Modi in UK

Warming up to the economic diplomacy of British Prime Minister David Cameron who prioritized investment in the Asian countries Modi made every effort to burnish India’s image during his three day long visit to UK.  Despite the partisan sanctimonious narrative making headlines in all the leading left-leaning British Newspapers ahead of Modi’s visit to London, he triumphantly projected India as the most favorable investment destination. Drubbed by critics and media for rising chorus of intolerance, failing to reign in on fundamentalists and lately for defeat in the Bihar assembly elections Modi eloquently silenced the disgraceful banter with his adroit diplomatic skills. The poise, spontaneity, diplomatic finesse exuded by Modi in handling the spiteful British media speaks of his diplomatic nuances, an embodiment of a real leader.

Modi left no stone unturned to project “Brand India” image from the time he landed on the foreign soil. With an impressive outreach that complemented the eagerness of his British compatriot to reach the largest consumer market Modi ambitiously grabbed every opportunity to garner financial benefits. On the first day of his visit, Modi was extended a ceremonial reception which was followed by bilateral meetings. Both Prime Ministers then endorsed a Vision Statement that set out fundamental principles for an enduring partnership and bilateral cooperation between India and UK with a core objective of reinvigorating relationships to accelerate growth and transform lives of people. The main focus of Modi’s agenda was clean energy, climate change, security and defence cooperation. A joint statement to this end was issued by both countries addressing issues of shared interests and charted out future course of cooperation. Reiterating that the coming together of World’s oldest and largest democracy should bring prosperity, both countries have agreed to invest in infrastructure, promote manufacturing and extend cooperation in research, technology and innovation.

During President Xi’s to UK earlier this month, both countries sealed financial deals worth £ 30 billion and a section of media was highly very critical of British government’s pandering to China. UK is the largest European investor in India and Economics, is in fact has been the corner stone for Indo- UK cooperation. India is the third largest FDI investor in UK. India and UK struck commercial deals worth £ 9.2 billion in retail, logistics, energy, finance, IT, education and health sectors. UK accounts for 8.59% of total FDI in India during the last 15 years. Indian companies on the other hand employ 110,000 people in UK. Following the hike in the FDI limit to 49% in insurance and pension sector agreements worth £ 238 million were signed in insurance sector. Under the HSBC’s Skills for Life initiative in India, a £ 10 million program was announced to skill 75,000 disadvantaged young people and children over 5 years age. Under the Smart Cities and Urban renewal partnership it is agreed to have three city partnerships with Pune, Amaravati and Indore to meet ambitious urban development goals of India. Under UK water partnership Thames/Ganga partnership was launched to develop healthy river systems.

Giving impetus to the skills initiative in India, 11 UK companies have committed to support skills development in India under the India-UK Skills pledge. Also “Centres for Excellence” in various sectors will be set up starting with the Centre for Automotive and Advanced Engineering in Pune. It was also agreed that year 2016 will be India-UK year of education, research and innovation, fostering collaboration in these sectors. Year 2017 which marks India’s 70^th anniversary of independence will be India-UK year of culture. In another significant development, UK unequivocally supported India’s bid for a permanent membership at the UN Security Council. The visit also witnessed successful conclusion of negotiations on the civil nuclear agreement 2010 providing framework for future cooperation.

On the security front both prime ministers have discussed issues of shared interests in prosperity and security of Asia and Indian Ocean, condemned terrorism in all forms and manifestations, inclusive constitutional settlement in Nepal, reconstruction process in Sri Lanka, sustainable political order in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Both nations welcomed historic agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. By and large the engagement was totally high on business and financial commitments.

Though the Indian opposition tried to down play a rare honor bequeathed on Modi, Narendra Modi is the first ever Indian prime minister to address British Parliament which was specially convened by the speaker (as parliament is in recess). Modi chose to address his august audience in English though he is quite comfortable with Hindi. His impressive English oratory though dotted with accented words had clearly made an inexplicable impression on the English audience who in turn raised toast to his spirited message by a standing ovation. During the speech he commended the wisdom of British for installing statue of Mahatma Gandhi next to Winston Churchill on parliament square and generosity of Indian counterparts for sharing the legacy of the great leader. To strike a chord of friendship Modi invoked various issues of common interests in India and UK like the cricket, curry, James Bond, Brooke Bond, Scotland Yard, Bhangra rap, English novel and praised the Tata Motors which now owns Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) for providing jobs to thousands of Brits. He later visited JLR’s Sohilull’s manufacturing plant which manufactures 425,000 cars annually the next day. Modi also garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi which coincided with the fly-past of the Red Arrows of Royal Air Force (RAF) splashing tricolors in skies above. Putting to rest Britain’s past legacy of imperialism, he praised London soil for becoming seed bed for Indian freedom struggle.

Soon after the Royal Address, dispelling clouds of negativity he wooed CEOs of Britain assembled in the Guild Hall by proudly strutting latest reports of reputed Global institutions that acknowledged India’s economic trajectory. India in the past 18 months under the NDA government had climbed up in the rankings of global ease of doing business, transparency international’s corruption perception index and World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Report. The recent financial downtrend of Chinese markets had evoked few mixed responses in investors who are now looking forward for a relatively stable market. India which is projected to emerge as the largest middle-class consumer market by 2030 can be a lucrative option. Finally he whetted interest in the business executives by pitching the onerous steps taken by his government and exalted India as land of immense opportunities. In total 28 financial deals were struck between India and UK.

Rise of Modi in the political arena has resulted in emanation of two cults- Modi Supporters and Modi Haters and in London Modi faced protestors who chanted slogans of intolerant India and a Nepalese contingent raised slogans against Modi. Prime Minister had to encounter a torrent of cringing questions of the opinionated British media and scorn of demonstrators due to constant ridicule of main stream Indian media. In sharp contrast, overwhelming support of the Indian Diaspora has indeed compelled the conservative party to extend an exceptionally warm reception to Modi. Modi supporters truly cherished the moments of his illustrious visit to London on eve of Diwali by organizing the most memorable Olympic style event at the Wembley Stadium. Attended by more than 60,000 avowed Modi supporters, the preparations for a momentous welcome started six months ahead of his visit. Coordinated and organized by the Europe India Foundation (EIF), the scale of event has truly envied the native Brits. Truly the exceptional euphoria and rapturous welcome accorded by the 1.5 million strong Indian community in London at Wembley Stadium was unprecedented.

Conservative Party made best out of the Wembley event with Prime Minister Cameron serenading Modi through the stadium amidst loud cheers of the spirited Indian community. Wembley event was an occasion of great celebration for the Indian Diaspora who turned it into a historic event by mirroring various aspects of Indian culture, art, music and dance. It is ironic that while the Indian community is celebrating the spirit of diverse India, back in India the vitriolic opposition lost no time in launching scathing attacks and passing disparaging comments. But for the steady support of the Indian-desi’s abroad the heaping criticism of British Media couldn’t have mellowed down. In his much awaited address to the Indian community, Modi reiterated the uniqueness of India, reached out to Indian community and encouraged them to invest in India, announced a new flight from Ahmedabad to London. In a move to tap the London markets, Modi launched innovative Masala bonds to facilitate off shore rupee trading by Indian firms and made London the center for such financial transactions. The most ravishing spectacle unfurled at Wembley with biggest garden-style fireworks  displayed at the end of the event.

During his three day long stay, Modi lunched with Queen Elizabeth II, unveiled statue of 12^th century Kannada philosopher Basaveshwara and visited the place where Dr. B. R. Ambedkar lived during his stay in London. But the fag end of the Modi’s visit was overshadowed by the gruesome Paris attacks. From London Modi travelled to Antalya in Turkey to attend the 10^th G-20 summit. The terror attacks of Paris topped the agenda of the summit wherein world leaders pledged to initiate a global action against terrorism. Modi proposed a 10-point program to tackle terrorism. India being worst victim of cross-border terror for the past three decades, Modi has been pitching for a comprehensive legislation on counter terrorism.

Modi during his state visit to UK made ever attempt to take the relationship forward and eloquently projected India as an emerging market. Of late UK had made strategic shifts in its foreign policy and is more focused on economic diplomacy. Complementarily, Modi too invested lot of time and energy in striking commercial deals and in wooing investors. It is interesting that colonial master of yesteryears are now slowly acknowledging the ascendancy of India. In reality the sudden attitudinal change of the British political arena towards India is a rigorous attempt to woo the 1.7 million strong Indian diaspora. By and large one of the pillars of Modi’s foreign policy stratagem has been resourceful leveraging of India’s soft power which emanates from the belief that local problems have global solutions. @ Copyrights reserved.