Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup
Kem Cho Obama! Modi's " Aswamedha" (Conquest) in USA.
The 'Kem cho' moment
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic official visit to USA has gone down in history as an episode when the untouchable and persona non grata Modi that he was to President Obama and his government made them all stand in line and salute him, pay all the obeisance overtures and ovations and even kowtow to his deft diplomatic moves..A moment of sweet revenge, although he never rubbed the ignominy in to them. Navarathri not only signifies victory of good over evil but also rejuvenation and resurrection, and the greatness of it all was that everyone involved felt the change.
What if Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was on Navarathri fast - to the great wonder and amazement of Americans - and President Barack Obama couldn’t really break bread together, but they bonded over political banter. For Obama and Modi, the visit was all about the basics: getting to know each other, committing to get the relationship back on track, and promising to push toward even greater cooperation. To others, the visit amounted to an official clearing of the air after Modi's visa issue and India's outrage at the arrest in New York last year of one of its diplomats,.Devyani Khobragaede.
There were uniquely a number of 'firsts' on Modi's trip to USA. An epic arrival for any international delegation and unprecedented Indian-American enthusiasm; Unprecedented business CEO interactions; Joint Vision Statement of a modal-for-world strategic partnership; Modi-Obama joint editorial; Modi's Hollywood tryst; and all these accomplishments on religious fast by any Indian PM or any PM in the world!
Modi had three clear objectives when he set out for USA. His main aim of the trip appears to have been to send out the message that India was strong, and that India is ready to engage with Indian-Americans and the US . Modi wanted to show the United States that it's a very different India today and to convince his interlocutors that energy was back in India Apart from that,his most important outreach was to American business. This is part of his "Make in India" drive, and part of the holy triumvirate with "Clean India" and "Clean Ganga". The third aspect of his visit was the outreach to the Indian-American community, which is among the wealthiest, best educated and influential. He wants the Indian "lobby" to evolve into something approaching the Jewish lobby and to influence US policies and approaches towards India.
Modi's meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and the American Jewish Committee touched another important part of this outreach. For the first time in years, Narendra Modi brought the India-Israel ties out of the closet, making the Netanyahu meeting the only one bilateral outside of South Asia. At the same time, with Obama, Modi established two things — that the discomforts of the past were behind him, but he wouldn't be a pushover in tough negotiations, on WTO or elsewhere.
The major gains and accomplishments by Modi in the engagement he had with Obama could now be enumerated: On the trade and economic front, U.S. will help develop 'smart cities' Ajmer,Visahakapatnam and Allahabad. Partnership in Digital India initiative to enhance digital infrastructure, e-governance, and e-services. Set up 'infrastructure collaboration platform' with single point of contact that will identify critical infra needs and ensure greater US industry presence in infra projects.Push an' investment initiative' to help institutional investors and corporate houses to invest in India. Extend an Indo-pacificEconomic corridor to Myanmar and South East Asia, identifying critical ports, rail, aviation, and intermodal infra projects.
The United States is promoting a New Silk Road initiative linking Central and South Asia in four key areas: Regional Energy Markets, Trade and Transport, Customs and Border Operations, Businesses and People-to-People. India has endorsed the US-sponsored new Silk Road idea. A few weeks ago, India refrained from joining China's maritime Silk Road initiative put forward by Xi Jinping.
In strategic consultations, an UN and Multilateral Issues Dialogue dealing with UN's role, development, and UN reforms, and also an Indian Ocean Region Dialogue will be commenced.
In the matter of mutual ties, close collaboration wth National Defence Universities, visa on arrival for US nationals, increased participation for Indians in US Global Entry Program, supply of advanced defense vehicles, MOU in environmental and occupational health fields, were agreed upon.
In a push for science and tech, Joint mission on climate change impacts, in space exploration, Indian participation in Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project,and Mars Working Group, creating a clean energy finance forum, and MOU in matters of renewable energy issues were decided on.
The immediate effect of these whole spectrum of Indo-American forward movements is emerging. According to an assessment done by ASSOCHAM's newly-opened US office in New York, US policy-makers, think tanks, Congressional leaders across bi-partisan line and most significantly CEOs of top Fortune 500 companies believe that PM Narendra Modi and his NDA government can deliver and transform India into a modern nation with democratic values and America Inc would like to engage with this transformation,
Kem Cho Obama! Modi's " Aswamedha" (Conquest) in USA.
The 'Kem cho' moment
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historic official visit to USA has gone down in history as an episode when the untouchable and persona non grata Modi that he was to President Obama and his government made them all stand in line and salute him, pay all the obeisance overtures and ovations and even kowtow to his deft diplomatic moves..A moment of sweet revenge, although he never rubbed the ignominy in to them. Navarathri not only signifies victory of good over evil but also rejuvenation and resurrection, and the greatness of it all was that everyone involved felt the change.
What if Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was on Navarathri fast - to the great wonder and amazement of Americans - and President Barack Obama couldn’t really break bread together, but they bonded over political banter. For Obama and Modi, the visit was all about the basics: getting to know each other, committing to get the relationship back on track, and promising to push toward even greater cooperation. To others, the visit amounted to an official clearing of the air after Modi's visa issue and India's outrage at the arrest in New York last year of one of its diplomats,.Devyani Khobragaede.
There were uniquely a number of 'firsts' on Modi's trip to USA. An epic arrival for any international delegation and unprecedented Indian-American enthusiasm; Unprecedented business CEO interactions; Joint Vision Statement of a modal-for-world strategic partnership; Modi-Obama joint editorial; Modi's Hollywood tryst; and all these accomplishments on religious fast by any Indian PM or any PM in the world!
Modi had three clear objectives when he set out for USA. His main aim of the trip appears to have been to send out the message that India was strong, and that India is ready to engage with Indian-Americans and the US . Modi wanted to show the United States that it's a very different India today and to convince his interlocutors that energy was back in India Apart from that,his most important outreach was to American business. This is part of his "Make in India" drive, and part of the holy triumvirate with "Clean India" and "Clean Ganga". The third aspect of his visit was the outreach to the Indian-American community, which is among the wealthiest, best educated and influential. He wants the Indian "lobby" to evolve into something approaching the Jewish lobby and to influence US policies and approaches towards India.
Modi's meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and the American Jewish Committee touched another important part of this outreach. For the first time in years, Narendra Modi brought the India-Israel ties out of the closet, making the Netanyahu meeting the only one bilateral outside of South Asia. At the same time, with Obama, Modi established two things — that the discomforts of the past were behind him, but he wouldn't be a pushover in tough negotiations, on WTO or elsewhere.
The major gains and accomplishments by Modi in the engagement he had with Obama could now be enumerated: On the trade and economic front, U.S. will help develop 'smart cities' Ajmer,Visahakapatnam and Allahabad. Partnership in Digital India initiative to enhance digital infrastructure, e-governance, and e-services. Set up 'infrastructure collaboration platform' with single point of contact that will identify critical infra needs and ensure greater US industry presence in infra projects.Push an' investment initiative' to help institutional investors and corporate houses to invest in India. Extend an Indo-pacificEconomic corridor to Myanmar and South East Asia, identifying critical ports, rail, aviation, and intermodal infra projects.
The United States is promoting a New Silk Road initiative linking Central and South Asia in four key areas: Regional Energy Markets, Trade and Transport, Customs and Border Operations, Businesses and People-to-People. India has endorsed the US-sponsored new Silk Road idea. A few weeks ago, India refrained from joining China's maritime Silk Road initiative put forward by Xi Jinping.
In strategic consultations, an UN and Multilateral Issues Dialogue dealing with UN's role, development, and UN reforms, and also an Indian Ocean Region Dialogue will be commenced.
In the matter of mutual ties, close collaboration wth National Defence Universities, visa on arrival for US nationals, increased participation for Indians in US Global Entry Program, supply of advanced defense vehicles, MOU in environmental and occupational health fields, were agreed upon.
In a push for science and tech, Joint mission on climate change impacts, in space exploration, Indian participation in Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project,and Mars Working Group, creating a clean energy finance forum, and MOU in matters of renewable energy issues were decided on.
The immediate effect of these whole spectrum of Indo-American forward movements is emerging. According to an assessment done by ASSOCHAM's newly-opened US office in New York, US policy-makers, think tanks, Congressional leaders across bi-partisan line and most significantly CEOs of top Fortune 500 companies believe that PM Narendra Modi and his NDA government can deliver and transform India into a modern nation with democratic values and America Inc would like to engage with this transformation,
