PM Modi US Visit: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left for his 3-day America (USA) tour on Tuesday morning i.e. today. This is his first state visit. US President Joe Biden has invited him for a state visit. This visit of Modi is happening before the elections of both the countries. Next year, where presidential elections will be held in America, there will be Lok Sabha elections in India, which decide the victory or defeat of the candidate for the post of Prime Minister. In this way, political experts are also seeing Modi’s US visit as an attempt to garner support for both Modi and Biden.
About 50 lakh people of Indian origin live in America, but they have a lot of influence on the elections there. Indian-Americans have more money than other sections there, and they are also very interested in politics. In such a situation, whether it is the Democrat Party led by Trump or the Republican Party with Biden currently in power, both these parties try to get the support of Indian-Americans. PM Modi’s visit to Washington will help us understand the ‘electoral attitude’ of Indian-American voters. Because, the Indian-American section gathers there to see PM Modi, and when Modi praises Trump or Biden there, people also show support for one of them.
Ban was imposed in 2005, then became PM then spread red carpet
in 2005, Narendra Modi But he was banned from going to America, then he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, however, after many years in 2014, when Modi became the Prime Minister of India, the American government welcomed him grandly. Now the day after tomorrow i.e. on June 22, the red carpet will be laid again for Modi in America, with this he will become the third leader of the world to be invited by President Joe Biden for a state visit and dinner.
Modi will be the third leader in the world to receive state dinner.
Explain that the US President invites state visits and state dinners only for his closest associates, before Modi this honor was given to French President Emmanuel Macron and Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea. The White House said in a statement that Biden has chosen Modi in a way that signals a “deep and close partnership” between their two countries, particularly on matters of foreign policy. But it is perhaps also symbolic of the growing visibility and electoral power of the Indian American community.
There are 5 million people of Indian origin in America
“The Indian-American community in the US is a key constituency and their vote is important in many swing states,” says Sarah Sadhwani, assistant professor of politics at Pomona College and a senior researcher with AAPI data. These people have a population of about half a million, and are now the second largest immigrant group in the US and the fastest growing voting bloc. Their influence is visible in the polls, where Indian Americans voted in record numbers during the 2020 presidential election.
Activism of Indians in US elections
This was evident in the corridors of power as well, from the US Senate (Congress) (where 5 Indian American lawmakers are currently serving, and built within just a decade) to the White House (Kamala Harris, the first Indian-origin Vice President). There has been at least one Indian American candidate in every presidential election since 2016, and at least two Indian-origin candidates are expected to run in 2024. In which one is Nikki Hele, daughter of Sikh immigrants from Punjab and the other is Vivek Ramaswamy, whose parents are from Kerala.
Popularity among overseas Indians more
The political allure of the Indian American community has not diminished on Modi, who has time and again taken advantage of his influence. When Modi first came to power in 2014 as prime minister, he was greeted by 20,000 spectators at New York’s Madison Square Garden during a five-day visit to the US. where Modi declared, “This is India’s century,” before a wildly cheering crowd. Then in 2019, Modi was once again given a rousing welcome by nearly 50,000 spectators at the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston.
India’s status is increasing due to Modi
A 2020 survey on Indian American attitudes by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and YouGov found that Indian Americans rated Modi’s performance as prime minister highly, and had a broadly favorable view of him. Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia programme, says this may be because the Indian diaspora sees Modi as “reclaiming India’s rightful position on the global scene”.
“India is now considered both large and important for geopolitics,” says Vaishnav. Whether it is hosting the G-20, being invited to a state dinner by President Biden, or even maintaining cordial relations with Vladimir Putin, he says that “many members of the Indian diaspora see this as a sign That India is coming back to its ‘Vishwaguru’ status and is also experiencing a resurgence.
Who to support, Republicans or Democrats?
A Time magazine report pointed out that support for Modi in the US stems from the fact that Indian Americans are hardly a monolith. And, they tend to vote more for Democrats than Republicans, who are more closely aligned with Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. And according to the AAPI Data 2022 survey, 74% of Indian American voters supported Joe Biden in 2020, compared to only 15% who supported Donald Trump. However, Modi’s welcome by Biden is widely seen in the context of Washington’s hopes of striking defense deals with New Delhi.
This visit of PM is also important because of China
Many analysts believe that the main reason for Modi’s US visit is China coming in the way of America, and to stop Chinese aggression, America needs India’s support, on the other hand, India also has a long border with China. The dispute is where China has behaved aggressively in recent years. In such a situation, this visit of Modi can prove to be very important. And, Modi’s popularity among a major American voting block is being cashed in by political figures there to garner their support.
Read also: Full schedule of PM Modi’s US tour, 10 big things
