U.S. President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to India won’t be his first trip to the country.
Mr. Obama and the First Lady last swept through Delhi and Mumbai in November 2010 in a carefully- choreographed charm offensive, addressing sensitive issues such as Pakistan and the U.N. Security Council, while finding time to dance at a high school and speak a bit of Hindi.
Much has changed in India since Mr. Obama last arrived on its shores: the government, the prime minister, the number of international coffee and burger chains. Many things haven’t altered however and by the time he leaves next week, the president will be something of an old hand in the world’s largest democracy. By visiting a second time, he becomes the only serving U.S. president to have made two official trips to India.
1. Back a Bid
India has for years coveted a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. In Mr. Obama’s 2010 visit, he used a speech to the Indian Parliament to back the country’s inclusion “in the years to come” as a permanent member of the council with power of veto.
2. Tread Carefully on Pakistan
Any world leader visiting India must choose their words on the country’s rival Pakistan carefully. In the same speech to the Indian Parliament, Mr Obama said the U.S. insisted Pakistan limit terrorist-safe havens within its borders, adding: “We must also recognize that all of us have an interest in both an Afghanistan and a Pakistan that is stable, prosperous and democratic—and none more so than India.”
3. Make a Trade Announcement…
Mr. Obama was in Mumbai when he announced a loosening of restrictions on U.S. exports to India. The move was aimed at making it easier for U.S. companies to export technology for military and non-military use after the U.S. imposed controls on trade with India in dual-use technologies — items that have both military and peaceful purposes – after India’s nuclear-weapons tests in 1998.
The president said: “We’re taking the necessary steps to strengthen this relationship.”
4. …And Ask for Something Back
Mr. Obama asked India to reduce barriers in sectors such as agriculture, retail and telecommunications to promote trade. “In a global economy, new growth and jobs flow to countries that lower barriers to trade and investment,” he said.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, embrace following a joint statement and press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, Nov. 8, 2010. Associated Press
5. Work on Chemistry
Ahead of the 2010 meeting, both Mr. Obama and then-Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh echoed each other’s language on the relationship between their two countries. “I think the India-United States relationship has entered a new phase,” Mr. Singh said before Mr. Obama’s visit.
6. Pick Your Battles
There was much speculation that Mr. Obama would touch on the issue of the outsourcing of U.S. jobs to India during his 2010 visit. In the end, he deftly sidestepped the issue in the name of healthy competition:
“There are many Americans whose only experience with trade and globalization has been a shuttered factory or a job that was shipped overseas,” he said, adding that many Americans still had a “caricature” of India as a place with call centers where U.S. jobs have been outsourced.
On another touchy subject, Kashmir, Mr. Obama let Mr. Singh do the talking. Mr. Singh said he wanted to reduce tensions with Pakistan, including over Kashmir, but could not do so unless Islamabad cracked down on terrorism.
U.S. President Barack Obama bows as he arrives to deliver a speech at Parliament House in New Delhi Nov. 8, 2010. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
7. Visit the Right Places, Wear the Right Things, Use the Local Lingo
Photogenic India provided Mr. and Mrs. Obama with ample visual material. Mrs. Obama gamely joined children dancing at a high school in Mumbai, eventually persuading the president to join her. She also took part in a game of hopscotch and urged students at a college in Mumbai to “keep dreaming big huge, gigantic dreams–for your community and for your world.”
Perhaps the most arduous part of the visit of any dignitary to another country is avoiding any faux pas, embarrassing photographs or poor sartorial choices.
Mr. Obama’s staff carefully chose Humayun’s tomb in New Delhi as an appropriate tourist destination for the president.
Meanwhile, Michelle Obama’s outfits were carefully scrutinized for any embarrassing mistakes – which she seemed to avoid.
Mr. Obama rounded off the whirlwind tour with the crowd-pleasing cry in Hindi of ‘jai hind!’, or ‘hail India!’ at the end of his speech to the Indian Parliament.
via Obama’s Seven Habits for a Highly Successful India Visit – India Real Time – WSJ.
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