There will be real walls and metaphoric ones when US President Donald Trump comes calling next week. Trump will be shown a “sanitised” version of India without slums. The Congress—the principal opposition party—is unlikely to have a meeting with POTUS. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia, too, are believed to have been kept out of a programme involving a visit of First Lady Melania Trump to a Delhi school.
This would be a break from the tradition of visiting dignitaries having meetings with opposition leaders. “There is a formality...the leader of opposition is invited by the (US) president. However, no such proposal has reached us,'' said senior Congress leader Anand Sharma at the Congress briefing over the weekend. Sharma hinted that the Congress has so far not been included in the schedule of the president. “Visiting presidents and prime ministers, who want to meet us during their trip, they take the initiative for it and decide on it. So far, no proposal has been received by us (on Trump wanting to meet Congress leaders),'' he said.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi comprised the party delegation that has called on visiting presidents and prime ministers in recent years.
It is also learnt that the names of Kejriwal and Sisodia have been dropped from the list of those attending Melania Trump's visit to a Delhi government school to witness a happiness class. “A request had come to us regarding this. We had said 'if she wants to visit our school, she is most welcome'. Arrangements have been made. But which school she will be visiting, what is the status of the arrangement, I would not like to comment on that because of security reasons and because it is all being done under the supervision of the Central government, the MEA,” Sisodia said.
While India may be preparing a carefully curated trip for Trump, there is no guarantee that President Trump is going to return the favour. The Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and its links with NRC will come up. Responding to a question on whether the president will say anything on India's attempt to "keep Muslim migrants from being able to gain citizenship'', a senior administrative official at the White House briefing said: “I think President Trump will talk about our shared tradition of democracy and religious freedom both in his public remarks and then certainly, in private.''
In what will certainly be an uncomfortable conversation, Trump will raise “the religious freedom issue, which is extremely important to this administration,'' the official stated. The president, according to the official, will talk about the issues in his meetings with Modi and “note that the world is looking to India to uphold its democratic traditions and respect for religious minorities.'' So far any concerns that the White House might have had have been raised in private.
India, on its part, has made it clear that criticism is not welcome. Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar refused to meet a US Congressional delegation as Senator Pramila Jayapal has been critical of India's handling of Kashmir after the removal of article 370. In his visit to the US recently, Jaishankar also had rebuffed Senator Lindsay Graham, a close confidant of Trump when he suggested that the best way to sell democracy was to settle the issue democratically. Jaishankar responded by saying, "Do not worry Senator. One democracy will settle it and you know which one." Graham had written a letter with three other senators raising concerns about India and Kashmir as well the risk of 'statelessness'' of religious minorities due to the CAA. The CAA—which India has repeatedly said is in an internal issue—like Kashmir is a red flag. It remains to be seen how India will respond to Trump raising question on religious freedom at a public forum.
Known for his plain-speak, Trump is also certainly not going to endorse Modi's big Make in India campaign. This pet project, if referred to, will not be in flattering terms. Responding to a question on the progress made on the trade deal, the US official said: “Recent announcements on Make in India have made the protectionism concerns in India even greater. So, we will be discussing those concerns. And what we see as an increase in barriers, not a decrease, this will certainly come up among the leaders.”
