With > 35 engagements planned over five days , Prime Minister >Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States will be a whirl of events. He will take centre-stage in Madison Square Garden and Central Park, not to mention the world stage at the United Nations General Assembly, and meet, albeit fleetingly, dozens of leaders on his maiden official visit to the U.S. On the back of those, he will meet with President Barack Obama, for an opportunity to “redefine India-U.S. relations” and set the course for the next few years. But this is easier said than done. India and the U.S. have had differences over several issues for years now, from New Delhi’s insistence on >uncapped nuclear suppliers’ liability , to trade issues including food stocks and the protection of Indian pharmaceutical companies that deliver inexpensive alternatives to drugs that are either unaffordable or whose intellectual property rights are extended unreasonably after expiry. For its part, the U.S. government has justifiably felt let down over the pace of economic reforms promised by the UPA government; leading CEOs and investment bankers may well have much to say when they meet Mr. Modi over breakfast in New York. Over the past few years, India and the U.S. have also drifted apart on global issues ranging from the WTO and climate change positions to U.S. interventions in Libya and India’s refusal to back the Western call for regime change in Syria despite much pressure. India’s careful balancing act on Russian actions in Crimea also led to considerable unhappiness in Washington. As a result, the six-month-long impasse over the >Devyani Khobragade incident was as much a symptom of the ‘disconnect’ between India and the U.S., as it was of the outrage that it sparked in both countries.
Former diplomat Ashley Tellis, who has a deep understanding of the New Delhi-Washington relationship, wrote this week that the relationship has “lost its foundational moorings”. If those moorings are to be found, Mr. Modi and President Obama must spend time together, not trying to resolve every issue between the two countries but to focus instead on finding philosophical common ground. Mr. Modi’s bilateral engagements so far with >Japan , >China and the U.S. have been high on ‘deliverables’ but they have faltered when it comes to developing a shared strategic vision of the world. While garnering deals and MoUs and re-energising investor-confidence is important, more critical it is to reestablish a common understanding of the world between the two largest democracies. The former will follow the latter, and not the other way round. And this will form the road map for India and the U.S., if they are to become what President Obama promised would be the “ >defining partnership of the 21st century ”.
