President Trump visit to India last month

President Trump arrived in India for his first official visit "Namaste Trump" to the world’s largest democracy, kicking off a whirlwind 36-hour tour on Monday emerged from Air Force One to an embrace from Modi while traditional folk music from Gujarat state -- complete with blowing conch shells and persistent drumming -- began echoing. Women with rainbow flower strands stacked atop their headdresses danced to the rhythm.

He went from the airport to the Ashram where Mahatma Gandhi, the father of Indian independence, lived from 1917-1930. Trump and first lady Melania Trump -- who removed their shoes for the tour -- viewed a traditional charkha spinning wheel, closely associated with Gandhi that came to represent self-sufficiency during the non-cooperation movement.

. A massive throng, all wearing white caps, cheered eagerly as Trump praised Indian democracy, Modi and Bollywood (sometimes using haltingly pronounced Hindi nouns). The crowd appeared to thin somewhat as temperatures increased inside the stadium, but tens of thousands remained to hear the President speak. Trump and Modi lavished praise on each other during the joint rally. Modi welcomed Trump to the world’s biggest democracy, while Trump spoke of the close ties between the two countries. Both men heaped praise on the other during a massive rally in the world's largest cricket stadium that drew about 100,000 people, held in Modi's home state Gujarat. Trump called Modi an “exceptional leader” who works “night and day for his country.” “America loves India, America respects India, and America will always be faithful and loyal friends to the Indian people,” Trump continued.

He flew from Ahmedabad to Agra Trump, who is traveling with his wife as well as his daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, where he took an early evening tour of the Taj Mahal, the late-afternoon sun setting the famous white marble mausoleum a glow. The Taj Mahal, built in the 17th century by Mughal emperor Shah jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal after her death, was buffed and scrubbed before Trump and the first lady took a private sunset tour. Trump, who was visiting the monument for the first time, told reporters that it was “incredible, truly incredible.”

The president’s itinerary in India on Tuesday attempted to shift the focus of his trip from spectacle to substance, with a series of official meetings and formalities. Trump spent Tuesday in meetings with Modi and other Indian leaders. He also attended a round table at the U.S. Embassy with Indian industrialists and entrepreneurs, where he claimed he had attracted record investment to the United States and rejuvenated moribund sectors of the economy. But it was the president’s expressions of warmth for India that stood out on his second day in a country that has given he and first lady Melania Trump a lavish welcome. President Trump commended Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “working very hard on religious freedom” and refused to discuss a controversial new citizenship law that set off protests across the country, saying that the matter was “really up to India.”

Trump’s comments came amid the worst outbreak of communal violence in India’s capital in decades. At least 13 people were killed in Delhi on Monday and Tuesday when clashes broke out between Hindus and Muslims in the northeastern part of the city. Meanwhile, the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced considerable international criticism — including from members of Congress — over its crackdown in Kashmir. While Trump has offered in the past to help mediate the longstanding Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan, Modi has rebuffed his overtures and the passage of a controversial religion-based citizenship bill that has triggered protests across the country. In the run-up to the trip, a senior White House official said Trump would raise the issue of religious freedom with Modi in private.

Trump’s ‘America First’ quest meets its match in India. The president is expected to leave India without even a mini-deal because of New Delhi's reluctance to yield on its protectionist policies. India is the United States’ ninth-largest trading partner. The U.S. exported about $34 billion worth of goods to India in 2019, just a fraction of the $256 billion exported to Mexico, the top destination for U.S. goods last year. The U.S. recorded a $24 billion trade deficit with India last year while India's exports to the U.S. grew at a faster rate than U.S. exports to India. Those statistics could be driving the president’s reluctance to give India what it really wants — access again to the U.S.' Generalized System of Preferences, a tariff-cutting program for developing countries that discounts duties on roughly $6 billion worth of Indian imports. Trump and Modi announced some modest agreements on defense and security, including the purchase of $3 billion worth of American military helicopters and other equipment for its Navy which the US hopes will lure India away from purchasing its hardware from Russia. The pair also outlined new agreements for energy purchases and a joint mental health initiative.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi did promise to cooperate more on regional security; the US sees India as a buffer to China's growing influence in the region. The prospects for partnership remain promising in the security realm, where both the United States and India are looking to counter a rising China.

His reluctance to criticize Mr. Modi sharply contrasted with his willingness to assail his domestic critics even while abroad. During his concluding news conference, Mr. Trump attacked Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the former first lady Michelle Obama, Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California, and the unnamed whistle-blower whose disclosures led to the president’s impeachment.