Decoding the Modi-Obama chemistry

'The two leaders have a lot in common, from their humble beginnings to coming into office following high-energy campaigns and generating high expectations. They sort of "changed the way in which politics is practised" in India and the United States.'

Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC, on what makes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama get along so well.

US President Barack Obama with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, in September 2014. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

At a White House teleconference previewing Barack Obamas visit to India next week, American journalists were intrigued by the chemistry between the United States president and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what led to their almost picture-perfect rapport.

Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and a close aide to Obama, and Phil Reiner, senior director at the national security council for South Asia, explained that both leaders had a lot in common, from the use of new technology and humble beginnings to coming into office following high-energy campaigns and generating high expectations, that evidently made them tick.

Modi, recalled Rhodes, is a very ambitious leader and he was elected after a very dynamic and innovative campaign in India, in which he utilised new technology.

In their first conversation, after Prime Minister Modis election, they noted some similarities in terms of how their campaigns sort of changed the way in which politics is practised in our respective countries, he said.

They both noted that they came into office following high-energy campaigns that utilised very broad-based outreach, and also, Prime Minister Modi came into office as a leader who raised significant expectations in India.

According to Rhodes, Modi has been very forthright in his ambitions in terms of what he wants to achieve and moving the Indian economy forward. He spoke of how, it was not unlike President Obamas view of how he came into office, wanting to, again, tackle a very ambitious economic agenda.

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Decoding the Modi-Obama chemistry