American Outreach: How Modi played four roles during US visit and aced them

The prime minister's US visit managed to cover a lot of ground on several counts and was worth all the effort. Now, it's over to Indian diplomacy to sustain the momentum

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US has predictably generated a lot of commentary about the pros and cons of his external engagement. While his supporters have portrayed this visit as a grand victory for India and the prime minister, his critics have harped on the absence of a substantive outcome. But what was indisputable of the visit was that Modi played on the front foot throughout and presented India’s case to the world with aplomb. Modi has shed the traditional defensiveness in India’s foreign policy, and he was not shy of articulating the aspirations of his countrymen and