Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the United States (US) reflects a change in equations, where, from a time when India was more keen on working with the US, there is now a moment where the US is equally excited to work with India and both sides are keen to achieve substantive outcomes, M R Rangaswami, the founder of Indiaspora, among the most influential global Indian diaspora organisations, has said.
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The visit, Rangaswami said, will see India recognised as a global power and is driven by strategic convergence between Delhi and Washington on global issues. There is “palpable” excitement within the Indian diaspora about the visit and Modi’s popularity will be reflected in the visit, even as, given that both countries are democracies, there will also be notes of dissension, he noted.
Asked what made this visit so unique given that the PM has visited the US more than half a dozen times in his tenure, Rangaswami said, “In the last nine years since his first visit, the Indian economy has literally doubled, the India-US trade has doubled, all statistics are pointing to 45 degrees to the right. The diaspora has grown tremendously in terms of its success and impact, to the point that the Economist this week had a story on how the Indian diaspora is largest and most influential in the world. It is a combination of all these things that has caused this state visit to be so unique, so historic and is causing so much excitement.”
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{{/usCountry}}Rangaswami said that the tone had changed. “Initially, India wanted to do more with the US and there were a lot of expectations on the Indian side. The equation has altered where the US side is equally excited and wants to do stuff. Both sides want to make things happen. Given President Joe Biden’s commitment and the number of ministerial meetings that have happened, it’s clear that both sides want to make stuff happen.” He added that he hoped to see greater collaboration on the climate crisis, the existential challenge of these times.
Emphasising that while diaspora’s growing influence in politics and policy had indeed helped in driving the relationship, Rangaswami said, “But these members of the diaspora in the administration are Americans first and Indians later. That’s why I think the relationship is primarily being led by what’s happening in general geopolitically… China has been a thorny issue with the US and India. The engagement level on the global stage has been tremendous with Quad and I2U2.”
With immigration a key concern in the diaspora, Rangaswami said that visa delays for Indian students and visitors, and the long wait times for conversion from H1B to green cards and then green cards to citizenship, remained a key concern in the community. “This visit is really going to convey the frustration on both sides. It is for the Congress to push immigration reform and we haven’t seen that.”
Asked about the fault lines within the diaspora – some groups have planned protests during Modi’s visit, including in front of the White House on June 22 – Rangaswami said that Modi’s status as one one of the most popular politicians in the world will get reflected. “But both India and the US are democracies. There will be other points of view and you will see that manifest itself in protests. Democracies can get messy. His popularity will be reflected in what you see but there will be some dissension.”