Can Prime Minister Modi Overcome the Hesitations of History Again?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the United States marked another chapter in the long, complex journey of India–US relations. It was a celebration of friendship, shared values, and mutual aspirations. As I said then—with both enthusiasm and hope—India and the US need real Maitri (friendship) for the sake of world peace.

The relationship between the two nations goes back decades. Under Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy, ties were warm and full of promise. President Kennedy famously remarked that “the hinge of fate in Asia rests with India.” When President Eisenhower visited India in 1959 to inaugurate the first US Embassy, he expressed a vision that still resonates today: if American and Indian children grew up as best friends, the world would be a safer and better place.

But the warmth did not last uninterrupted. In 1965, relations shifted sharply, reaching one of their lowest points during President Nixon’s tenure.

Fast forward to December 2024, when Richard Verma, US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, addressed the 25th Annual Gala of the US–India Chamber of Commerce in Dallas, Texas. He acknowledged—and echoed—Prime Minister Modi’s earlier words: that the US and India have “overcome the hesitations of history” in their partnership.

The challenge now is to sustain that momentum in a rapidly changing and often turbulent world. The wisdom of history reminds us of what is truly at stake. As historian Dr. Arnold Toynbee once wrote:

“It is already becoming clear that a chapter which has a Western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in the self-destruction of the human race…. At this supremely dangerous moment in human history, the only way of salvation for mankind is the Indian way-Emperor Ashoka’s and Mahatma Gandhi’s principle of non-violence and Sri Ramakrishna’s testimony to the harmony of religions. Here we have an attitude and spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family-and, in the Atomic Age, this is the only alternative to destroying ourselves.” Stay Safe”.

(The writer is a West Virginia-based ophthalmologist. He is the President of the Eye Foundation of America. He can be reached at vkraju@comcast.net)