Friend's In Need

The Promise And The Pitfalls Of The Quantum Leap In Indo-US Ties

- RAJ CHENGAPPA

JUNE 8, 2016. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi rose to address the joint sitting of the US Congress, he was greeted with a standing ovation. In the chair were US Vice-President Joe Biden and the House Speaker Paul Ryan. At his eloquent best, Modi told Congress members that relations between the two countries had "overcome the hesitations of history" and concluded with a line from Walt Whitman's "To Think of Time': "The orchestra have sufficiently tuned their instruments-the baton has given the signal." A new symphony, he added, is in play.

Cut to June 22, 2023. The new symphony Modi talked of in 2016 was in full play. Nine years into his prime ministership, he looked far more assured as he addressed the US Congress a second time-an honour bestowed on only a few world leaders. Just the previous day, Biden, now the President, had rolled out the red carpet for him, even upgrading the summit to a state visit with all the attendant pomp and pageantry, besides hosting a private dinner for Modi. "In the past few years, there have been many advances in AI-Artificial Intelligence," Modi told Congress members with a smile. "There have been even more momentous developments in another AI-America and India."