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Indian prime minister Narendra Modi pulled off a calibrated masterstroke when US president Barack Obama accepted his invitation to attend the Republic Day parade as the guest of honour.
First, Modi broke the unexpected news on Twitter. In response to this was the White House’s affirmative tweet that the US president was preparing for the ceremony on Jan. 26 in New Delhi. Since 1950, the country has hosted heads of state of other countries as chief guests for its Republic Day, a holiday that commemorates the adoption of the Indian Constitution.
It is, no doubt, a deft political move by the new prime minister, precisely because conventional wisdom suggested Modi would keep the US at arm’s length. However, as Milan Vaishnav, the South Asia associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Quartz, “No single visit can cement US-India ties; the hard work is always in the follow-up. And there, we see plenty of lingering issues between the two democracies from trade to climate change to intellectual property.”
As explained in this Brookings report, building Indo-US relations would require both time and dexterity. Take for instance the fact that the US denied Modi a US visa for a decade, over his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Then, the arrest of India’s deputy counsel general, Devyani Khobragade, in New York last year, opened a can of worms of estranged diplomacy between the two countries.
“Obama’s acceptance indicates he intends to redouble his efforts on the pivot—and he is likely to find a much more willing partner on the other end. Given India’s economic struggles and the imperative for foreign investment and technology transfer, closer ties with the US are essential,” said Vaishnav. “But where this visit can play an important role is sending a signal to the respective bureaucracies that there is a political imperative from the very top to find ways of working together and overcoming past differences.”
Modi has decided to honour Obama at a time when his own country has written him off ? Quartz
First, Modi broke the unexpected news on Twitter. In response to this was the White House’s affirmative tweet that the US president was preparing for the ceremony on Jan. 26 in New Delhi. Since 1950, the country has hosted heads of state of other countries as chief guests for its Republic Day, a holiday that commemorates the adoption of the Indian Constitution.
It is, no doubt, a deft political move by the new prime minister, precisely because conventional wisdom suggested Modi would keep the US at arm’s length. However, as Milan Vaishnav, the South Asia associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Quartz, “No single visit can cement US-India ties; the hard work is always in the follow-up. And there, we see plenty of lingering issues between the two democracies from trade to climate change to intellectual property.”
As explained in this Brookings report, building Indo-US relations would require both time and dexterity. Take for instance the fact that the US denied Modi a US visa for a decade, over his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Then, the arrest of India’s deputy counsel general, Devyani Khobragade, in New York last year, opened a can of worms of estranged diplomacy between the two countries.
“Obama’s acceptance indicates he intends to redouble his efforts on the pivot—and he is likely to find a much more willing partner on the other end. Given India’s economic struggles and the imperative for foreign investment and technology transfer, closer ties with the US are essential,” said Vaishnav. “But where this visit can play an important role is sending a signal to the respective bureaucracies that there is a political imperative from the very top to find ways of working together and overcoming past differences.”
Modi has decided to honour Obama at a time when his own country has written him off ? Quartz
