When Narendra Modi meets Donald Trump: An India First vs America First affair

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump on Monday. The talks between the two leaders could turn out to be clash between India First and America First ideas.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official tour of the US begins tomorrow. US President Donald Trump will host him over dinner after a long day of talks on June 26. This is the first working dinner that Donald Trump will be hosting as the US President for any visiting foreign leader.
This visit of Prime Minister Modi has generated more curiosity than expectations for simple reasons that this is the first meeting of two leaders who are fiercely nationalist in their outlook and won elections on their own in their respective countries. Both are known to speak their minds and talk straight-forward even on the matters of diplomacy.
Narendra Modi redefined secularism as India First in a complete break from his predecessors. Donald Trump gave the call for America First rejecting the idea of his predecessors that the US should do more for the world as large-hearted big brother.
ENTHUSIASM PRECEDES MODI'S VISIT
Before leaving for the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to social media to state that he was looking forward an in-depth exchange of views.
Narendra Modi's tweet said, "My USA visit is aimed at deepening ties between our nations. Strong India-USA ties benefit our nations and the world."
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Narendra Modi's post on Facebook said that his two-day visit to the US came in response to President Donald Trump's invitation. Modi also said that the two leaders share common concerns about the problems of the world.
Modi said, "President Trump and I have spoken on telephone prior to this. Our conversations have touched upon our common intent to take forward our productive all round engagement for the mutual benefit of our people."
Modi expressed his optimism saying, "I look forward to this opportunity to have an in-depth exchange of views on further consolidating the robust and wide ranging partnership between India and the United States,"  adding, "I look forward to building a forward-looking vision for our partnership with the new Administration in the United States under President Trump ".
I will be visiting Washington, D.C. on 24-26 June at the invitation of President Donald J. Trump.
President Trump and I have spoken on telephone prior to this. Our conversations have touched upon our common intent to take forward our productive all round engagement for the mutual benefit of our people. I look forward to this opportunity to have an in depth exchange of views on further consolidating the robust and wide ranging partnership between India and the United States.
India’s partnership with the United States is multi-layered and diverse, supported by not just Governments but all the stakeholders on both sides. I look forward to building a forward looking vision for our partnership with the new Administration in the United States under President Trump.
Apart from official meetings with President Trump and his cabinet colleagues, I will be meeting some prominent American CEOs. As in the past, I look forward to interacting with the Indian diaspora in the United States as well.


A LOT HAPPENED IN RUN UP TO MODI'S VISIT
Just two days ahead of Narendra Modi's departure for the US, Donald Trump administration announced to provide USD 7.5 million to help advance India's power grid. The US said that this would come as part of America's commitments to ensure access to affordable and reliable energy in both countries.
The US administration of Donald Trump is also believed to have cleared the sale of 22 Guardian drones to India. An official announcement is likely to be made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit. This deal is estimated to be somewhere between USD 2-3 billion.
Earlier this week, US aircraft maker Lockheed Martin and Tata signed a pact to make F-16 fighter planes in India. This will bring the two countries further closer on defence cooperation.
BUT THERE ARE POINTS OF FRICTION
Despite many commonalities that may guide the India-US relationship, there are many areas where PM Modi and President Trump may not be comfortable with each other.
H1B Visa is one issue that affects many aspiring Indians, who see their future in the United States particularly in the Silicon Valley.
Under his America First policy, Donald Trump is redrawing US immigration policies, including the H1B visa, which is big hit among the Indian software professionals. In fact, Indians are the biggest recipients of H1B visa followed by Chinese professionals.  
Modi and Trump are likely to discuss the issue of curb on H1B visa. But, it seems that they might come out with a win-win formula as reports suggest that the number H1B visas for Indian IT professionals has not really reduced.
The US administration has tried to put a curb on H1B visas for students. Secondly, Donald Trump is said to be impressed with the fact that more than one-third of the start ups in the Silicon Valley have been started by the Indian or Indian American professionals, who have created huge employment opportunities in the United States.
HATE CRIME AGAINST INDIANS
The issue of hate crime against Indians could also be a dampener during the meeting between the two leaders. The Narendra Modi government has shown extra sensitivities in handling Indians found in distress abroad.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has taken personal interest in so many cases where Indians living abroad faced difficulties. In the US, several incidents of hate crimes against Indians have been reported in past few months.
Many believe that Donald Trump's cry for America First has encouraged some elements in the US society to take it to the racist level. The government of India has raised those incidents with the US administration. Modi would definitely like Donald Trump to send a message to such elements in the US.
TIFF OVER CLIMATE CHANGE
Only a few weeks ago, Donald Trump accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to make profit out of Paris climate deal.
Pulling out of the climate accord, Donald Trump had said, "India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions and billions and billions of dollars in foreign aid from developed countries."
India rejected the charge leveled by Donald Trump saying that the US President was wrong in his assessment.
Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his message from Paris, said that protection of environment was 'an article of faith' for his government.
Trump may ask Modi to commit more towards cutting carbon emission while insisting that the US needs to secure its energy needs. This could be a point of bitter friction between the two leaders.
MAKE IN INDIA
While Trump has stated that he wants American companies to commit more investment in the US and create more jobs there employing local youths, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be pitching for Make In India during his meeting with the top CEOs of prominent American companies.
Among the top CEOs meeting Narendra Modi are Apple's Tim Cook, Walmart's Doug McMillon, Caterpillar's Jim Umpleby, Google's Sundar Pichai and Microsoft's Satya Nadella.
Modi will be addressing the Indian Diaspora at the Ritz Carlton in Tysons Corner, Virginia - a state that voted for Hillary Clinton in the fiercely contested US presidential election last year. Modi would be again making pitch for investment in India. Donald Trump may not like the idea.
However, Modi's public programme is not of the scale of his first visit when he addressed Indian Diaspora at the Madison Square in New York in September, 2014.
This is said to have been done as a measure not to offend Donald Trump, who is known for taking a swipe at the world leaders after having a bilateral meeting with them. Trump did it after his bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
THE COMMON THREAD
Despite contrasting interests, Modi and Trump may find themselves on the same page on various issues. Both leaders consider terrorism as common threat to the world peace. India and the US may see further strengthening of their cooperation against terrorism. Trump administration has stated in the past that Pakistan needed to do more in curbing terrorism from its soil.
China is another uniting factor for Narendra Modi and Donald Trump, who sees rising clout of Beijing contradictory to his America First vision. The US has been critical of China's growing influence in the Pacific region including the South China Sea.
India, on the other hand, is also concerned about China's out of the way backing of Pakistan. China has also made sure that India stays out of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). The US under Donald Trump has maintained that it is committed to deepen civil nuclear cooperation with India.
Narendra Modi is also looking for greater investment from the US in India. Modi is expected to argue that more investment and fast economic progress of India is in the interests of the United States as many American think tanks have suggested that this would help counter Chinese influence in the region.
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