Anatomy of a deal: The Trump-Modi summit had a China flavour

Trade talks stole the headlines but Trump also wants a tighter security partnership with India, which Beijing will watch closely.

- Ravi Velloor

Where are America-India ties headed after what, from all accounts, seems to be a successful White House meeting between the leaders of the world's most powerful nation and the largest country by population?

When it comes to international politics, it's a tested dictum that it is more important to take note of what people do than pay heed to what they say. By that reasoning, it seems fair to say that a critical fork in the road is possibly approaching in the relationship, once you look past the optics and smiles for the cameras. The rest of Asia may need to take notice.

But before we get to that, here's an account of the window-dressing that went on before President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met for talks on a bleak winter's day.

Leading up to Mr Modi's visit, the US administration made several moves that played to the sentiments of the core Maga (Make America Great Again) gallery that carried Mr Trump to power for a second time.

First, there were the dramatic visuals of a planeload of Indian illegals being deported back to their home country aboard a US military freighter, their hands and feet in restraints. Then, on the day Mr Modi was to meet the US President, Mr Trump announced a slew of what was described as reciprocal tariffs - chiefly affecting India, which has some of the steepest import duties.

After his sit-down with Mr Modi, the White House said New Delhi will source even more of its energy imports from the US in an effort to both elevate and balance bilateral trade, currently in India's favour. The target is to more than double overall trade to US$500 billion (S$669 billion) by 2030. India has apparently yielded to the US demand to open itself to the import of several key agricultural commodities despite the overwhelming domestic sensitivities.