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A glittering visit to Washington by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which ended on Friday, was a reminder that US leaders can find ways to minimize differences on human rights and democratic values when strategic interests align, even for a country where minority groups claim they are increasingly falling under Hindu nationalist rule.
There were days of congressional ovations and slaps in meetings with President Biden. A White House celebration surrounded by 7,000 enthusiastic supporters that eclipsed those who dissented. And on Friday, speeches to business titans who want to make money in the world’s most populous country.
After a trip during which US leaders largely brushed aside criticism in pursuit of an anti-China partnership, Modi may be emboldened to adopt a tougher stance at home that would eventually undermine the country’s stability and hit back at the White House could, analysts said. But for now, Modi seems to be betting that as long as India needs India for its core foreign policy interests, Washington can still earn invitations with a US gold seal.
“The state visit confirms to India that illiberal or anti-democratic moves will not alter the strategic partnership in the near future,” said Tamanna Salikuddin, a former State Department official who directs South Asia programs at the US Institute of Peace. “The US has a high tolerance for illiberalism if we want it.”
On Friday, Modi capped his US visit with a meeting with a crowd of supportive leaders from the large Indian-American diaspora, many of whom they said cheered Modi’s bid to place India in the top flight of nations. They outnumbered others who bitterly complained that Washington – and much of the diaspora community in the United States – was turning a blind eye to violence and oppression against India’s large non-Hindu population.
Government officials said they had been quiet about their concerns about the rights of Muslims and other minority groups. The louder messages underscored Washington’s need for a strong partner in New Delhi at a time when the United States has engaged in fierce competition with Beijing for control of the world trade and security architecture.
The strategy carries some risks, analysts say, as sectarian violence in India worsens and pressure on journalists and Modi’s political opposition mounts, according to the State Department. Inter-ethnic violence – one mostly Hindu, one mostly Christian – has claimed the lives of more than 100 people in the north-eastern state of Manipur since May and prompted the deployment of the Indian military to quell clashes near the border with China. Elsewhere, political opponents – including the leader of the main opposition party – have been charged with defaming Modi.
“What we don’t want is for these issues to explode and for them to be so distracted and inward-looking that they can’t focus on China or other issues,” Salikuddin said.
“But I don’t think that’s the case anymore,” she continued. “They confront China in such a direct and open manner that it would take some effort to drag them away from the border.”
Balancing values and interests isn’t always easy, and Biden isn’t the first to face the challenge. Whoever occupies the White House “A lot of stocks” need to be protected, former President Barack Obama told CNN in an interview that aired Thursday, noting that during his tenure he has dealt with allies “who, if you put me in private urging them to run.” their governments and their political parties in what I would call ideally democratic? I would have to say no.”
Obama said it was important to raise respect for minority rights in India, including to ensure the country’s stability.
“If I were to have a conversation with Prime Minister Modi,” he said, “part of my argument would be that if you don’t protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, there is a strong possibility that India will eventually break up.” And we’ve seen what happens when such major internal conflicts arise.”
For now, the Biden administration has downplayed differences with India, prioritizing ties aimed at pushing back China over other core US priorities. For example, the government has encouraged partner countries to limit their trade with Russia, but a senior State Department official claimed before the visit that India’s increasing purchases of Russian oil are actually promoting American interests, despite pouring money into the Kremlin’s war chest.
“India will make its own decisions on whether to buy oil from Russia,” the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive internal considerations.
“We hope that India will continue to use the G7 oil price cap to seek a lower cost for the Russian oil it buys,” the official said, citing efforts by major world economies to sanction Russian oil sales above the price establish. “It is in all of our interests that it buys Russian crude oil at rock-bottom prices.”
“Our partnership between India and the United States will go a long way, I believe, in defining what the 21st century looks like,” Biden said Friday at a meeting with Modi and top business leaders from the US and India.
“Democracy is one of our sacred and shared values,” Modi said a day earlier in a speech to a joint session of Congress, which was regularly punctuated by cheers and shouts of “Modi!” Modi!” from his fans in the chamber’s spectator stand.
Some representatives of the large Indian diaspora community in the United States expressed their delight at the great reception.
“This is a visit that shows India has arrived. India will be treated as an equal,” said Amitabh VW Mittal, secretary-general of the US Indian Community Foundation, the group hosting the diaspora event on Friday. Mittal said he attended the congressional address and was surprised by the standing ovation.
He rejected criticism of Modi’s human rights record.
“We have major conflicts in the United States. In other countries we have bigger conflicts,” Mittal said.
The generally welcomed response, however, sparked frustration among Indian-American human rights activists, who said Modi was undermining his country’s long tradition as a militant, multi-ethnic, secular democracy. And some human rights activists said he is using the free world leader’s embrace to boost his standing ahead of an election in India next year – to “whitewash” his persecution of minorities, said Arjun Sethi, a human rights lawyer.
Modi was denied a US visa for his alleged involvement in the riots in his home state of Gujarat in 2002 that killed at least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims. And since Modi became prime minister in 2014, Muslim, Christian and Sikh minorities have faced persecution, according to State Department human rights reports.
“It’s like there are two realities,” said Sunita Viswanath, co-founder of Hindus for Human Rights, a group that campaigns for minority rights in India and has helped organize protests in New York and Washington during Modi’s visit.
“It is a willful turning a blind eye to our collective eyes on a march to theocracy under the far-right bang of the world’s largest so-called democracy,” said Viswanath, who is of Indian-American descent.
She said the Modi visit is being closely followed in diaspora communities around the world, who are staying in touch via chat apps WhatsApp and Signal. But she said that in her activism work, she sometimes gets frustrated with her American compatriots, who have roots in India.
“It’s a lonely job in a diaspora community that’s just fascinated with gaining power and privilege,” she said.
India has not chosen the side between the West and Russia, nor has it suffered, said Joshua T. White, professor of practice at Johns Hopkins University and senior adviser and director for South Asia affairs at the Obama administration’s National Security Council.
“They feel like a desirable partner for many countries, so they don’t really have to deal with human rights issues,” he said. “If anything, the Biden administration’s extremely high-sounding rhetoric about the relationship is helping India hold the most cards.”
But if illiberal tendencies persist in India, it could dampen Washington’s enthusiasm to treat the country as “an exceptional partner,” White said.
Modi’s message was that India celebrates the same values as America – and that India is a power that must be taken seriously and treated as an equal. “I liked it,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) as he exited the House of Representatives chamber on Thursday. The United States is incapable of being condescending and critical, he said.
“We’re not going to be like the senior partner that we can just tell what to do,” he said of the evolving US-India relationship. “But if we work together, we can do so much good… and we must stand together against China.”
Five Democratic congressmen, none of them Native American, boycotted the address, complaining that human rights issues were being covered up during the visit.
“Having the pragmatic view of saying, ‘This is a country that is important to us’ is fine,” one of them, MP Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), said in an interview on Friday, stressing that diplomatic relations — including with non-democracies and other “problematic” countries — are critical to US foreign policy.
But the “extra step” of honoring them with a state dinner and a joint address to Congress “sends the wrong message to those who oppress them,” she said. “And it sends the wrong message to other world leaders who are looking for a way to normalize.”
All in all, Johns Hopkins’ White said he believes the US investment in India will pay off.
“India does not have to be allied with, or even closely allied with, the United States to help build a favorable balance of power in Asia — an Asia not dominated by an emerging China,” he said.
Gerry Shih from New Delhi contributed to this report.