Several hours before United States President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the plan to set up a hotline between the two of them, it was clear that their conversations had already been warm and crackling with chemistry. As Air Force One touched down in Delhi on Sunday, PM Modi appeared on the tarmac. In a break from protocol — a break that former PM Manmohan Singh had made for former U.S. President Bush in 2006 and President Obama in 2010 as well — PM Modi personally greeted Mr. Obama as he alighted from the plane. But unlike his predecessor, he met Mr. Obama with a big hug.
PM Modi greeted U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama with a handshake, in what was reportedly their first meeting ever, given Mrs. Obama hadn’t attended President Obama’s dinner at the White House in September. The two leaders then chatted, as old friends would: even though they first met only four months ago; this is their fourth meeting since then. “This is a chemistry that has brought not only Barack and me closer,” said Mr. Modi at their joint press interaction, “But also U.S. and India, and their people closer together. Bilateral relations depend on such chemistry.” Mr. Obama spoke of how the PM was getting “less sleep than even I do these days,” with a bonhomie that outstripped the famous “bro-mance” between Mr. Modi and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.
Referring to each other simply as “Barack” and “Modi”, the two leaders made it clear that they had been in touch over the telephone quite often. “We talk, we gossip, we crack jokes and share a lot together,” said Mr. Modi. Mr. Obama attempted a more serious spin to the relationship, saying, “Part of the reason we are such natural partners is because we share values as democracies, entrepreneurial nations, people who believe in freedoms…. so it is not surprising that we have a friendship because hopefully we reflect the values of our peoples.”
However, the most watched moment of the relationship came at tea-time, when the two leaders stepped out of Hyderabad House for a well-choreographed tête-à-tête. This was the moment PMO officials had been saying would be the equivalent of their “Martin Luther King moment” at the memorial in Washington.
As the two leaders sat on sofas arranged for them on the lawns under a specially-built shamiana, television and still cameras were allowed to capture their visuals — but not their audio — from a designated perch atop Hyderabad House. As the cameras clicked, PM Modi poured tea for President Obama, and both leaders were seen smiling together. When asked by a journalist what they had spoken about, Mr. Modi said, “ Pardein mein rehne do [Let it remain behind a curtain].”
