US President Barack Obama will seek to leverage his burgeoning bond with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi into progress on climate change, defense and economic ties, as he will cut short his three-day trip to India to travel to Saudi Arabia to pay respects following the death of King Abdullah.
However, the more substantive portions of Obama’s trip to India appeared unlikely to be impacted by his decision to travel to Saudi Arabia. The president was due to arrive in India Sunday for meetings with Modi, AP said in a report.
Relations between the US and India have been strained in recent years, but Obama and Modi developed a good rapport during a visit in Washington last fall. Modi sought to return the favor by inviting Obama to travel to India as his guest for the annual Republic Day festivities, which mark the day in 1950 that the country’s constitution came into force.
“It took us by some surprise,” said Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser. “There’s a great affinity between the United States and India and our people, but there’s also a history that is complicated and that would have made it seem highly unlikely that a US president would be sitting with India’s leaders at their Republic Day ceremony.”
After some internal deliberations, the White House accepted Modi’s offer. The visit also includes a fresh round of bilateral meetings with Modi, an economic summit with US and Indian business leaders and a visit to India’s famed Taj Mahal.
Second Visit
Obama will be the first US president to visit India twice while in office; he also traveled there in 2010 for an economic summit.
The president’s visit is expected to be heavy on symbolism and lighter on substantive advances, though climate change, economics and defense ties are all on the agenda. Indian political commentator Ashok Malik said expectations for concrete deliverables during the visit are “below the standards usually set by US presidents when they travel across the world for a three-day visit.”
Still, US and Indian officials appear to agree that even a symbolic show of solidarity between the leaders would be a sign of progress after recent difficulties.
While military cooperation and US defense sales have grown, Washington has been frustrated by India’s failure to open up to more foreign investment and to address complaints alleging intellectual property violations. India’s liability legislation has also prevented US companies from capitalizing on a landmark civil nuclear agreement between the two countries in 2008.
Relations hit a new low in 2013 when India’s deputy consul general, Devyani Khobragade, was arrested and strip-searched in New York over allegations that she lied on visa forms to bring her maid to the US while paying the woman a pittance. The official’s treatment caused outrage in New Delhi, and India retaliated against US diplomats.
Strong Message
The visit ties in neatly with Modi’s election promise that he would turn around Asia’s third-largest economy. It would also serve as a strong message to Pakistan and China — India’s closest neighbors and rivals — that Modi has a powerful ally in the United States.
For Modi, hosting Obama caps off a year of high-profile diplomatic maneuvers by a leader who was once shunned by the international community. He was denied a US visa in 2005, three years after religious riots killed more than 1,000 Muslims in the Indian state where he was the top elected official.
US officials say they hope the improving relationship between Obama and Modi will have payoffs in the policy arena. The White House plans to push India on climate change, particularly after reaching a sweeping agreement with China on limiting carbon emissions. The president will also be accompanied on his trip by several US business leaders in hopes of forging new partnerships with India.
