The Indians are coming! The Indians are coming!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This week sees the arrival of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to U.S. shores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This may not initially seem remarkable, after all, world leaders often pop into each other\u2019s countries, lead trade delegations, or attend conferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in these stressed and strained geo-political times, the visit of the Indian Premier to Washington has raised a few eyebrows from Moscow to Mumbai, Karachi to Kiev.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also fits into a current theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
American sports and business leaders have been tussling over the past few weeks how best to balance their commercial desires with their social obligations. PGA Golf and its decision to partner with Saudi Arabia\u2019s PIF hit the headlines, and Budweiser, Target and Chick-Fil-A\u2019s toe-dipping into the \u2018woke wars\u2019 drew miles of column inches and commentary, spurring product boycotts and consumer outrage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi\u2019s visit also questions our politicians\u2019 ability to get the balance right between their commercial needs and wider social values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi is a complex character. He worked for and still belongs to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an extreme Hindu Nationalist paramilitary group whose members assassinated Mahatma Ghandi at the dawn of Indian democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in 2005, Modi was denied a visa to visit the United States on the grounds of his \u2018severe violations of religious freedoms<\/em>\u201d when he was chief minister of Gujarat state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was planning to speak at a huge rally of Indian Americans to raise funds for his then new Bharatiya Janata Party -the BPJ – which had emerged out of the hard right Hindu Nationalist movement. The BPJ had, and still retains, ties to street gangs, radical militia and the Bajrang Dal<\/em> \u2013 a group which recruits young men from the sprawling slums around India\u2019s biggest cities to attack and intimidate Muslim and citizens of other faiths, curiously, often in the name of protecting cows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the New Yorker,<\/em> Paul Richard Brass, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Washington, called the Bajrang Dal<\/em> \u201ca somewhat pathetic but nevertheless dangerous version of the Nazi brownshirts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pathetic or not, these concerns were enough for George W. Bush\u2019s administration to declare Modi \u2013 \u2018persona non grata\u2019<\/em> and deny him a visa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 18 years later, the thousands of murders, deaths and persecution of Muslims, Christians, Bhuddists and others will be swept aside as the rose petals and garlands are laid out to welcome now Prime Minister Modi to D.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What has changed? Certainly not the rise of Hindu Nationalism. The Modi Government has overseen a range of new rules and laws which discriminate against ethnic and religious minorities and have prompted a violent rise in mob rule \u2018enforcement\u2019 including lynching, stoning and beatings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why is President Biden so keen to embrace Modi?<\/p>\n\n\n\n India is now the world\u2019s most populous country, surpassing China, and with tension between Beijing and Washington at a high, Biden is keen to have other options for cheap manufacturing and an export market for US firms to serve India\u2019s emerging middle class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Apple CEO Tim Cook and FedEx\u2019 boss Raj Subramaniam are part of the welcome committee for Modi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But \u2018big politics\u2019 is in play also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Modi has retained a relationship with Putin\u2019s Russia, refusing to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, and India is the largest purchaser of Russian coal, oil and gas, undermining the West\u2019s embargo. India relies on Russia for its defence imports too \u2013 fighter planes, surface-air missiles and drone technology included – though Russia\u2019s own desperate need for military hardware has made it miss some recent delivery days to customers like India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sensing an opportunity, perhaps Biden hopes to turn Modi\u2019s India away from Moscow, and the state banquet being thrown in his honor includes the heads of many US Big Defence companies and contractors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And weakening Modi\u2019s friendship with China President Xi Jinping, days after Biden called the Chinese Communist leader \u2018a dictator\u2019<\/em> will also be on the cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indian troops and Chinese troops are in a constant standoff along the Himalaya border, a point Biden\u2019s advisors will surely want to make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, while geo-political allegiances and billion-dollar contracts are likely to dominate the news coming out of the Modi visit these next few days, don\u2019t expect to hear much about the Modi administration\u2019s human rights abuses, the institutionalised racism and discrimination rampant in India, the tragic circumstances of the Dalit \u2013 the scheduled class widely referred to as \u2018untouchables\u2019 -or the environmental damage India is doing to global air, water and land quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Modi is to move closer to the west, it isn\u2019t going to be because we pointed out all his faults and shortcomings. I expect lots of talk about the opportunities to partner and work together to realise India\u2019s economic ambitions, and plenty of business correspondents talking up the huge opportunity for US firms in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, of course, there is the little matter of votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Indian diaspora in America is huge and a powerful voting block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indian Americans sit at the top table of many tech and manufacturing firms and direct their political action committees and funds. Indian American politicians are starting to mobilise too \u2013 Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley are two second-generation Indian Americans seeking the Republican Presidential nomination to unseat Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With elections looming in both nations, important stakeholder and funding groups will be invited to attend, view and participate in big ticket dinners and events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, hold your nose, enjoy your vegan treats, and wonder at all that saffron coloured fabric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That, sadly, is politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week Martin anticipates the state visit of Indian Premier Modi to America and wonders what will be said, and just as importantly, what won’t!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":80055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1630,1541,21],"tags":[2383,1849,2896,875],"class_list":["post-80054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-week-in-america","category-big-news","category-blogs","tag-a-week-in-america","tag-martin-liptrot","tag-united-states","tag-us"],"views":596,"yoast_head":"\n