After Donald Trump phone call, govt weighs if Modi should visit US early

South Block is looking at potential deliverables from Modi's US visit, particularly on issue of H1B

The Monday night phone call of US President Donald Trump to Prime Minister Narendra Modi could pave the way for an early visit of the Indian PM to Washington. The Trump administration is keen to host Modi. But South Block is looking at the potential deliverables from such a visit, particularly on H1B visas. The Indian PM’s political stature has increased manifold after his recent electoral successes, while Trump’s presidential tenure has moved from one problem to another.

Delhi doesn’t want Modi to invest his substantial political capital to help Trump burnish his image, without the visit yielding positive results for the Indian side. Modi is scheduled to visit New York to attend the UN General Assembly in September. But, the Trump-Modi telephonic conversation has indicated to South Block, and to those who look at foreign policy issues within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that the Trump administration is keen to host the Indian PM for a bilateral visit in the next couple of months.

Earlier this month, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, accompanied by Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, was in the US. Last week, National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval was also on a visit to the US. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and US Secretary of State Rex W Tillerson had also recently spoken over the phone. 

In his phone call, Trump congratulated Modi on his recent state election victories, expressed support for his economic reforms and said he had great respect for Indians, and   said he looked forward to hosting the PM later this year. 

The window for such a visit is available in May, as well as in June after the PM attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Kazakhstan in the second week.The PM’s US visit could take place before his visit to Hamburg, in Germany, to attend the G20 Summit on July 7-8, and his bilateral visit to Israel around that time. 

It will be the first-ever visit of an Indian PM to Israel. The highlight of his policy changes will be the PM’s outreach to the Indian diaspora there. Israel has 85,000 Jews of Indian origin.  Jews are an influential community in the US, and some of these groups had engaged with Modi even during his time as the Gujarat chief minister. 

According to a source, Modi’s visit to the US before Tel Aviv could help the PM engage with the Jewish community there, which would contribute to the success of his Israel visit.

On Tuesday, the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce urged an early visit of the PM to the US to “sort out the apprehensions” of the Indian industry on the negative impact of tightening of visa rules relating to H1B and L1 visas.