By:- Vaibhav Deshpande
Although US-India relationships have trended in an upward direction in the current century, it has acquired supersonic momentum in the last decade and especially after Prime Minister Modi took oath in 2014. Mr. Modi has built strong personal relationships with all three US presidents who have held office during his term as Prime Minister. These include two democrats and one republican President, clearly showing Prime Minister Modi’s bi-partisan acceptance by the chief resident of the White House.
The Prime Minister’s US visit started in New York with various events including a special event at the UN headquarters, on International Day of Yoga, an event he had helped initiate as a global celebration in the year 2014 and which was unanimously adopted at the UN. He led the global community in celebrating the day at the north lawn of UN headquarters. After New York the focus shifted to Washington where various state events were awaiting him including the grand state welcome at the White House.
On June 22, 2023, the Prime Minister was given an official state welcome on the south lawn. The event was scheduled to start at 10 AM EST but Prime Minister’s fans and well-wishers from the Indian diaspora and others started gathering around 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue from 6 AM. The reason was obvious - this was the first time when the gates of White House were open at this scale for the Indian diaspora. There were multiple entrances set up to get to the event venue, each entrance had lines of visitors spanning multiple blocks and counting thousands. Everyone who made through these entrances had to stand in the line for multiple hours and no one was complaining.
After standing in the line for hours and going through security people were warmly welcomed at White House gates by volunteers and after that they were escorted to South lawn where the main event was scheduled to take place. This was the first time for members of the Indian diaspora who were stepping foot inside the White House at such a large scale. The joy and happiness were clearly visible on everyone’s faces despite a light drizzle going on almost till the event started. Before the Prime Minister’s arrival spectators were entertained with music and melodious songs sung by various groups of students. The entire atmosphere was electric with everyone patiently waiting for the arrival of their beloved Prime Minister. After his arrival, the official ceremony began which included a 19-gun salute and everyone watched the entire ceremony in awe. Some of them could not believe what was happening in front of their eyes. This was a proud moment for not just who were on the South Lawn but over a billion Indians who were outside of it and spread across the world. Considering the sheer volume of people attending the event, this was indeed an unprecedented state welcome to any of the previous prime ministers from India.
President Biden officially welcomed the prime minister and, in his speech, spoke about various topics where both countries' views are aligned and how they can take it to the next level. He stressed on commonalities between two countries and the similarities in our democracies. He also talked about how core principles of both the countries like equity under the law, freedom of expression, religious pluralism, and diversity of our people have endured and evolved. After the mic was handed over to the Prime Minister, he also spoke about how the two countries can grow together and become the best friends ever. He also talked about how both the countries value each other and are bound by the same values. Both the leaders spoke just for a few minutes, but one thing was very clear - they spoke the same language of love, affection and friendship and finding ways and means to improve it further. If both the democracies continue to speak the same language, the world will become a better place. Jai hind and God bless America. (GP/NJ)