Recently, U.S. President Mr. Donald trump concluded his standalone visit to India, he was accompanied by his wife, first lady of United States Melania Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law. Mr. Trump was welcomed at Ahmadabad airport, he was received by our honorable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, he was welcomed with the traditional music at the airport. They reached Motera stadium, where lakh of people were waiting for the President, he addressed the people present there, President also visited the Sabarmati Ashram and remember Mahatma Gandhi. Later, he left for Agra to visit the symbol of love, the Taj Mahal. He was received at Agra airport by Uttar Pradesh CM, Yogi Adityanath and U.P. GovernorAnandi Ben, then Mr. Trump with the first lady visited the Taj Mahal and spend a considerable amount of time over there, they then left Agra after receiving a memento from Adityanath and headed towards New Delhi. Over there Melania Trump visited Sarvodaya School of Moti Bagh to see the happiness curriculum. Later in the evening, they were invited to the dinner at Rashtrapati Bhawan with the Honorable President Mr. Ram Nath Kovind, then they left for the United States. Trump’s family was so happy with this visit and Donal Trump and Melania Trump already started missing this visit.
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Now here is the important thing, that what was the outcome of this maiden visit of Trump to India, how experts are looking at it? We will look at these points in this article.
After returning from India United States President Mr. Trump talked to reporters and said that he( Narendra Modi) is a gentleman and a Great leader and India is an incredible country. He added that We were treated very, very well and we really enjoyed it. A lot of tremendous progress was made in terms of relationship – our relationship with India is extraordinary right now. He expressed hope that India and the US could reach a trade deal “that will be of great importance to both countries”, and announced agreements for India to purchase more than $3 billion in advanced US military equipment, including Apache and MH60 Romeo choppers. The US president did point to India’s “high tariffs” and vowed to ink a comprehensive, “big deal” later in the year, but he appeared overall to be tolerant of India’s compulsions. He played down the differences over trade and highlighted the importance of larger strategic cooperation, a mood that was reflected in the joint statement. Many are stating this visit to be more political in nature and less diplomatic.
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The present tension between the US and India is regarding trade and it was not addressed in this meet. The US labeled India as a tariff king and many times criticized India for higher tariffs and not letting the US products enter into the market of India. Another concern of the US is reducing its trade deficit with India and for this US is forcing India, again and again, to buy more military equipment from the US. Also few days before the visit OFFICE OF UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE put India into the list of developed nations from developing nations this move will enable US to impose countervailing duties on Indian products. India is not the only country that is facing this, this is the result of America’s first policy of President Trump. So it is very evident to the world and so India was also not expecting much from this visit.
The External Affairs Ministry had said at least five memoranda of understanding would be ready for signing, the three made ready were two on health care, and one Letter of Cooperation on LNG pipeline infrastructure. There were a few major deals signed around the visit as well, and at least two that had been expected could not be completed — the conversion of an MoU for Petronet to invest in American gas company Tellurianinto an agreement, as well as a commercial agreement for Westinghouse to build six nuclear reactors in Andhra Pradesh. The biggest outcome of this visit was the 3 billion dollars Defence deal signed between India and the US in which India will procure 24 MH-60 Romeomulti role helicopters, which will strengthen the Indian Navy and 6 more Apache helicopters. So it is clear that there no tangible benefits for India in terms of trade and only dollars will flow out of India and there is no sign of dollar coming to our country. On the other hand, good relations of US with Pakistan is not a good sign for India, US is maintaining good relationship with Pakistan because Pakistan will play a major role in Taliban deal which is very crucial for India and if this deal will be successful and the US withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, then this will a potential headache for India.
So, is there nothing good outcome for India? The answer is big no, though India did not receive any trade benefits, there are many good things, which happened during this visit. Trump refused to comment on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, or the rioting in Delhi which he called India’s internal affair. He said he had raised the issue of religious freedom at length with Modi but controlled the damage by saying that Modi made a “powerful” and re-assuring response. On Kashmir, he unnecessarily waffled on his willingness to mediate, showing his lack of diplomatic finesse in view of India’s repeated rejection of any mediation.
This shows that the strength of India’s sovereign decision and sends a strong message to the world to stay away from India’s internal matters. Also, both leaders are clear and firm against terrorism and assured to increase the cooperation to counter-terrorism from the world. Also, the US sees India as the major player to counter the presence of China in Asia and emphasized the relevance of the Quad group, which consists of U.S., India, Japan, and Australia. Also, President Trump used the term Indo- Pacific rather than the Asia Pacific, this highlights the importance of India in the region. Also, President Trump urged India to increase its cooperation in Blue Dot Network, which is designed to counter the Belt Road Initiative of China and prevent countries from falling into the debt trap of China. Trump also highlights the importance of the Malabar Naval exercise. It is now clear that trade friction won’t be allowed to spill into other domains and harm the close strategic partnership.