America’s grand red carpet for Modi

“Operation Seduce Narendra Modi” is not a new thing. But Joe Biden is taking the flattery of the Prime Minister of India to a new level. Biden’s Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo recently said that Modi’s commitment to the people of India was “indescribable and deep and passionate and real and authentic”. On Thursday, Modi will be one of a handful of politicians – Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela – to address a joint session of Congress more than once. His state dinner will be the brightest of Biden’s presidency. At this rate, India’s leader may feel that America admires him greatly.

They will not get any prize for guessing. The thickness of America’s red carpet has nothing to do with Modi’s politics and everything to do with India’s geography. No other country has the size or ability to act as a counterbalance to China. Curt Campbell, Biden’s Asia adviser, regularly describes the US-India relationship as America’s most important bilateral relationship. There is no warning attached to that statement. When pressed on the recent collapse of India’s liberal democracy, White House officials resort to standard realistic disclaimers.

It is true that there is nothing the US can do to defend Indian secularism or restore what remains of its independent media. It is a task for the Indians, although it seems a far cry at this point. It is also true that US tut-tutting is likely to have the opposite of its desired effect. Biden quietly brushed off his disapproval of Modi’s UN absence on Russia’s war on Ukraine as merely hardening Indian apathy. Washington now also sees a rise in India’s Russian oil imports. Although India is helping Vladimir Putin pay for his wars, it also controls global oil prices.

Yet the US finds it difficult to solidify foreign policy realism. Over the next few days, US officials will not be able to stop themselves from saying that India and the US share similar values, and are the world’s largest and richest democracies respectively. These controversial comments would have nothing to do with the reasons for the rousing reception Modi received. If Saudi Arabia swaps positions with India, Washington will find it hard to stop praising orthodox Islam.

Sadly this is unnecessary. The global star of foreign policy realism is India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, who insists that we live in a multipolar world of “frenemies” – neither permanent friends nor foes. It is a variation on aphorisms by Lord Palmerston, Charles de Gaulle and others throughout history. Jaishankar pursues India’s interests with none of the moral tone of his American counterparts – nor of his Cold War predecessors when India was non-aligned. India’s stand on Ukraine is selfish. Jaishankar does not pretend otherwise.

There are two problems with America’s all-out wooing of Modi. The first is that it belies Biden’s claim that human rights are “at the heart” of his foreign policy. Modi is trampling on too many rights to mention – religious freedom foremost. Yet the US State Department is as quiet about them as it is loud in denouncing the crimes of others in lesser positions on the global chessboard. This can only deepen America’s obsession with the gap between what we say and what we do. In an era where the global south is up for grabs, such double standards do little for America’s credibility.

The risk is that this all-things-China measure produces the opposite of what Biden wants. Most people in the world would prefer not to choose between the US and China. The last thing the Global South needs is a zero-sum dilemma. As the recurring joke goes, “The Chinese give us an airport; Americans lecture ”. It is worse when morality is thought to be hollow.

The other problem with Biden’s charm offensive is that it misreads how much India needs America. It is a misconception that India holds all the cards. India is incomparably more vulnerable to Chinese military action than the US. It shares a 2,100-mile border with China, much of it disputed, and its military is no match. In a conflict, only America could salvage India. Although China poses no direct military threat to the US, Washington itself has been led to believe otherwise.

There is no doubt that the US and India share genuine fears about an aggressive China. Getting closer together is the logical thing to do. Behaving like a supplicant to the world’s most ruthless Democratic backslider — the strongman Donald Trump would love to emulate — is both crude and unnecessary. For Modi it will look like a green light.

edward.luce@ft.com