ISLAMABAD: The roars of appreciation turned into a pin drop silence at the crowded stadium of Indian city of Ahmedabad on Monday, as President Donald Trump said the US had ‘very good’ relationship with Pakistan.
There was a huge applause going on as Trump, who arrived on the two-day maiden Indian visit, spoke of his country’s anti-terror efforts and the US-Indian ties with Narendra Modi also seen joining the crowd for ovation. Suddenly, to the shock of the crowd, Trump turned the course of speech towards the Pak-US relations saying “Our relationship with Pakistan is a very good one”. This turned the otherwise cheering crowd to a mute bringing a visible perturbation to the people, particularly the front rowers comprising the cabinet members of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government, which is currently faced with public wrath over the passage of anti-Muslim citizenship laws on domestic front and on international front for human rights abuses in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Trump, who has met Prime Minister Imran Khan thrice since the latter assumed Prime Minister’s office in 2018, has repeatedly offered his mediation between Pakistan and India on Kashmir—a dispute which has drawn world’s reaction after India’s unilateral action of August 5, 2019 revoking the special status of the disputed territory.
Talking about the US anti-terror efforts, Trump said since taking office, his administration was working in a very positive way with Pakistan to crack down on terrorist organisations and militants. “Thanks to these efforts, we are beginning to see signs of big progress with Pakistan and we are hopeful for reduced tensions, greater stability and the future of harmony for all of the nations of South Asia,” Trump told the gathering.
Trump got a rapturous and romantic welcome to India earlier on Monday, holding hands with his wife at the Taj Mahal, in a maiden official visit big on photo opportunities but short on concrete results.
Casting a cloud over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s welcome however, a policeman was killed in clashes in New Delhi over a contentious citizenship law hours before the US president was due in the Indian capital.
In the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Modi’s home state of Gujarat in western India, Trump heaped praise on the Indian right-winger as an “exceptional leader, a great champion of India” in front of a crowd of around 100,000.
“America loves India. America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people,” Trump told the ecstatic crowd, many in Trump-emblazoned baseball caps.
Name-checking Bollywood films and Indian cricketers, Trump—with an eye on elections in November—paid tribute to the four-million-strong Indian-American diaspora as “truly special people”.
“President Trump’s visit opens a new chapter in our relationship—a chapter that will document the progress and prosperity of the people of America and India,” Modi said. “The whole world knows what President Trump has done to fulfil the dreams of America.”
Before the speech, Trump and First Lady Melania visited independence hero Mahatma Gandhi’s ashram, where Modi gifted him a “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” three wise monkeys statue.
Later Trump and Melania—in an off-white jump suit and sash alongside her husband in a buttercup-yellow tie—flew to the Taj Mahal for a pre-sunset tour before heading to Delhi ahead of the main talks on Tuesday.
Parts of the Taj Mahal, the marble monument to love that UNESCO calls a “jewel of Muslim art”, were given a mud-pack facial to remove stains, while efforts were made to lessen the stench of the adjacent river.
Trump has slapped tariffs on Indian steel and aluminium and suspended duty-free access for certain goods, prompting India to raise duties on US produce such as almonds. Trump has called India the “tariff king”, and said before his visit that Asia’s third-largest economy had been “hitting us very, very hard for many, many years”.
Rather than a wide-ranging trade deal, reports said Trump and Modi may instead sign smaller agreements covering products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and US dairy products. “We are in the early stages of discussions for an incredible trade agreement,” Trump told the rally, calling Modi a “very tough negotiator”. “I am in no rush,” he told reporters later.
With the US and India sharing concerns about China, the two men were expected to sign a number of defence deals during the visit, and to discuss the supply of six nuclear reactors. Russia, however, remains India’s biggest supplier in arms, with India having agreed to buy Moscow’s $5.4-billion S-400 missile defence system despite the threat of US sanctions.
In Washington, India has faced criticism over its clampdown in restive Kashmir, and the recently passed citizenship law that has led to ongoing protests across the nation, including in New Delhi on Monday.
A senior US administration official told reporters Trump would raise concerns about religious freedom in the Hindu-majority nation during the trip, “which is extremely important to this administration”. Trump also ridiculed Modi last year for “constantly telling me he built a library in Afghanistan”. “That’s like five hours of what we spend,” Trump said.
Away from the high-security show, clashes broke out in the capital New Delhi over a contentious citizenship law, hours before the arrival of Trump for bilateral talks. And in Bhopal, women survivors of the world’s worst-ever industrial disaster at a US-run plant in 1984 that killed thousands hit an effigy of Trump with brooms as they called for justice.
