NARENDRA Modi has become the first Indian prime minister to address the joint session of the United States Congress twice; first in 2016 during the Obama administration, and second in 2023 invited by President Joe Biden to consolidate India-US relationship and his friendship with Modi.

The Indian premier was given a warm welcome with several standing ovations and extended applause during his speech, eulogising India’s economic growth, presenting multicultural image of his country and expressing pride in the fact that US Vice-President Kamala Harris happens to be the daughter of a Tamil Indian biologist.

Modi’s speech was nothing less than self-aggrandisement. He glossed over blatant human rights violations of Kashmiris and minorities, particularly Muslims. In the US, too, black minority is still meted out racial treatment. George Floyd’s last words ‘I cannot breathe’ under the knee of a white police officer symbolise the stifling atmosphere for the black minority in the US. So, that probably gave the two countries some common ground to work with.

Modi’s crackdown on domestic opposition politicians is not a hidden secret. Recently, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, after being convicted of defamatory remarks against Modi in 2019, was barred from parliament.

Human rights violations at Guantanamo Bay detention camp and inhuman treatment of Dr Aafia Siddiqui are not different from Modi’s nationalistic policies, his bloodshed of Muslims in Gujarat and atrocities against Kashmiri freedom fighters. In India, religious places are still desecrated and rape rate is among the highest in the world. Political interference into sports, parti- cularly between Pakistan and India, is downright undemocratic. India has on multiple occasions denied visas to Pakistani players.

The US made war escapades in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and meddled in the conflict in Bosnia. Still, both the countries claim to be the champions of democracy and human rights. The difference between their claims and their track records surely gave additional common ground to the policymakers of the two countries, it seems.

Quite ridiculous was Modi’s pun on artificial intelligence (AI) which he called ‘America-India’. Artificial claims they both have in plenty, but intelligence? Perhaps, Modi confused ‘deception’ with ‘intelligence’.

The trip was all geopolitics as India is an important ally of the US in the Asia-Pacific region where China dwarfs India because of economic power. Besides, China’s friendship with Pakistan is a known and time-tested fact. To have a proxy in the region, the US formed the so-called Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), with India, Australia and Japan.

Both the US and India must realise that their economic agreements are natural as per world politics, but their geopolitical manoeuvrings can jeopardise global stability. In the movie Kandahar, an undercover Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative succeeds in fleeing Afghanistan with the help of an Afghan translator after being exposed. The translator says to the operative: “I will never see my homeland again.” The operative exclaims regretfully: “You risk your life for us. Half the time we don’t even say ‘thank you’.” In the context of its increasing love affair with the US, India will do itself no harm if it could keep that dialogue in active consideration.

M. Nadeem Nadir
Kot Ali Garh

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2023