Obama or Nixon: Which template would Donald Trump's India visit follow?

Current Affairs
While it wasn't an official visit, the primary inhabitant of the White House to arrive on the shores of India was Ulysses S Grant, and likely not the last with, suppose a dodgy feeling of style. The eighteenth President of the United States, Grant served two continuous terms in office somewhere in the range of 1869 and 1877 and was likewise the Commanding General of the US Army when the Civil War was won. Not long after his term finished, Grant and his better half Julia set out on a more than multi year world visit that expected to extend the US as an outward looking force prepared to draw in with the world. Award landed in Mumbai in February 1879 on board USS Richmond and embraced the standard excursion, on elephant back, to the Taj Mahal in Agra, whereupon the Grants thought it lovely yet not more than the Capitol Hill building. Award met the then Viceroy Robert Lytton in Kolkata and pronounced adoration for his dad Edward Bulwer-Lytton's books. In 1982, the San Jose State University organized the yearly, whimsical Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest to grant the most noticeably terrible conceivable opening lines of a novel as a tribute to Bulwer-Lytton's "It was a dull stormy night" in his 1830 work Paul Clifford.
It is not yet clear what hesitant explorer Donald J Trump, the 45th President of the US on his two-day visit between February 24-26 makes of the straightforward Sabarmati Ashram, the Taj Mahal, or the 'Kem Cho, Trump' rally in Ahmedabad where PM Narendra Modi guarantees there would be "millions and millions" in participation.

Past the bearhugs and protestations of incredible individual bond between the two chiefs, this visit conveys a more value-based flavor than other ongoing presidential excursions to India. Not at all like previously, an economic agreement between the two involves centerstage, given the setting of Trump's residential strategy needs. Trump, oneself maintained ace of arrangement making has as of late named India "duty ruler" in a tweet pointing towards India's penchant to vigorously...Read More

Kashmir is issue between India-Pak; US ready to assist talks: State Dept

International News

The Trump administration has launched a damage control exercise after the President's remarks about mediation on Kashmir, with the State Department on Tuesday saying it was a "bilateral" issue between India and Pakistan, and the US "welcomes" the two countries "sitting down" for talks.
It also said Pakistan taking "sustained and irreversible" steps against terrorism is key to a successful dialogue with India.
"While Kashmir is a bilateral issue for both parties to discuss, the Trump administration welcomes Pakistan and India sitting down and the United States stands ready to assist," a State Department spokesperson told PTI in response to a question if Trump's remarks reflect a change in the country's policy on Kashmir.
India has already rejected Trump's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought his mediation on the Kashmir issue.
For more than a decade, the US has consistently insisted that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and it is for the two countries to decide on the nature and scope of the dialogue.
"We believe the foundation for any successful dialogue between India and Pakistan is based on Pakistan taking sustained and irreversible steps against militants and terrorists on its territory. These actions are in line with Prime Minister (Imran) Khan's stated commitments, and Pakistan's international obligations," the State Department spokesperson said.

 "We will continue to support efforts that reduce tensions and create an environment conducive for dialogue. This first and foremost means tackling the menace of terrorism. As the President indicated, we stand ready to assist," the spokesperson said in response to a question...Read More