A visit to the Martin Luther King Jr memorial on the National Mall in Washington DC, to which Modi is travelling with President Obama in the presidential limousine, wasn’t on the original schedule. It was included when the Indian PM presented Obama—a lifelong admirer of the great civil rights leader—mementoes from Dr King’s visit to India in 1959: sets of photographs and audio-video clips. (Photograph by White House, From Outlook 13 Octoberr 2014))
Festoons On The Hudson
Japan and China may be where the most value lies, but it’s the US visit that marked the real psychological high. Modi was feted by goggle-eyed NRIs and industrialists drinking up hope. The Obama parleys stuck to a flawless script too.
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But it wasn’t all celebratory baubles and confetti, befitting a hero’s welcome, for Modi. Civil rights organisations have long questioned his rights track record as Gujarat CM, and have played a role in his previous visa denials by the US. Though overwhelmed by the saturation media coverage of the adulatory public, they made their point. Here, the Alliance for Justice and Accountability protests outside MSG on September 28, during Modi’s finest hour.
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