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Obama made all the right moves in India

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Sidharth Bhatia
Sidharth BhatiaJan 27, 2015 | 19:34

Obama made all the right moves in India

A few well chosen Hindi words; a handsome compliment to the host prime minister about his fashion sense and a quote from a landmark Hindi film - Barack Obama cannily pressed all the right buttons to please a wide range of constituencies during his short trip to India. Bollywood always gets the media and the vast, middle-class excited and Obama's "Bade, bade deshon mein…", included somewhat gratuitously yet smartly immediately became the subject of thousands of social media posts and learned television debates - optics matter a lot in politics and even international diplomacy and the Obamas are masters of managing popular culture to reach out to Americans.

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Bollywood and a professed affection for Modi's sense of style and his rise from humble origins will also play big in Indian diaspora enclaves, which is a community no American politician can ignore. Full marks to whoever was providing inputs to Obama's speeches. How times have changed!

Earlier, when heads of foreign governments came to India on official visits and followed a fairly template programme - meeting with counterpart, an announcement or two, laying wreaths at Rajghat and a speech. At best, depending on the country, one more visit, to the Taj Mahal, a milk co-operative or a tractor factory was added; it provided a good photo-op. The speeches too were on serious issues, read out solemnly in a manner befitting heads of government. At best, the visitor did a namaste or his wife wore a bindi or sari.

Things began changing some years ago in the aftermath of economic reforms, when India's global profile began changing for the better. Now India was a land of opportunity for multinationals and the Americans, as much as the British and others, wanted to open the Indian market for goods ranging from defence equipment to soft drinks. Add to that India's emergence as a backroom office for the world's companies, and the increasing numbers of Indians in the west who retain ties with their homeland and it becomes clear why a simple folding of hands will not be enough to please the audiences.

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Of course there is business to be done and much of it very serious. The US is mindful of India's strategic importance but is not likely to give up its close relationship with Pakistan. This is a very delicate balancing trick that every president has to manage. Coming up with crowd-pleasing references is part of that effort - oohing and aahing over the Taj Mahal or hailing India's tech skills is so yesterday. Bollywood it is, though one wonders if Obama, who has professed great admiration for Dr Manmohan Singh, would have read the same speech had the good doctor still been the prime minister.

Of course Obama being Obama, he did not miss out on the opportunity to talk about issues very close to his heart - inclusive growth and diversity. His statement, "India will succeed so long as it is not splintered on religions lines. The peace we seek in the world begins in the human heart" should be a warning to all those who are trying hard to polarise India. And he put in a word about safety of women, another indication that he has received good briefings about current issues in India and has incorporated them in his speeches.

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The substantive part of his trip that matter to the US a lot - the understanding on nuclear issues, climate change agreement, strategic ties - were naturally in the forefront and Obama ensured that he went back with some success to show to his own people, but not before he pleased his hosts and got a few home truths - in the nicest possible way - across. It is a visit that will be remembered for a long time.

Last updated: January 27, 2015 | 19:34
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