PM Modi’s US visit: An opportunity for brand India

Prime Minister Modi’s upcoming visit to the US, which begins on June 21, is his first ‘state visit’ in his nine years as the Prime Minister of India. It has generated keen interest, hype and expectations among political pandits and diplomats of the two countries.

Though PM Modi has been to the US on multiple occasions to attend various international events and bilateral meets, this one will be his first ‘state visit’ at the invitation of President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden.

By American diplomatic definition - a state visit is considered the highest-ranked visit by a head of a government of a country or reigning monarch, and it is at the invitation of the US President—such a visit, held with official public ceremonies, is given to America’s closest allies and friends to convey friendly bilateral relations.

During the visit, PM Mod will stay at the Blair House, the President’s official guest house, within walking distance of the White House. In short, during a state visit, the guest, in this case, PM Modi, will receive full honours from arrival to departure, studded with a ceremony, state dinner at the White House, and a 21-gun salute.

According to political analysts, this PM Modi’s high-profile visit is seen as a significant milestone in the bilateral relationship between the two leading democracies of the world. Thus, according to people who closely follow the Indo-US relationship, this visit, just before the G20 Summit in September, signals that the US considers India, an equal partner.

The world suffered an economic meltdown due to the Wuhan virus, which led to the collapse of the global supply and resulted in the economic destruction of many small nations. Thus, the US and its business increasingly consider India a new manufacturing hub that can replace China in the new world order. Recently, Apple, the leading US company, started manufacturing iPhone 14s in India and expects to export 20 million units.

Many other American companies are looking at India as the new manufacturing hub and one that can provide skilled human resources that will contribute to innovations and, most importantly, honour and protect US patents, which China willingly compromised during the last three decades.

India’s emergence as a startup nation with nearly one lakh startups attracting youth, funding and talent will interest American businesses.

INDUS-X, a platform for startups and businesses for both countries, is organising a two days conference in Washington to coincide with Modi’s visit. It will help the participants from both nations to identify collaborations for high-tech innovations within the ambit of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). The US is wooing New Delhi as it’s trying to shift its investments to India to secure the global supply chain. According to business analysts, the US is ‘desperately courting India’ because it needs a manufacturing and military counter to China.

The growing hegemonic behaviour of Beijing, led by President XI Jinping and his wolf-warrior diplomats, has made the world and the Indo-pacific region unstable.

The visit also gains importance as both leaders will have quality time to underscore the shared commitment to keeping the Indo-pacific region free, open and secure from Chinese misadventure.

Both nations have a common interest and shared resolve to use their respective resources and strength to counter China globally and in the region.

On the agenda are agreements on trade, defence and critical minerals and significant progression of the Indo-US defence partnership. The visit might pave the way for further collaboration in areas of mutual interest, such as technology, trade, education, and clean energy.

One of the highlights of PM Modi’s visit to the US is his address to a joint session of the US Congress on June 22, making him the only Indian PM to address the joint sitting of the US Congress twice.

However, during the visit, Indian diplomacy will be tested on its neutral stand on the Russian-Ukraine war. Days before PM Modi’s visit- a US Congressional Committee recommended the inclusion of India in ‘NATO Plus’ to further boost global defence cooperation. It will be a tightrope walk for India as it holds ground on its independent foreign policy while moving closures to the US.

(The author is Founder of My Startup TV)