic stir

New York: On September 25 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be heading for New York. There is a lot of expectation on both sides. 

Many are saying Modi’s whirlwind diplomacy – with India’s neighbours, including China, and Japan – has earned him the distinction of being a turbo-charged leader among his global counterparts. And now, Prime Minister Modi is all set to sit down with the US President Barack Obama. 

Not surprisingly, the prime minister’s impending visit has become a talking point here.

Growing impact 

After his successful visit to Japan, which saw the personal warmth between Prime Minister Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Indian prime minister charmed Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot. It was followed by the recent high-profile meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in New Delhi. 

Soon, the leaders of the UK and Russian President Vladimir Putin will be heading to Delhi, proving the growing importance of engaging with India under Prime Minister Modi. And then, leaders from Africa, too, will join the queue to be part of ‘Modiplomacy’. 

Modi’s slated meeting with President Barack Obama, and the dinner in honour of the visiting Indian prime minister, have created a lot of buzz in the diplomatic circles in New York. 

The two leaders will interact on September 29 and 30, and it will be watched keenly by global leaders who will assemble to address the United Nations General Assembly. 

In the US, Modi is slated for a performance at the Madison Square Garden to woo Indian-Americans. He will also deliver a speech in Central Park, and meet the captains of American industries.

Who will say now that for a decade the same Narendra Modi was not granted a visa by the US? The Americans are now all out to extend a red carpet welcome to the Indian prime minister. 

“Narendra Modi’s foreign policy is driven by security matters when it comes to immediate neighbours, and economic factors when dealing with major powers, as evidenced by the joint statements with the world leaders. For his visit to the US, there is less that the US government can offer in terms of infrastructure development and manufacturing, at least not in the scale of Japan or China. But Prime Minister Modi’s engagements with the American private sector will be crucial for the US. It will be important for India’s development initiatives in the near future,” Richard M. Rossow, Wadhwani Chair in US-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told Mail Today. 

Bolstering ties 

While in the US, Modi will engage with many world leaders and hold bilateral meetings. He will meet Bangladeshi Prime Minister Seikh Hasina; Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakshe; the Clintons – former US president Bill Clinton and former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton; the mayor of New York, and many more. All of it will certainly add up to the wholesome efforts of both the Americans and the Indians to bolster Indo-US ties. 

Narendra Modi will be the first Indian prime minister in over a decade to stay at the US President’s guest house – the 190-year-old Blair House – when he travels to Washington on September 29. 

Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the last one to stay at the guest house. Built as a private home in 1824, Blair House has played an important role in American political, diplomatic and cultural history from Andrew Jackson’s ‘Kitchen Cabinet’, to private chats with Abraham Lincoln, to Harry S. Truman’s crucial leadership as World War II ended and the Cold War began. 

Former PM Manmohan Singh never stayed in the Blair House and always preferred a hotel during his US visits.