A new overman in the making

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Modi is aware of the practices of US politicians how they use public gathering for other events to interact people. This does not happen in India. As a thumb rule, Indian politicians kept themselves away from such events.

Following American practice, Modi joined an unusual platform of a rock concert at Central park in NY. He was introduced to the gathering by famous Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman (aka Wolverine). Jackman introduced him as a person who started his life as a tea vendor.

Modi made a little speech of about 7 min there in English. It was apparent that he was not comfortable at all in speaking English. I think he should avoid this, unless he becomes fluent enough with the language. This gives a wrong impression. This is the only mistake that he committer so far during his long trip of US.

Nevertheless, the gathering seemed not to be too concerned about this and applauded many times during his speech.

with love,
sanjay

162

nytimes.com/2014/09/29/nyreg … .html?_r=0

with love,
sanjay

163

bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-29405462

with love,
sanjay

164

Besides meeting with may politicians, businessmen and officials, Modi met with the delegations of different communities, those present the different demographies of India, within the Indo-American community.

He was trying to understand what is their expectation from India, before his public address At Madison Square Garden.

with love,
sanjay

165

The most awaited and hyped event during his whole tour of US was his address to Indian-Americans at Madison Square Garden.

This was an entirely new thing not for India but for the world. No foreign head of any state had ever done so while visiting US.

MSG has the capacity of 18,500 and news channels were saying that even US politicians find it difficult to fill it. But, there was not a single seat vacant when Modi addressed enthusiastic audience.

The environment was electrifying and audience greeted Modi with a huge roar, when he appeared at the dais.

with love,
sanjay

166

sorry.

167

The most important thing to notice at MSG was the number of US congressmen and governors present there. There were around 40 US congressmen and senators besides former and present Meyers and one governor too. I do not think that is a small number and that happened before in the case of any foreign head of the state.

All of them appeared at the stage before Modi reached there. There were introduced to the audience one by one. Then, Modi reached the stage and national anthems of both countries were sung, before Modi started his speech.

I were very seriously looking at those US politicians and wondering if they actually knew what indication their presence there were giving? Or, what message Modi was trying to give by showcasing them?

With love,
sanjay

168

If i were a US congressmen or politician, i would never go there, no matter what might happen.

Their presence was the indication is that they personally welcome and support for what Modi stood and stands for. It is was not an official occasion and US politicians were under no obligation of protocol to go there. But, they decided to welcome personally such a political/person, who was denied visa by their own country.

In other words, their presence simply means that US made a mistake in the past and they acknowledge that too. What they did not seem to understand that Modi is mocking their country by calling them on the stage. He was telling the US establishment that- Hey look! You denied visa to me but your congressmen are welcoming me.

That is shameful to me.

I am not sure what brought those 40 odd politicians to that event but that certainly shows the management skills of Modi, as he successfully convinced such a large number of legislatures of such a country, which did not see him in good color in the past.

This looks even more convincing when one considers the fact that he did that without stepping in the US. This tells that he has a good team too.

with love,
sanjay

169

Modi spoke there for about 80-90 min. As usual, he was extempore and his speech was full of rhetoric and emotions and gone very well with the audience too. They chanted his name and applauded almost his every sentence.

Lastly, he announced to remove some bureaucratic hurdles that Indo-American community has to face while investing and visiting India.

He also announced Visa on arrival scheme for all US citizens, whether of Indian origin or not. Though, it is a big ticket announcement and such are not supposed to do from non-official platforms.

But, he is known not for following rules but making those.

with love,
sanjay

170

It was more of rock star kind of atmosphere than a political gathering.

Though, I have seen his this kind of many meetings here in India but it surprised US politicians, intellectuals and media persons who were covering the event. They said that only old Obama was able to that, during the initial period of his first tenure. But, it is impossible for any foreign politician to replicate what they saw.

Besides this, the whole program was shown live on the big screen of Time Square. Local phone numbers were provided to hear the audio.

Though, US media did not paid much attention to this and they preferred the protests of Hongkong over it.

with love,
sanjay

171

These two articles more or less explain why Indian-Americans are so much exited about Modi.

slate.com/articles/news_and_ … r_the.html

blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014 … re-garden/

with love,
sanjay

172

The basic thing that people are gathering behind Modi is Hope.

It is the hope for better future, which is founded on the work and promise that he shown during his 14 year tenure as a Chief Minister of the stare of Gujrat. People believe that he is not only giving them hope but would be able to deliver too.

He is workaholic, fast, decisive and non-corruptible and very relentless in chasing goals. But, on the other hand, he depends more on bureaucrats and professionals than politicians for results. He gives autonomy to his bureaucrats to function and owns their decisions too, even if they go wrong sometimes. He is very strict on his cabinet colleagues and deals them almost like a typical boss of a private organization. His ministers have to report him once in every week about the progress of their ministry on all issues.

But, he does not like media and neither gives much interviews. He says that the whole media is biased for one reason or other. He prefers give public speeches on important occasions instead of holding press conferences.

Even, those US officials, who are with him during this visit to follow protocol, are surprised by his working routine, and given that he is on the fast since last six days and having only lime water, honey and tea, yet he managed to pull out more than 50 meetings during his 100 hour visit to US. That is not a normal thing.

with love,
sanjay

173

After the mega event of MSG, he continued to meed with diferent officials of the US establishment.

But, the big surprise came when he decided to meet with a Jewish delegation.

Not only this, Israeli PM Netanyahu visited him and both leaders had one to one talk. Netanyahu invited Modi to visit Israel, though it is most unlikely to happen.

India always had fair enough relations with Israel, once it gave Israel the recognition as a independent and sovereign country. After the death of Yasser Arafat, and the rise of militancy in the leadership of Philistine, India slightly tilted towards Israel.

Israeli govt offered its technology to India but due to domestic political issues, the Indian political leadership was always hesitant to do business openly with Israel, though backdoor diplomacy and deals were always there, but not much is in the public discourse.

Many people, even in India are unaware of the fact that Israel was the second largest arms supplier to India after Russia, till 2010.

Rightist parties, to whom Modi himself belongs, are in the favor of having close ties with Israel since long. But, they were never in the power except for six years. Leftist parties ruled India all along almost its independence and they always avoided Israel in order to appease 17% Muslim population.

Israel has almost the all technologies that US has. Thus, having ties with Israel means almost having ties with US. Secondly, US establishment does not have much control over its technology but Israel has. India can access latest US technologies without succumbing to inconvenient demands of US corporations via Israeli govt. I think Modi will follow this route. Though, Israel may demand open moral support of India on various issues in the exchange.

Moreover, Israel excels in food and small arms technologies like pistols, rifles and so on. It has also developed the best technology and knowhow to grow food crops in hostile conditions. On the other hand, India is far behind than the world average in yield percentage.

Having said that, India-Iran relation is the biggest hurdle having good relations with Israel. But, Modi will certainly add-on to the relations with Israel in one way or other.

with love,
sanjay

174

The next commitment on his schedule was to meet with the officials of CFR (The Council of Foreign Relations). He also answered there some questions about the foreign policy of India too.

On the issue of China, he said that during his recent meeting with Chinese president Xi, both realized that they have a serious issue in hand in the form of border dispute. He said that both countries are well capable to resolving this through bilateral dialogue and no third party intervention is required.

On the issue of terrorism, he once again indirectly questioned the US perception about terrorism prior 9/11. He said that it is wise to accept the seriousness of terrorism before one bomb hits your backyard. The reference was not any other but US itself. I am sure that he is not making many friends there in CFR by preaching them in their own backyard. This attitude will certainly not go well with US establishment.

with love,
sanjay

175

The visit of Modi was very carefully planned. It was divided into four parts.

The first part was addressed to international community, when he addressed UNGA and met with the heads of different countries. In this part, Modi introduced himself at the world stage for the first time.

The second part was related to US audience and Indo-American community. This was the real show of the strength of Modi, the politician. It was the show of his popularity, management and communication skills and he showed to US political brass that he is much more than it was expecting from him to be.

Though, US media underplayed his visit but he certainly made a splash in the political circles by his all-round performance.

The third part of his visit was dedicate to US businessmen, where he met almost 20 CEO’s, all fortune 500 companies. He told them about his vision, both political and economical. He asked them about their concerns and apprehensions about investing in India and gave assurance to address with the best of his abilities, as soon as possible.

All this happened in NY. Then, he moved to Washington DC for having bilateral talks with Obama Administration, the last and the most important led of his visit.

with love,
sanjay

176

As usual, Obama gave dinner in his honor.

Obama came to welcome him. Both leaders shook hands and Obama asked Modi in his native language (Gujrati) “Khem cho (How are you)? Though, Modi replied in English.

Modi bought a book named Gita, in the view of Mahatma Gandhi, as a personal gift to Obama. Besides this, he also gifted Obama some rare photographs of Martin Luther King, when he visited India. There is lot of thought process and effort behind the gifts. That book was out of print, thus it was reprinted just to gift Obama.

There was no garden-walk and both went straight to the dining room.

The food served was mostly vegetarian, except one fish and one prawn dish, but no red meat. Though, it would be better if those two dishes were avoided.

But, keeping his routine of fast of last some days, Modi had only lime water and asked others to continue with their dinner.

Both leaders talked and set the agenda of next day’s official meeting.

with love,
sanjay

177

During this interaction, both leaders agreed to write a joint editorial in the web edition of Washington Post. This was a new thing and first time any US president did that.

The editorial was some sort of vision document of the relations between two countries. It did not talk about the specifics but a general statement about the issues, on which two countries will try to evolve some sort of common understanding.

These issues are terrorism, the situation in the west-Asia and ISIL, the state of health and sanitation in poor countries, agreements regarding WTO, economical, technological and strategic relations between two countries.

Means, via that editorial, both leaders told that they have identified that these issues are important and worth discussing.

The official talk was planned for the next day. This was the last but the most important engament of Modi and perhaps the real test too.

with love,
sanjay

178

As expected, there was no joint statement issued. Indo-US relations are not in good shape since last some years for various reasons. Thus, this meeting should be seem more as a ice breaker rather than something else.

This interaction will start further round of negotiations between the diplomats at various levels. In the joint press conference, being the host, Obama gave first statement.

He said that US is acknowledging the aspirations of new India through its new leadership and we both will make sure that both countries will move forward in achieving that.

He mentioned that we tried to understand each other and more or less identified our important agreements and disagreements, and will work towards betterment of both countries keeping those into mind.

Modi started his reply by saying that this meeting of both countries is happening just some days after both countries had a meeting at mars. And, Obama did not help himself but smile.

Just like Obama, Modi also mentioned all issues, whether in agreement or disagreement. He said that India will see how far it can adjust without making compromises with its interest and he expects from US to do the same too.

He also invited thanked Obama for his welcome and invited to visit India next year too.

With love,
sanjay

179

In between both meetings with Obama, Modi visited the memorials of MLK and Gandhi and paid homage to both leaders.

He also had a meeting with John Carry and lastly, vice president gave dinner in his honor.

And, that concluded his US visit.

with love,
sanjay

180

From the Indian POV, the first and foremost takeaway from this visit, is the show of strength by Modi.

By his speech in UNGA, he showed that he has some innovative ideas and express those at any world forum without any hesitation too. Then, by the event of MSG, he showed his management skills. His interaction with different leaders, communities and businessmen, shows that he is no-nonsense and pragmatic leader and he means business.

On the front of foreign relations, Modi made Obama to say that the time has come when India should play more important role in international issues. The indication was clearly the acknowledgement of India’s pending demand of permanent birth in UNSC. The second takeaway from this visit is the US statement about using maritime routes for the development of international peaceful trade. The indication was clearly China and its aggressive policy in South-China Sea.

On economic issues, the visit was not much successful, but it was not expected to be such either, given the present redtapism prevailed in the Indian system. Having said that, Indo-American Business Association proposed investment in the tune of 41 billon $ in coming years in India.

with love,
sanjay