Mega rally to start Trump's first official visit to India
24 February, 2020
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is defined to welcome his US counterpart Donald Trump to India with an enormous rally on Monday (Feb 24), kicking off a two-day visit apt to be more about pomp and ceremony than concrete agreements.
The American president, in his first official visit to India, will deliver a speech at the world's biggest cricket stadium at a "Namaste Trump" rally watched by at least 100,000 people in Modi's home state of Gujarat.
The rally will come in the wake of the wildly successful "Howdy, Modi" extravaganza in Houston this past year that highlighted the bond between your nationalist leaders.
A visit to the Taj Mahal with the First Lady Melania is on the cards, accompanied by talks with Modi in the administrative centre New Delhi on Tuesday.
"The president will probably India as a demonstration of the strong and enduring ties between our two countries," a senior US administration official told reporters ahead of the trip.
"This has been exemplified by the very close relationship between your president and Prime Minister Modi."
There were fevered preparations by personnel in Gujarat's capital Ahmedabad on the stadium, where construction has yet to be completed and which officials said would be inaugurated at a later time instead of by Trump.
Over the city, giant cutouts of Modi, Trump and Melania were on display alongside national flags.
Thousands of posters with the words "world's oldest democracy meets world's major democracy" and "two strong nations, one great friendship" were erected every 10 metres along Ahmedabad's major roads.
Trump meanwhile tweeted on Sunday that he was looking "forward to being with my great friends in INDIA!" alongside a video showing his face imposed on hero "Baahubali" in one of India's biggest blockbusters of the same name.
TRADE TENSIONS
But behind the platitudes and warm rapport between your two leaders lies a fraught relationship worsened by the trade protectionism of both governments.
Tensions have risen with Trump's "America First" technique to reduce the US trade deficit and Modi's "Make in India" drive for Asia's third-largest economy.
Rather than wide-ranging trade deal, reports said Trump and Modi may instead ink smaller agreements covering Harley-Davidson motorcycle imports and American milk products, together with defence pacts.
Also on the cards could be the supply of six nuclear reactors, the fruit of a landmark atomic accord in 2008.
An Indian government spokesman said the South Asian giant "wouldn't normally like to rush right into a deal", adding that the problems involved were "complicated".
"The big missing deliverable at least for the present time seems likely to be the main one both countries had sought, which may be the trade deal," Tanvi Madan from the Brookings Institution told reporters.
Other points of friction include defence, with Russia remaining India's biggest supplier despite a possible US$2.4-billion deal for American helicopters.
THE UNITED STATES has pressured India to avoid buying Iranian oil, while US businesses have raised concerns over New Delhi's plans to force foreign organizations to store Indian consumers' personal data inside country.
In Washington, India has faced criticism over its clampdown in restive Kashmir, and a recently passed citizenship law that critics say is anti-Muslim and which includes resulted in ongoing protests over the nation.
A senior US administration official told reporters Trump would raise concerns about religious freedom in the Hindu-majority nation through the trip, "which is really important to this administration".
"We are worried ... and I feel that the president will discuss these issues in his meetings with Prime Minister Modi and note that the world is looking to India to keep to uphold its democratic traditions, respect for religious minorities," the state added.
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