In September of last year, the world media turned to a familiar theatre of Donald Trump’s campaign stage. The then Republican presidential nominee at a Michigan campaign event that Narendra Modi, “a fantastic man”, was coming to see him next week. The bromance between Trump and Modi had, by then, passed into political folklore.

From Howdy Modi in Houston to Namaste Trump in Ahmedabad, it had all been diplomacy as a duet – accompanied with fanfare, flags and corny slogans. Modi even lent the chant “Ab ki baar, Trump sarkaar” to Trump’s 2019 presidential campaign, a rare endorsement that fused Indian soft power with personal chemistry. So, when the campaign for the 2024 elections started in the US, everyone in both countries, or at least the media, anticipated a sequel to the same bonhomie

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