TRUMPS VISIT TO INDIA: FACTS OT FICTION

US president Donald Trump’s maiden official visit to India began on the 24thof February with much fanfare, though the enthusiasm may not have sustained. US President Donald Trump expected 10 million people to welcome him in India on his first state visit. It didn't happen, but everything else seems to have gone according to the script.

Mr. Trump wanted to show people in the US that he was hugely popular abroad and that he was capable of negotiating good deals out of a country that he once described as the "king of tariffs".

On the other hand, the Indian PM desperately needed some good headlines after being under the spotlight due to his controversial decision to revoke Kashmir's autonomy and the ongoing protests against his new citizenship law.

In the end, both leaders had their wishes fulfilled despite not agreeing on a much talked-about trade agreement.

Trump’s, as expected, was geared more towards the Gujarati American-Indians, an important vote bank for his reelection as president this November. He spoke at length about the “true” India-US friendship, turning briefly into generous adulation of Modi himself. Trump hailed Modi’s origins as a chaiwaala (tea-seller), “a worker in a cafeteria,” which he said underscored “what this country (India) is capable of.”

We looked at some of the claims.

Claim 1: Trump said: "Since the turn of the century, the size of the Indian economy has grown over six times in size."

In 2000, India's GDP was $477 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). By 2019, that figure had risen to an estimated $2,940billion.

That's an increase of 6.2 times over the period 2000-2019.

India became the world's fifth largest economy in 2019, according to data from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook.

Claim 2: "In a single decade, India has lifted over 270 million people out of poverty."

However, this same report notes that despite the gains in reducing poverty "364 million Indians continue to experience acute deprivations in health, nutrition, schooling and sanitation."

It also notes that about a quarter of all those defined as living in poverty are under the age of 10.

Claim 3: "Under Prime Minister Modi, for the first time, every village in India has access to electricity."

However, it's important to know what this actually means.

The government defines a village as fully electrified if 10% of its households, as well as public places such as schools and health centers, are connected to the grid.

By the time Mr. Modi took office in 2014, 96% of the 600,000 villages in India had already been electrified.

Claim 4: "The pace of highway constructions has more than doubled."

The government built about 10,000 km of highway in 2018-19. This is more than double the amount built in the last year of the previous Congress administration in 2013-14.

Claim 5: " 320 million more Indians are right now connected to the internet."

It's not entirely clear what internet connection refers to here. There are now more than 600 million internet subscribers in India - a measure of internet use published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

This figure has grown enormously in recent years, surpassing the 320 million figure mentioned by President Trump.

Mr. Modi needs to keep Mr. Trump on its side for strategic and security reasons - the grand welcome he accorded the US president showed how serious he is about the relationship.

But the immediate future of the relationship depends on the upcoming US presidential elections.

Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi's "bromance" was on full display in this visit and that has very much become the cornerstone of the relationship between the two countries.

India will find it easier to deal with a leader it has already invested in, hoping Mr. Trump's unpredictable nature won't harm the relationship.

"Mr. Trump wanted a big crowd and a larger-than-life spectacle and India gave him that," says Mr. Rao. "Now let's see how long the impact of the spectacle lasts."

- Pragun Sharma