One thing among many that will stick for the longest time are visuals of him, along with his partner Jeanette Rubio and US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, standing all suited and booted in the sultry summer heat of 42+ degrees Celsius in the north Indian cities of Agra and Jaipur.
While their visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra and Amber Fort in Jaipur was only to explore cultural heritage, with no diplomatic meetings scheduled at either place, one wonders why the visitors would put themselves through the scorching month of May when the country has enough options available.
If it was the desire of the visitors themselves to explore India’s cultural heritage, then there is a need for a major rethink.
This is because the Taj Mahal and Agra are way overdone when it comes to India’s cultural heritage, and it is time we, as a nation, go beyond the usual venues to conduct our diplomacy.
In the last few years, the Modi government has paid special attention to showing visiting leaders a side of India that exists far beyond New Delhi.
This includes taking Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, US President Donald Trump during his previous tenure, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
PM Modi has also hosted French President Emmanuel Macron in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency, going for a scenic boat ride on the river Ganga.
There has also been an attempt to host key diplomatic events at venues outside New Delhi, including the famous Mamallapuram summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tamil Nadu in 2019.
However, given the sheer geographical expanse of India and its thousands of years of civilisational history, we are still not doing enough to put it on the world map more decisively……”.
