'Tough man' and ‘incredible country’, may be Trump's impressions of Modi and India

Senior journalist Sanjib Baruah explains that after US President Donald Trump's visit, his last impressions about India and PM Narendra Modi would be 'tough man' and 'incredible country'. Baruah says that Trump would possibly think Modi as a tough and strong personality and the one who has got forecast in his mind.

New Delhi: Not the violence that rocked the national capital on Monday and Tuesday, simmering troubles in Kashmir, or Pakistan’s staunch support to forces of terror, President Donald Trump’s abiding memory of his two-day India visit, as would be seemingly evident from his quotes. Trump's impression would possibly be of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a ‘very tough man’ and the incredible welcome he got from the capacity 1,10,000 people at the Motera stadium at Ahmedabad on Monday.

The US President’s repeated description of PM Modi as ‘tough’ popped out yet again when he was asked a question on terrorism facing the country on Tuesday when he took a few questions from journalists during a media interaction: “PM Modi is a very religious, calm man, but is a very strong person. He is very tough. He has got that foremost in his mind, terrorism and he will take care of it.”

On Monday, President Trump in his Motera stadium address had described his “true friend” Modi as a “very tough negotiator” when he talked about trading issues. Hopes of a much-expected mega trade deal vanished after the two sides stuck to their respective issues. And then yet again the T-word popped out: “Everybody loves him, but I will tell you this, he is very tough.”

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To be fair to the US President, Modi likes to project a tough image of himself—be it of the possession of a ‘56-inch chest’ or of a ‘rigorous’ morning yoga sessions. His ‘tough’ stands on issues governing the nation, be it the ‘sudden’ demonetization drive, surgical military strikes across the border, the decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, of triple ‘talaq’, or a slew of other measures have often been reflective of his state of mind.

Not that the irrepressible President Trump shies away from doing so himself. On Tuesday, he boasted about how many leaders of terror had been hunted down and killed. He reeled off the names one by one—Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (ISIS leader), Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza and also the Iranian military general Soleimani.

Calling Soleimani the ‘king of roadside bombers’, Trump said on Tuesday: “I don't think anybody has done more than I have (on extremist Islamist terrorism)... Suleimani is gone, he is no longer putting roadside bombs. He was the king of that.”

But without doubt, the crowds at the Motera stadium would stay on the US presidential mind for long. Trump spoke of how the US ambassador to India as well as the Indian ambassador to the US told him that they hadn’t seen such crowds in their lifetime as they had at Motera. “I believe people of India like us (US) very much. I think they like me more than they did before.” That is President Trump speaking for sure.

On other vexed issues, Trump preferred to skirt around. On the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he said: “It is for India to do, and hopefully they will do the right thing.”

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On the violence in the Delhi streets: “I didn't discuss Delhi violence with him (Modi), that’s up to India.”

But his most subtle statement was on Kashmir: “India and Pakistan working on their problem, my relationship with both India and Pak Prime Ministers is strong. Anything I can do to mediate, I would do. There are two sides to every story.”

However, that did not mean President Trump hasn’t envisioned the future as he waxed eloquent on Indian prospects: “India's got a phenomenal future - you can rarely think of a place that has a better future, especially with the leadership of PM Modi.”