India’s growing stature in international politics in general and the US politics in particular was on full display as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President of the United States Donald Trump during his first US visit in his second term. The two popular leaders, having more than 50 million Twitter followers, for the first time jointly addressed a gathering of 50,000 Indian-Americans at the Howdy Modi event in Houston, where a large number of US lawmakers were also present.
PM Modi and President Trump share a good personal bond and they have invested substantial political capital to take forward India-US relationship. The affluent and powerful 4 million strong Indian Diaspora could play a critical role in the re-election of President Trump to White House in 2020. PM Modi, on the other hand, could leverage their influence to iron out some wrinkles in Indo-US ties with the incumbent US President. Of late, there have been problems in India-US ties, like issues of trade and India’s relations with Russia and Iran.Read More…
