Mr. Modi Comes to America
What the prime minister’s visit means for relations between the U.S. and India.
Mutual admiration society.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Nobody could expect sophistication from an event titled “Howdy, Modi!” And the Indian prime minister’s rally in Houston — attended by 50,000 or so screaming Indian Americans, two dozen U.S. congressmen and senators, and President Donald Trump — was every bit as cheesy as its title.
In his five-plus years in power, Modi has made a habit of addressing stadiums packed with the Indian diaspora around the world. They’re part political rally, part celebration of ersatz “Indian-ness” and part reminder to the locals about the diaspora’s size and power. Trump isn’t the first world leader to turn up: In 2015, David Cameron was willing to warm up Modi’s crowd at Wembley stadium. But there’s a special triumphal edge to Modi’s events in America, which once banned him from entering because of “severe violations of religious freedom” under his provincial administration.