Once a political ‘pariah’, today Narendra Modi is the most trusted allay of US. For recasting the image it too took Modi four Yatras to America during his two-year term of Prime Ministership of India. Modi did not waste time in reviving and strengthening the bond putting aside previous controversies as he grasped the importance of the bilateral relationship and the potential for some smart image management. Modi managed to hit it off with US President Obama – a feat that still puzzles many — and this was crucial to lifting ties. The bemusement is in good measure due to the alleged contrast between Obama’s commitment to minority rights and dissent and Modi’s purported moorings in RSS. But Modi side-stepped stereotypes and connected with Obama on issues like climate change and China and leveraged his big parliamentary majority. Not unlike his predecessor Manmohan Singh, Modi understood that much of India’s aspirations for a global role as an economic and military power would remain unfulfilled without accessing US technology and finance. The warm relationship with Obama created after the first visit was crucial for his plans to push Indian interests ranging from Pakistan, China, technology, investments, defence, climate change to admission to the NSG. Bilateral ties with China would always be difficult, not the least because economic and military muscle gave the Chinese a sense of superiority. The US was essential to India’s efforts to seek a more equitable deal from China. Years of tough sanctions related to dual use technology had hurt Indian science and industry with even improving monsoon predictions becoming a labourious task in the absence of sophisticated computers and satellite data. The relationship gained momentum under Manmohan Singh with the nuclear deal being concluded during UPA-1, but ties lost steam in his second term. Though his win in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections – and the decimation of Congress -gave him huge legitimacy, Modi still needed to shake off the shadow the Gujarat riots cast on his career at home and more particularly abroad. All said and done what is needed is less of rhetoric and more of reforms to take the development agenda further and the success of the yatra would be judged on India’s status in getting into the NSG bandwagon.
