Tens of thousands of people have received on Monday the president of the United States, Donald Trump, in Ahmedabad (State of Gujarat, northwest), the feud of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, where he began his official trip to the Asian country. During his first visit to India as US president, Trump plans to sign military agreements with Modi, his Administration's strategic ally. The US delegation also seeks to file harshness with New Delhi, with whom it maintains a tariff dispute when the trade war with China offers a business opportunity between the two largest democracies in the world.
As Modi announced to the delight of his American counterpart, more than 110,000 people applauded Trump from the stands of the Motera cricket stadium, the largest in the world, still under construction but decked out for the event, on a day marred by protests in the Indian capital, where security forces have charged Monday against protesters protesting the citizenship law that excludes migrant Muslims from being able to apply for asylum in India. At least one policeman has been killed in the clashes.
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Trump, who recalled during his speech to the father of Indian independence, Mahatma Gandhi, also listed the successes of the Modi government during his speech. However, it was his reference to the anti-terrorist struggle on the border with Pakistan, an irreconcilable neighbor and enemy of India, which led the most cheers. "My Government works with Pakistan to end terrorist groups and to reduce tensions among all the nations of South Asia," Trump said.
Traditional ally of Pakistan, the US has nevertheless brought closer positions with India as it distanced itself from Russia, coinciding with its economic opening in the last two decades. Proof of this is the visit to India, the fourth of a president of the White House in two decades, proof of the growing strategic alliance in the Indo-Pacific corridor. This renewed relationship will materialize with an agreement for the purchase of US military equipment worth 2.6 billion dollars, which Modi and Trump will sign on Tuesday.
But the 36-hour trip by the US delegation does not close the economic dispute between the two powers. In June 2019, the United States withdrew the Asian country from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and imposed import tariffs on exports valued at about $ 5.6 billion. Since then, Washington demands more entry into the dairy and poultry market in India, as well as less control over medical devices. India demands more access of its pharmaceutical and agricultural products to the US, its second largest trading partner after China.
The bilateral trade of goods and services of both reached a record of 142.6 billion dollars in 2018. After months of negotiations, US sources indicate that the tariff proposals to boost the Make in India program - launched by Modi in 2014 to boost the manufacturing sector of the Asian country - they have hindered the agreement, which will have to wait for the November presidential elections in the United States.
The "negotiating toughness of Modi", as Trump has described it, does not prevent the good relationship between the two, stressed Monday in the speech of the US president. For its part, Modi has made a deployment never seen for a visit of only three hours to Ahmedabad, investing 12 million dollars in the beautification of its streets, including the construction of a wall to hide one of the shanty towns near the airport . The American has more followers in India than in any other country, according to a study by the Pew Research think tank , and, as a tycoon, its largest range of businesses outside the US.
In the shout of "Namaste Trump" (Welcome, Trump), Modi has made the speech of the US president obviates human rights abuses in Kashmir, a disputed region between India and Pakistan and under New Delhi's control since August, once revoked the statute of autonomy enjoyed, as well as the precarious state of religious freedom in India. The two issues, which are on the agenda of the US delegation, will nevertheless be discussed during the private meeting that the two leaders will hold this Tuesday in New Delhi. After this meeting, Trump will return to the US ending what is probably his last official trip abroad before the November presidential elections.
