Why the great Obama-Modi friendship is a gimmick

There is a lot of brouhaha in India on the great chemistry between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama, who landed in New Delhi on Sunday morning to go down in history as the first American Head of State to grace the Republic Day celebrations at Rajpath on Monday.

The cheerleaders of the "bonhomie", if you will, have been gushing over a series of hugs between Obama and Modi, who, until a year ago, was denied a US visa and declared a persona non grata on the American soil for his questionable role in the 2002 Gujarat violence.

That taint washed away with the electoral victory and a high-profile US visit behind him, Modi did a Manmohan on Sunday when he broke protocol to personally welcome his famous American guests by making sure he remains in the Obamas' sight as they disembark from Air Force One. Even the Beast could not prevent Modi from making that his first photo-op with the most powerful couple on earth.

Modi soon followed it up with a "chai pe charcha" at Hyderabad House lawns, where he was seen gingerly strolling with Obama and pouring a cup of tea for him. Soon, US President Obama became "Barack" for Modi in what was perhaps the most audacious attempt at a bromance in international diplomacy.

A visibly amused Obama has, so far, returned the gesture with backhanded compliments. He called Modi "as popular as a Bollywood hero" (hardly flattering) or a "strong man who fought crocodiles as a child" (unsubstantiated mythology propagated by Bal Narendra comics). He also made a remark on Modi's sartorial taste, which was widely panned on Sunday night after photos of the prime minister wearing a suit with his name etched on the fabric, in place of the staid and sober pin-stripe, went viral.

What has not yet been considered, as the media makes the most of Obamas in India, is the cold shoulder Modi was given only three months ago. When he landed at New York's John F Kennedy airport on September 26 for his five day US visit, Modi stepped out of his plane to find a small group of Indian diplomats and American protocol officers awaiting him.

Worse, the prime minister of the world's largest republic (and market), who had gone to woo the US government and corporate America with a red-carpet-and-no-red-tape-in-India message, was ironically greeted with a small red mat on the tarmac, and not the ceremonial red carpet that Modi has rolled out for Obama at every step.

In fact, had it not been for the Indian diaspora and its over-the-top fan-fest at New York's Madison Square Garden, Modi's trip - presented as a new chapter in India's relations with the US - was an instance of just another world leader in crowded Washington DC.

There are a few reasons why a leader like Obama would be wary of Modi:

1. The American experience with racism: Theoretically, what Hindutva is to India, racism is to the US. Obama, whose race is the biggest highlight of his historical stint as America's first Black president, knows a thing or two about social discrimination and denial. There is no reason to believe Obama is oblivious to Modi's right-wing antecedents. As the most important RSS functionary in the BJP, Modi's rise to power has triggered a massive mobilisation of xenophobic forces across the country.

2. Basic, garden-variety politics: Let's face it. At the end of the day, Obama is a Democrat while Modi for him will remain closer to what the US President understands as a Republican persuasion. The twain can, and did, meet, but it is only strategic politics and cold business, and can never translate into a personal bonding.

3. Obama's Muslim lineage: VHP leader Praveen Togadia was not way off the mark when he - just when Modi was being pally with the Obamas at Rajpath - was addressing a Virat Hindu Sammelan rally in neighbouring Meerut where the Hindutva poster boy made sure he addressed the US President as Barack Hussein Obama, whose grandfather was a Muslim and father a Muslim-turned-atheist. Whether or not Togadia had the sanction of his mentor, the RSS, in attacking a guest barely 100km away, the episode is a telling reflection of what or who Modi and his groupies stand for (or against).

4. The Manmohan factor: Admit it or not, Obama's love and respect for Manmohan Singh comes across as far more genuine and straight-from-the-heart than his body language with Modi has so far displayed. Despite being Modi's guest, he made sure he met the former Prime Minister at his hotel on Monday.

During the 2009 US visit of Manmohan Singh, the US President hosted the most expensive state dinner of his tenure at the White House. Despite the high-decibel Modi visit, all he got was an audience with Obama. But it is beyond hospitality. The US leader perhaps finds more in common with Manmohan, who he called a "Guru" once, than Modi, who does not even have a common language with Obama.

5. Political image: Last, but never the least, is the issue of their respective images. Obama, who won a Peace Nobel within six months of his presidency, is now being called a "lame-duck president". Read that as the descriptor for a US president who has not yet launched a conventional war on any country. Contrast that with a control-freak and autocratically-inclined Modi, who cannot be considered a lame-duck leader by any stretch of the imagination.