Home & Away

Indrani Bagchi Two years, four US visits and seven summits later, prime minister, Narendra Modi is, as he told the US Congress, playing a “new symphony”. As he wings back from Mexico with three crucial NSG endorsements in the bag, the flamboyance of Modi or his bulging frequent flyer miles are no longer talking points. The bigger question, is there a method in the 360-degree global outreach of his government? Whether India manages to enter the nuclear traders’ cartel in the coming weeks or whether Modi’s diplomacy collapses in a heap at China’s opposition, there are certain discernible patterns in his foreign policy that emerge from the mass of statements, MOUs, hugs and yoga. It’s easy to see how close India has grown to the US under Modi. What’s less noticeable is how India is using US for its other relationships and other ambitions. In 2008, when Manmohan Singh dropped by to tell Bush how Indians loved him, he also told businessmen and wonks reeling from the fiscal crisis,...

Indrani Bagchi Take your ringside seats, people, as another US-China tournament of shadows unfolds. When Donald Trump spoke to Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-Wen and challenged established US-China policy, many parts of Asia, India included, quietly cheered. As expected, China retaliated -- by stealing a US Navy drone from South China Sea, testing both a departing president and an incoming one.  Bill Clinton had the Taiwan Straits crisis, George Bush was greeted with the embarrassment of the EP-3E crash, and Obama was challenged when five Chinese navy ships harassed the USNS Impeccable. Trump is being greeted ahead of his term but we await events with interest, because they could determine global events of the coming four years. Both US and China are in a dangerous part of the field. China has to protect the aura of “core leader” Xi Jinping, who is driving the combined tigers of nationalism, military modernization, anti-corruption and a slowing economy. The US pi...

Indrani Bagchi Washington mavens have a new parlour game – called “impeachment & removal”, the game is all about devising new and innovative ways of putting President Donald Trump out to grass. But Trump has danced with Saudi leaders, eaten chocolate cake with Xi Jinping and burgers with Netanyahu, played golf with Abe and been blessed by the Pope. In a few weeks, it will be his turn to get the Modi hug. India has watched with apprehension as the Trump administration moved from being a promising tabula rasa to the OMG-what-will-they-do-next roller coaster. The China relationship is … now, where is it exactly? The chocolate cake came with 59 missiles to Syria; overnight Xi Jinping found himself holding the North Korean nuclear can, fearfully contemplating a THAAD system in South Korea when he has more important things like the 19 th  Party Congress on his mind. In fact, Xi has reasons to be a worried man. A readout of the Xi-Trump discussions shows the depth of unpredict...

Indrani Bagchi That slightly awkward hug at the end of the Modi-Trump summit settled one important debate about the future of US-India relations in the Trump administration - hugs will stay, white-knuckle handshakes are for others.   The Modi visit was tightly crafted, with most of the heavy lifting being done by foreign secretary S. Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval well in advance. Jaishankar and Doval have logged many frequent flyer miles to get the desired outcome, with the foreign secretary negotiating directly with Rex Tillerson and James Mattis, while Doval did the hard work with McMaster and Kelly. The Trump administration is seriously short-staffed and battling external, internal and virtual enemies — India did not want to fall into these boxes or through the cracks. The US relationship is much too important for that. The Indians went into this summit intent on preserving the strategic contours of the relationship. That has received a strong endorsement in the joint ...

Indrani Bagchi, TNN Jun 11, 2009, 09.14am IST NEW DELHI: Although a nuclear deal between US and India is a wrap, the wheels are moving at a grinding slow pace on implementing the deal, with the US dithering on starting negotiations for the reprocessing agreement. Government sources said civil nuclear issues occupied a large part of the discussions between William Burns and foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Wednesday. It's likely they will come up for talks again when Burns meets NSA M K Narayanan on Thursday. Negotiations for a reprocessing agreement is yet to start, because Washington, Indian officials said, was yet to set a date. India is insistent that a reprocessing deal is absolutely necessary for the nuclear deal to be meaningful. The deal said negotiations would start within six months of the signing of the agreement, but the US is yet to do so. The newly nominated US undersecretary of state for arms control, Ellen Tauscher, told the US Sena...