Jubilee Post News & Views
Abdul Hayee
The mega event that is scheduled to be held for US President Donald Trump has been renamed to ‘Namaste, President Trump’. According to a report, It was previously named ‘Kem Chho Trump,’ only to be renamed as the Centre opted for a national theme over a regional one. Ahmedabad is getting all dressed up to receive US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania on February 24-25. It will be Prime Minister Modi’s triumph to play host to the couple. Since 2014, Ahmedabad has hosted many world leaders such as Chinese President Xi Jinping, Prime Ministers of Japan and Israel, Shinzo Abe and Benjamin Netanyahu respectively, on their visits to the country.
Trump seems excited about a dramatic reception. “We will have five to seven million people just from the airport to the new stadium. And you know it is the largest stadium in the world. (They are) building it now. It’s almost complete and it’s the largest in the world,” Trump said. The ‘Kem Chh’o Trump event, is the continuation of the historic “Howdy Modi’rally in Boston last September.
Both leaders love this pomp and show. The timing of the visit is quite significant. For the past few months both leaders were busy dealing with domestic problems. Trump was facing his impeachment while Modi faces the challenge of economic slow down. After the Citizenship Amendment Act, there are street protests and public outcry, which are continuing. His party just lost the small state of Delhi, six months after Modi’s impressive win in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. There is also some dent in his international image on account of CAA and abrogation of Article 370.
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The US is looking for more business in India and wants to use India as a counter-weight to China. It is seeking other deliverables like cooperation in Indo-Pacific convergence etc. The main outcome could be a limited trade deal. India is demanding exemption from high duties imposed by the US on certain steel and aluminium products and resumption of export benefits to certain domestic products under their Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). “They (Indians) want to do something and we’ll see… if we can make the right deal, (we) will do it,” Trump said ahead of his first visit to India. The visit is more about economics and strategic issues than politics.
New Delhi must seize the momentum of the visit. Politically both leaders have grasped the situation that it also provides them domestic dividends. So it is a win-win situation for both if they grab the opportunity. Both politicians are right-wingleaning and promote nationalist policies, but they face very different situations in their countries. Both lead right wing parties.
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