The Obama administration is banking on a Washington visit this week by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help repair strained relations between the United States and the world’s largest democracy.
The White House has appeared eager to work with Modi since his landslide victory in May. Obama was one of the world’s first leaders to telephone Modi congratulations after his election. And Secretary of State John Kerry met with the new leader in India weeks later, calling his government and the United States “indispensable partners.”
But the talks between Obama and Modi, which the White House says will focus on economic growth and cooperation on security, clean energy, climate change and other issues, pose tricky diplomatic challenges for both leaders.
Washington has been frustrated by India’s reluctance to open its burgeoning economy to more foreign investment. And it has pushed the Indian government to do more to combat intellectual property violations.
The U.S. and India signed a landmark civil nuclear agreement in 2008 that was supposed to bring billions of dollars of investments for both countries. But the Indian parliament passed a strict liability law in 2010, making it tough for U.S. companies to broker deals to build nuclear reactors.
Relations further soured after an Indian diplomat was arrested and strip-searched last year in New York on visa fraud charges.
Adding to the tensions are lingering suspicious of Modi’s involvement in religious riots in 2002 that killed more than 1,000 Muslims in the state of Gujarat, where he was the top elected official. Because of this, he was denied a visa to enter the U.S. for some time.
Modi has denied any involvement in the riots, and India’s Supreme Court has said there was no case to bring against him.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who has been mulling a run for president in 2016, has blamed the administration for exacerbating U.S.-India tensions.
“The Obama administration has neglected the relationship and failed to build on the significant accomplishments of the George W. Bush administration in strengthening U.S.-India relations,” he said in an opinion piece for the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal website.
While military cooperation and U.S. defense sales have grown in recent years, Rubio has called on Obama to use his meeting with Modi to strengthen security ties.
The senator added Obama must push for greater trade relations between the two countries. “India’s growing population represents a consumer base that American companies are increasingly interested in engaging,” he said.
Democrats also are pushing Obama to bolster U.S.-India economic and security ties, with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez, D-N.J., calling the U.S. and India “natural partners with shared values and common interests.”
But the Democrat, in an opinion piece in the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., said the two nations are far from realizing the full potential of their relationship.
“This is a relationship that does not suffer from a lack of communication or familiarity. It has, however, unfortunately suffered from a lack of results,” he said. “With a strong push from the prime minister, President Obama and Congress, the time is right for these dialogues to translate into action.”
India has opposed the Trade Facilitation Agreement at the World Trade Organization, a proposal supported by the U.S. and the West designed to reduce trade barriers. Menendez said he hopes Modi’s visit will “present an opportunity to re-engage” in negotiations over the deal.
And with the U.S. winding down its 13-year war in Afghanistan, it’s counting on India to step up its counterterrorism efforts in the region.
Still, U.S.-Indian relations have a relatively solid base on which to build. The U.S. is India’a largest trading partner in terms of total trade, though there is room for improvement, as U.S.-China trade is more than five times than of U.S.-India trade, the liberal-leaning Brookings Institution says.
India also conducts more military exercises with the U.S. than any other country.
And the large Indian diaspora in the United States also keeps cultural and economic ties between the country’s close.
Modi spoke with thousands of those Indian-Americans during a sold-out speech of more than 18,000 people at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday before heading for Washington. He called on Indians living abroad to “join hands to serve our mother India.” About 30 U.S. lawmakers attended the event.
Besides joining Obama for dinner Monday at the White House, Modi is scheduled to attend a State Department lunch Tuesday with Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden.
But there is one small issue: Modi is fasting to honor the Hindu goddess Durga and is consuming only water or lemon-flavored water.
The White House says his dietary needs will be accommodated.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.
