U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to India will be remembered for its extravagance. The personal chemistry between the host and the guest has been very evident; both leaders have taken care to make the other feel good. But the grand gala is conspicuous in its absence of substantial output. There has hardly been anything of significance about fighting terrorism too. The results of the mega-event have not matched its rhetoric.
Dr. D.V.G. Sankararao,
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The U.S. President Trump has said that in 70 years, India has become an economic giant and is one of the most amazing nations anywhere in the world (Page 1, “Donald Trump calls Modi a ‘true friend’, lavishes praise on PM”, February 25). The foundation was laid by other leaders, especially by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, by dint of hard work. Mr. Trump found no time to mention his name even once. But praise was heaped on our current leader. Equally jarring was Mr. Trump not mentioning Mahatma Gandhi’s name even in the visitors’ book at Sabarmati ashram. It is ironic that Mr. Trump could recall the film ‘Sholay’, Shah Rukh Khan, Virat Kohli but not Nehru or Gandhiji.
V.N. Gopal,
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The Trump-Modi bonhomie is understandable but whether the much-professed friendship would help the cause of India is doubtful. There is no guarantee that the U.S. would not, in future, sell its “most feared” weapons (Inside pages, February 25) to Pakistan too, as the U.S. is known to foster only its business and strategic interests first over and above anything else. In as much the same way, the fact that most CEOs of American MNCs, are or were, Indians or of Indian origin, is of no comfort to India as they cannot afford to be India-centric in their business overreach.
Sivamani Vasudevan,
Chennai
I write to point out the issue of translation in connection with the Trump visit. North Indian bureaus of the daily seem to be extremely comfortable in harbouring the popular myth that all Indians know and speak the Hindi language. In reporting Mr. Trump’s tweet in Hindi, the tweet has been reproduced in its entirety without an English translation. One expects sensitivity towards the non-Hindi speakers in this country. Yours in extreme exasperation.
Arjun Cherian Kovoor,
Kottayam, Kerala
President Trump’s visit to India has run into a problem with names: specifically those of the two great cricket players, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, whose names he completely mispronounced. There are many names in the world that are difficult to pronounce but not these two, and surely Mr. Trump would have heard their names before and how to pronounce them. If a name is difficult then a pre-apology, ‘I’m not sure if I am going to pronounce this correctly’, would be a good option. Since it was obvious that he was reading the names syllable by syllable he should have apologised later. Had an Indian politician introduced the American leader with the gross mispronunciation of his name ‘Trump’, there would have been a diplomatic incident! I wait to hear his apology.
Dennis Fitzgerald,
Melbourne, Australia