Donald Trump’s claim of meeting PM Modi caught the PMO and MEA by surprise as the Indian leader had sought no meeting with either Trump or Harris. Even though Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was meeting him in New York during his three day US visit, the Indian leader never had meetings with either Trump or Democrat Presidential candidate Kamala Harris on his agenda. PM Modi is on his way back home after attending the QUAD summit and speaking at “Future of UN” summit. While pro-Democrat media has tried to make this into ‘PM Modi snubs Trump campaign’, the fact is that Trump’s claim of meeting Modi caught the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of External Affairs by surprise as the Indian leader had sought no meeting with either Trump or Vice President Harris.
“India is absolutely comfortable with either Democrats or Republicans coming to power. This is a bipartisan relationship since the time of Bill Clinton and the two countries are constantly in touch with each other with deep convergence on bilateral issues. PM Modi has no desire to promote one candidate against the other as this would be construed as election interference in a poll bound country,” said a former foreign secretary. The Indian response was totally opposite from behavior of US diplomats who landed in Srinagar to meet Opposition party leadership in the poll bound UT.
Just as the left-liberal media has made an issue out of non-existent Trump-Modi meeting, another issue was made out after National Security Advisor Ajit Doval dropped out of PM Modi’s delegation to US due to legal threats from a rabid Khalistani based in New York. Fact is that NSA Doval did not go with the PM as the prime focus of the visit would be deliberately changed by the liberal media with the Khalistani agenda coming on the front burner. There are no less than half a million Sikhs in the US and the majority of them are Democrat voters in stronghold states of California, Washington and New York. The NSA on his part was involved in monitoring the Sri Lankan elections and the crisis in Bangladesh.
While External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will take up the disrespect shown by rabid Khalistanis to Indian flag and leadership during PM Modi visit when he visits Washington after addressing UNGA on September 26, the Indian national security planners are not at all perturbed by these legal threats and it is business as usual. The Modi government is clear that India’s rise will be contested by all powers including those who are called strategic partners, but New Delhi is not cowed down by few rabid protestors and will respond in kind at time and place of its choosing.
