WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th February, 2020) US President Donald Trump embarks on his first visit to India setting sights on yet another trade megadeal along with a couple of lucrative defense contracts and anticipating an orient-style lavish welcome.
On Monday, Trump opens a massive cricket stadium in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, marvels Taj Mahal, a historic mausoleum in Agra, and proceeds to the country's capital New Delhi for a series of talks, business meetings and festive ceremonies slated for Tuesday, according to the White House.
Trump hopes that the trip may produce a trade agreement along the lines of the deals he reached with Japan, China, Canada and Mexico. He admits, however, outstanding issues could delay the signing until after the US Presidential election in November.
"We may make a tremendous deal there, or maybe we'll slow it down. We'll do it after the election. I think that could happen too," Trump said at a commencement speech in Las Vegas last week. "But we're only making deals if they're good deals, because we're putting America first."
The United States is India's second largest goods export market after the European Union, and third largest goods import supplier after China and the EU. Last year the US had a trade deficit with India of over $23 billion. The countries have been engaged in mutual tariff hikes campaign since 2018 as Trump is vying for broader access for American manufacturers.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the visit, a senior White House official downplayed expectations of a breakthrough and voiced instead growing US concerns over India's new trade barriers and reinforcement of protectionism practices.
"We have had a number of announcements coming from India in the past several weeks which are making the discussion a bit more difficult. What we see as an increase in barriers, not a decrease would certainly come up among the leaders," he said. "It's a pretty wide scope frankly of important service and goods access issues that we need to address."
Among those issues the official singled out an ambitious "Make in India" initiative, which encourages both foreign and domestic companies to manufacture their products within the country.
The official said that United States and India would announce a number of significant commercial deals in key sectors of their cooperation, including possibly defense and energy. Media expects to see among them two contracts to procure 24 MH-60R naval and six AH-64E attack helicopters of a combined worth of over $3.5 billion.
The US is the second-largest defense exporter to India with sales anticipated to reach $15 billion this year from near zero in 2008. The United States has designated India as a Major Defense Partner and granted Strategic Trade Authorization tier 1 status, which allows it to receive license-free access to a wide range of military and dual-use technologies.
The United States has repeatedly criticized India's military procurement with Russia, its largest arms supplier, and even attempted to prevent the purchase of the S-400 anti-aircraft missiles. Both countries defied threats of sanctions and last year signed a contract worth more than $5 billion.
The US also nurtures its "strategic energy partnership" which facilitated India's purchases of US crude oil, LNG and coal. According to the White House, US energy exports to India have grown 500% to nearly $7 billion from 2016. "India... has huge energy needs and the US is ready to help India to meet those needs," the official said.
Politically, Trump intends to promote his Indo-Pacific strategy, a vision of a multifaceted alliance of the US, India, Japan, and Australia viewed by many as another tool to deter a growing Chinese clout in the region.
"India is a pillar of our Indo-Pacific strategy. We continue to work together to promote this vision of a free and open international system, based on market economies, good governance, freedom of the seas and skies, and respect for sovereignty," the White House official said.
On a lighter note, in Ahmedabad, the first stop of his trip, Trump is expected to inaugurate the world's largest cricket stadium with a capacity for 110,000 spectators. Modi reportedly promised him a greeting line of millions of Indians who would be waving flags and flowers along the way from the airport to the event.
"He told me we'll have seven million people between the airport and the event," Trump spoke of his expectations. "And the stadium, I understand, is sort of semi under construction, but it's going to be the largest stadium in the world. So it's going to be very exciting."
In his visit to India, the president will be accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump and a delegation of 12 officials, including his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, who both hold senior positions at the White House.
Trump said he "happens to like Prime Minister Modi a lot" and publicly congratulated him on being number 2 on Facebook.
"You know who number one is? Trump. Do you believe that? Trump. Number one. I just found that out," Trump said. "And I congratulated Prime Minister Modi. I said, 'But, you know, you have 1.5 billion people. I have 350 million. You have an advantage.'"
