There is substance behind the optics of Modi’s US visit

Though there will be a temptation to view the outcome of the five-day visit by India's prime minister to the US through the prism of concrete deliverables, Narendra Modi's trip has energised a relationship that had been drifting out of control. But it has not won universal praise. The opposition Congress party has attacked the prime minister for reducing diplomacy to "event management" and trying to create an atmosphere through "cheerleaders". Mr Modi's critics are also attacking him for getting nothing substantive out of the visit.

Differences between the US and India remain on a range of key issues. American businesses have been concerned about high tariffs, retrospective tax policies, intellectual property rights protection and foreign investment restrictions. Indian concerns have revolved around visa barriers and technology transfer restrictions. Discussions on a Bilateral Investment Treaty, which aims to increase US-India trade to $500 billion (Dh1.8bn), have failed to move forward.

India is worried about the impending US departure from Afghanistan and the US views India as a less than helpful partner in managing crises from Ukraine to the Middle East. India has refused to lend support to American efforts against ISIL. This narrative would suggest Mr Modi’s visit was more about the optics than anything else.

Bur this is a myopic view of what Mr Modi managed to accomplish in his trip to the US. Simply, he has made a case for India on the global stage. Mr Modi articulated a vision of US-India ties as a relationship between equals: if America has a unique ability to absorb people from all parts of the world, argues Mr Modi, Indians too have a unique ability to become an integral part of the various societies to which they migrate and contribute to them in substantive ways.

Mr Modi’s self-assurance, which is rooted in his pride in Indian culture, also allowed him to win over the young cosmopolitan crowd in New York’s Central Park with as much ease as the non-resident Indians yearning for global recognition of their culture and nation.

When Mr Modi says that by 2022, he will ensure that every Indian has a home to live in, daunting as it may sound, many believe him. With his unprecedented outreach to the Indian American community, he is trying to instil in them a sense of pride and confidence so that they become a force that India will be able to leverage in the future.

If he tried to galvanise the Indian corporate sector to help him realise his “first develop India” vision, he tried to rally the American corporate sector by underlining his determination to use the recent cancellation of coal block allocation by India’s highest court “into an opportunity to move forward and clean up the past.”

His riposte to Pakistan at the United Nations, asking Islamabad to create an “appropriate environment” for serious bilateral dialogue “without the shadow of terrorism”, was firm but statesmanlike. Even his message to the UN was tough, suggesting the imperative of reforms for strengthening the global body or it faces becoming “irrelevant.”

Barack Obama has described America’s relationship with India as “one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century, one which will be vital to US strategic interests in Asia-Pacific and across the globe,” but the relationship has been losing traction in recent years under a rudderless government in Delhi and an Obama administration consumed by multiple crises around the world.

Mr Modi’s visit to Washington has injected new life into US-India relations. During his visit the two nations renewed the defence deal 10 years and reiterated their commitment to civil nuclear cooperation, acknowledging for the first time that there were concerns that needed to be addressed.

On India’s veto of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, both sides now concede that as they move forward they will need to take into consideration each others’ points of view.

There were no headline grabbing announcements but policies do not get transformed with a single visit. Sustained follow-up action and resources are required to have a long-term impact.

What Mr Modi has been able to achieve during his visit to the US is to lay the foundation for some of changes India is likely to make in its dealings with the world. And that is much more than mere pomp and pageantry.

Harsh V Pant is professor of international relations at King’s College London