The outcome of the first Modi-Trump meeting in the White House on Monday,  as reflected in the joint statement and the body language projected through TV, including warm handshakes and bear hugs, can be characterised as more than satisfactory. This is a welcome development, given the anxiety that had been voiced about the disruptive quotient associated with the US President and the policy u-turns he has effected with petulant panache.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

To use a sailor’s turn of phrase, team Modi merits a ‘Bravo Zulu’ (navalese for congratulations) for the methodical and determined manner in which the optics and the substantive outcome of the first meeting were brought to fruition.

Personally, I thought that the extended TV coverage accorded to this meeting was over the top,  but, perhaps, that has become the USP of the Indian news channels. A first meeting between the Indian PM and a new US President could have been dealt with in a less frenzied manner.   A tangential outcome of the Modi-Trump meetings is the birth of hysterical 24/7 TV news coverage in India,  and an important meeting was packaged as tectonic, which it was not. Major international TV channels, including American ones,  treated this meeting in a far more routine manner.

This caveat is necessary to ask an ontological question. In this era of high-octane cyber connectivity and incessant information exchanges, does an issue become more relevant or important if it is carpet-bombed by TV? Perhaps, as perceptions go — yes. And thus for about 48 hours, it appeared as if the most vital issue for India and PM Modi was the meeting with President Trump.

In the run up to June 26, Indian officials described this as a ‘no frills no thrills’ working visit but the outcome had a bit of both — the frill and the thrill!   Frill-wise PM Modi was the first guest to be hosted for a working dinner by the Trumps at the White House and the nature of the welcome went beyond the ‘working visit’ template. And as regards ‘thrills’ — the manner in which the State Department announced the listing of Hizbul leader Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist, hours before the summit meeting, had the channels salivating, but its substantive impact is minimal.

The tone for this ‘get to know’ summit was set by PM Modi on arrival when he asserted at a meeting with  US  CEOs that India considered a stronger and more prosperous America to be in its best interest. The US President reciprocated by describing himself as a “true friend” of  India in the White House and, in a departure from his predecessor, asserted: “We will destroy radical Islamic terrorism.”

From Delhi’s perspective, there is cause for satisfaction that Pakistan’s locus in nurturing terror was noted (in the detailed MEA  statement, though not in President Trump’s public remarks ), as also the need to bring the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks to justice.  Iran prudently stayed outside the details that came into the public domain but the  India-US divergence over Tehran cannot be wished away.

The more significant takeaway from the Modi-Trump meeting for me was the reference to ‘Democratic Stalwarts in the Indo-Pacific Region’  where both nations have been qualified as ‘responsible stewards’ and the sub-text is instructive. China, though, was not referred to explicitly.  

Team Modi can derive a high degree of satisfaction for having the White House come on board in empathising with its position apropos Beijing and one formulation is instructive.  “Bolstering regional economic connectivity through the transparent development of infrastructure and the use of responsible debt financing practices”  has the Belt-Road Initiative (BRI) embedded in it.  India, it may be recalled was the one major nation that stayed away from the  BRI summit in May.

The quid pro is in the reference to the North Korean WMD imbroglio where, for the first time, India joined the US “ by holding accountable all parties that support these programs.” Again, the reference to Beijing is unmistakable.  The strategic prudence of this departure in the Indian posture as regards China will be tested in the near future and the inevitability of this sequence of events can be traced to the inflexible position that Beijing has adopted over India’s admission to the NSG and the technical hold at the UNSC over the listing of global terrorists.

It is indeed cause for satisfaction that there were no disruptions at the first meeting of ace tweeters!  Do they follow each other?

The writer, a former Commodore in the Indian Navy, is Director, Society for Policy Studies, Delhi. Views expressed are personal.