Both Modi and Trump have betted heavily on the Howdy event to shore up each other’s prospects via optics

In the end, one has to give it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visually imprint the strategic heft of the Indo-US relationship by almost becoming a master of ceremonies at the Howdy event in Houston. It takes panache to lead a US President, that too somebody like Donald Trump, on his turf, convince him to take a round of the NRG stadium hand-in-hand — much to the discomfiture of FBI bodyguards — and communicate a new mutual understanding with a rockstar-like body language. Even Trump, for want of a better word, was “trumped.” Behind the optics of an Indian Prime Minister who scripted an original moment, Modi sent all kinds of messages. For his audience back home, he added to his list of many “firsts”, something that he feels had not been accomplished by any of his predecessors, just like the statement of five-year accounts he presented yet again. Harping on his “new India” theme — which in his book was achieving higher than what it had aimed no matter what the cold facts and figures — he clearly sought a renewal of faith from States going to the polls, knowing a mammoth audience would be clued into the telecast. For Trump, the optics put a clear pressure to stand by the bilateral spirit and not upend it through the other public medium he uses mostly to detrimental effect — Twitter. In fact, with Trump sitting in the front row, Modi made some smart moves. First, he broke political protocol to openly campaign for Trump’s re-election, ill-advised but ego-boosting for the latter now, when India needs US support. Texas may be a red State but Houston is dominated by prosperous Indians who are largely Democrats. If the Modi magic does wash off even a bit on this electoral chunk, Trump would stand to gain and shed some of his anti-immigrant image. By certifying the US President as worthy of India’s trust and giving out a rally cry of “Ab ki baar, Trump sarkaar,” Modi has held him to account should he get re-elected and hinted that quid pro quos could follow only if he stayed as invested. Second, the PM deliberately linked 9/11 to 26/11, making both India and the US equal victims of jihadi terror that is bred in the same part of the world, a nation he carefully chose not to name. He implied that differential and preferential standards should, therefore, not be applied as both were on the same boat. Also, no matter what the US’ transgressions and bullyisms in other conflict zones, by calling Trump the crusader against global terrorism, Modi made sure that he would not, at least overtly, mollify Pakistan at the expense of India.

The PM also sought a public endorsement of his move to abrogate Article 370, saying it equalised democratic rights for all and strongly labelled it as an internal issue of India in Trump’s presence, pre-empting any controversial conversation on this subject hereon. The spot audience applause was a message that the US should not fish in these waters. Of course, not that the US side didn’t play up the anxieties that discomfitted Modi. A Democrat Senator reminded the gathering of the liberal and secular character of India and invoked both Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru as laying that vision, the latter the subject of many recent barbs by the Modi-Shah duo. Also, given the recent “one language” rants of neo-bhakts, Modi played up the plurality and multi-culturalism of India by greeting in several languages. It seemed too reactive to appear well-meant but one that was intended to assuage doubts. Besides, by bringing up Kashmir in front of Trump, Modi sought to up the ante before Pakistan PM Imran Khan could. Modi summarised the US-India ties through a final banter, where he said that though Trump felt he was a tough negotiator, the former was an authority on the art of deal-making from whom he was still learning lessons. Clearly, that is what will set the tenor of future relations, how much both can gain from each other through defence, energy and gas deals and concessions of an incremental nature in the offing. By leveraging data as the new gold, Modi presented the prospects of a digital market, too. Trump, stuck as he is in a trade row with China, needs market access to India to show that he is thinking of “America first.” As for Modi, Trump listening in on Kashmir patiently in the audience and their mutually orchestrated camaraderie as the world’s “two greatest democracies” would blunt the edge of any offensive on the subject. Besides, trade deals would make India look like a recipient of investment, something which it needs to offset the gloomy economy. Both pandered to each other in a token display of realpolitik and opportunism. Who wins and loses is a question for another day.