Narendra Modi - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Narendra Modi Index / People Transcripts Christy Goldfuss ...President Obama would talk to [Narendra] Modi in India, or talk to President X... Michèle Flournoy ...at the White House, an Asia leader, Prime Minister Modi of India. It was very much—even thoug... Richard Verma ...about something you mentioned, which is [Narendra] Modi 's election and then visit to th... ...what people tend to forget is that Prime Minister Modi had his US visa revoked. He couldn'... ...president of the United States. Here's Prime Minister Modi . A few years earlier, he's selling te... ...he went to go see then Chief Minister Modi in Gujarat in maybe 2011 or 2012, an... ...was speaking at a major conference that Prime Minister Modi was organizing called Vibrant Gujarat... ...the relationship that Obama had with Modi , which was constructive, if no... ...those hesitations of history that Prime Minister Modi says we have overcome. And that's wha... ...on board. That's also where the Obama- Modi relationship was really forged. It wa... ...about climate change. Hearing Prime Minister Modi tell to President Obama, “Listen, yo... ...climate change to you is super real.” Prime Minister Modi already conceded that in India. So th... ...not have been possible but for the Modi -Obama set of conversations tha... ...the prime minister's concerns.” And Prime Minister Modi coming back to his team saying, “We'r... ...going. Would it be fair to say that Modi was—I don't want to say exceptionally... ...CEOs, I think perhaps in tandem with Modi , when he was in India in 2015. Wa... ...we brought up earlier in talking about Modi , which is human rights and ask abou... ...headline, “US Ambassador Says Modi 's Having a Chilling Effect on Civi... ...my agenda—again, we were so lucky that Modi and Obama were either meeting o... Show more... Susan Rice ...challenge. We spent a lot of time with Modi trying to get him to the right place... Chuck Hagel ...because on that trip I stopped to see [Narendra] Modi . The president was getting ready t... ...The president was getting ready to meet Modi , I think, in a couple of months, so h... ...particularly interested in my take on Modi , what I thought of him, and so on an... ...interested in getting my take on Modi . I think he may have said somethin... Kenneth Roth ...Maybe just two other things. One was [Narendra] Modi , where there was basically a... ...was basically an unequivocal embrace of Modi despite his problematic past when h... ...of the BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party], Modi 's party. That has come back to haun... ...early years when Obama was embracing Modi , but I fear that that lack of firmnes... Terry Szuplat ...New prime minister had been elected, [Narendra] Modi , with a really checkered an... Ben Rhodes ...harder for them to be a spoiler. And [Narendra] Modi gets elected, and John Podest... ...Kerry—were very into this idea that the Modi relationship will be the key t... ...on climate move in a direction. So Modi visited the US. Modi invited Obama t... ...a direction. So Modi visited the US. Modi invited Obama to go to India fo... ...develop this personal relationship with Modi . Then you'll have that in the ban... ...what happened, basically. Obama and Modi developed this relationship. Th... ...Then Obama has a meeting with Modi and gets him to make enough of a giv... ...But it came with a cost, which is Modi . We talked about the balance betwee... ...in India, a lot of that has to do with Modi as a character, in particular. I wonde... ...uncomfortable at the beginning. When Modi came the first time, there was thi... ...And I was really against it, because of Modi 's past. I remember having a big figh... ...that, with a problematic character like Modi , having the relationship where you ca... ...critics of us who say we legitimized Modi to some extent. On the other hand, ... ...which is that, “Look how much worse Modi got after I was no longer there.” We'l... ...not that would have curtailed some of Modi 's actions, we just don't know. At th... ...we went all in on appealing directly to Modi on this stuff. It was also complicate... ...was also complicated by the fact that Modi had a real, genuine affinity for Obama... ...Obama was from humble origins, and Modi himself was from humble origins, and h... ...of charismatic figure that Obama was. Modi , unlike with Xi, there was thi... ...unlike with Xi, there was this genuine— Modi suggested that he was open to bein... ...public support for tolerance, whether Modi moves as radically in the direction h... ...important one, given how big a figure Modi has become. I think what'... ...without what Obama did with Xi and with Modi . It's a fascinating question fo... ...did something with business leaders and Modi and Bill Gates on solar initiatives... ...this. And then the key meeting with Modi , where he persuades him—it's one o... ...to Putin, and Trump, and Xi, and Modi , and all these guys who want to alway... Show more... John Kerry ...spent time with [Narendra Damodardas] Modi . John [D.] Podesta [Jr.], he brough... ...just gave it to [Narendra Damodardas] Modi and said, “You be the head of this an... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Gun Control Gun Control go to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Nuclear Nonproliferation go to the Agriculture Agriculture go to the Counterterrorism Counterterrorism go to the Black Politics Black Politics