Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to receive assurance from U.S. President Donald Trump on important bilateral issues but the U.S. leader is unlikely to address India’s core concerns on Pakistan and China. Speaking to The Hindu , diplomats said that important signals have been sent out by the White House in the prelude to Mr. Modi’s visit which showed that the U.S. will address India’s concerns over visas and bilateral defence ties.
“India has sent out signals by moving to purchase Predator drones from the U.S. Though this policy goes against India’s Make in India programme, it will serve as a hint of commitment to the Trump administration,” said former Ambassador T.P. Sreenivasan.
He however remarked that the U.S. so far has not shown any commitment to help India deal with growing Chinese-Pakistani axis.
“U.S. President has indicated that the U.S. will not hurt India in the IT sector. But the real challenges lie in the strategic concerns of India especially regarding China and Pakistan where India would require U.S. support to deal with the growing opposition from Beijing on India’s global ambition like in case of the Nuclear Suppliers Group membership,” said Mr. Sreenivasan.
May surprise Modi
President Trump has already hosted President of China Xi Jinping in April in a prominent meeting. Subsequently, he attended a major Islamic summit in Saudi Arabia where all the leaders from the Islamic world, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan, were present.
Mr. Trump who led a strong anti-China and anti-Islamic presidential campaign has already surprised by meeting President Xi and by courting the Islamic world.
However, he can also surprise Mr. Modi by taking a softer line on the visa issues even though he campaigned on providing jobs for the American citizens.
Another issue which may come up are the recent attacks on Indian-origin people in the U.S.
However, the MEA spokesperson had expressed satisfaction last week citing a decline in the number of such attacks.
Cheerful crowd
Meanwhile, PM Narendra Modi was on Sunday warmly greeted by members of the Indian community.
As Mr. Modi’s motorcade pulled up in front of the hotel where he will be staying during his three-day visit, the crowd gathered outside and standing behind a barricade burst into a huge applause and started chanting ’Modi, Modi’.
(With inputs from PTI)
