After all the fanfare, and the drumbeats marking the latest US visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi dissolve, a considered assessment of his first big foreign visit since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic is that the outcome is somewhat of a mixed bag.

Prime Minister Modi’s first physical meeting with President Joe Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris, and top-ranking officials of the Biden Administration since it took over early this year, firmly indicate the willingness and the eagerness, on both sides, to boost bilateral ties between the two democratic nations that historically (barring a few aberrative patches) have had friendly relations.

Although it is a trifle surprising, the little gestures of the Biden Administration in welcoming the head of our government – that Prime Minister Modi was not welcomed or received by either President Biden or the Vice-President Kamala Harris, or seen off for that matter, and that he was taken into the Whitehouse through a side gate -- are visuals to ponder. But diplomats do read these gestures and wonder if the Biden Administration may be coldshouldering Modi.

For sure, if one compares the hype and hoopla with which the previous Donald Trump administration had hosted Modi, the current business-like proceedings do leave one to wonder. Also, remember the Howdy-Modi gala show in Houston, Texas, in September 2019, hosted by the saffron party’s overseas department head! But to be fair, we must remember that now there is a need to have ‘Covid appropriateness’ in every activity, and especially when world leaders are involved. The precautions taken are only stricter.

On bilateral relations, both India and the United States know in their own interests and those of the world, the two must continue the ties and build on them. In strategic American interests too, other than for being a trading partner and offering the US a market, the Biden administration indicated that it needed India on its side to counter China in the region.

However, India does not form part of the coalition formed for military security – AUKUS, a grouping of Australia, the UK, and the US. We maintain that AUKUS has no link with the ‘QUAD (grouping of US, Japan, Australia and India)’ or India.

Yes, there has been a lot of chatter on social media and sections of the media where much has been made about Kamala Harris’s lecture on democracy and democratic values and the need to protect institutions in the country.

Yes, American administrations have since time immemorial stressed on democratic values, various freedoms, and institutional strengths in countries and a Democratic Party administration would be more so.

So, it was only natural that President Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris raised the issue of human rights, democratic values, and freedoms in India during their one-to-one interaction with Prime Minister Modi.

“As democracies around the world are under threat, it is imperative that we defend democratic principles and institutions within our countries. We must strengthen democracy at home and it is incumbent upon us that we protect democracy in the best interest of our people,” Kamala Harris said.

The context she made her comments make them more significant, as a plethora of organizations appealed to the Biden-Harris administration to impress upon Prime Minister Modi the need to protect human rights and promote religious freedom.

Why from India too, Farmers leader Rakesh Singh Tikait, President of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) tweeted to the American leaders to intercede with their Indian counterpart on behalf of the agitating farmers. For American leaders, stressing democratic values, freedoms, is an attempt to address their own domestic constituency. But even then, the import of their statements is still considerable. Prime Minister Modi, on his part, took the comments in his stride and even invited Kamala Harris to visit India.

If one were to assess the outcome of the Prime Minister’s visit with the quality and quantum of media attention in the United States, one would come to a conclusion that it was almost totally ignored by the American media. But to be fair, American media has always been ignoring visits of our former Prime Ministers as well.

Nominal media coverage, as usual, is not an indication of success or failure of the visit. External affairs and relations are not personalized – unlike during when Trump was in charge. At that time, the two leaders hit it off on a personal plane too. But country-to-country relations are institutional and do not necessarily depend on personal equations, though they may be influenced a little.

The outcome of the visit, hyped up in India with high-voltage television coverage, was expected to be modest, which when evaluated leaves a feeling of a routine trip linked to the annual UN General Assembly session at this time of the year.

Before leaving for the visit, government sources said the stated objectives of the visit were to review strategic partnership, exchange views with the US leadership, take stock with QUAD partners, consolidate relations with partners, and address the UN.

Prime Minister’s Modi’s visit was in conformity with the country’s efficacy and standing on the global stage, and that too when important meetings were being held in a world concerned with threats emanating from a post-Talibanized Afghanistan and was planning on ways and means to counter terrorist threats emanating from the trouble-torn country.

And then there is the question of a hegemonistic China that was looking out at larger geographical areas with keen interest and also taking on the USA in different spheres of activity on the globe.

It is amid these concerns that Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the United Nations General Assembly, calling for rebuilding the credibility of the world body that suffered due manipulation at the World Health Organisation, in tracing the origins of Covid-19 and data manipulation by the World Bank to help China.

“With regard to the origin of Covid-19 and the ease of doing business rankings, institutions of global governance have damaged the credibility they had built after decades of hard work,” Prime Minister Modi said while addressing the UN General Assembly during this three-day visit to the United States (23-25 September).

Prime Minister Modi outlined his vision in combating global concerns about global peace, security, and well-being. And whether it was climate change, terrorism, or fighting Covid, India cannot be ignored he said in speeches he made in Hindi, with instantaneous translations into several languages.

For us sitting thousands of miles away in India, it depends on what information we can access and what media we consume to know whether the tour was a success or a failure. In some reports, you get an impression that it was a failure but in some, you find that it was a very important one and a huge success at that.

Visits by heads of states are important and necessary, to be able to be present at the right stage and say the right things for the overall benefit of the country.

During his three-day visit, Prime Minister Modi held bilateral meetings with US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is scheduled to demit office soon. He also participated in the first physical meeting of ‘QUAD’ – where he proposed a common international traveling protocol involving mutual recognition of the Covid-19 vaccination certificate.

But more importantly, in the context of security and the emerging new world order, Prime Minister Modi said nobody should be in doubt now that the Indo-Pacific region has the potential to emerge as the new conflict zone due to the expansionist and aggressive designs of China. The world must play its role to ensure that countries play by the rules and not browbeat others because of newfound love for Steroid-induced muscular behaviour. The oceans and the rich resources within are a common For sure, if one compares the hype and hoopla with which the previous Donald Trump administration had hosted Modi, the current business-like proceedings do leave one to wonder. Also, remember the Howdy-Modi gala show in Houston, Texas, in September 2019, hosted by the saffron party’s overseas department head! But to be fair, we must remember that now there is a need to have ‘Covid appropriateness’ in every activity, and especially when world leaders are involved. The precautions taken are only stricter. heritage and must be shared equitably and without endangering ecology, the Prime Minister said.

For the world, it is good news that ‘QUAD’ is picking up momentum. World leaders are awaiting how the role and vision of ‘QUAD’ will roll out after the first physical meet hosted by US President Joe Biden. If China was overreacting to ‘QUAD’, it is understandable, but it need not have to worry about this, as ‘QUAD’ is only trying to ensure that countries in the India-Pacific region play by the international rules.