AFTER his trip to the United States last September when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was treated as a rock star, a sulking Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had wryly remarked: “Other countries have a PM. We have an EM — an Events Manager.” But Modi pulled off an even great event when US President Barack Obama landed in New Delhi on a three-day state visit and attended India’s Republic Day parade as the chief guest.

Nothing could be bigger than this for India as not only Obama was the first-ever US president to have visited India twice during his tenure but also Obama had the singular distinction of becoming the first US president to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations as chief guest.

Aiyar had to eat crow when he had earlier tried to hit Modi below the belt in January 2014, months before the Indian general elections were announced, and said thus from New Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium where the Congress party was having its annual session: “I promise you in 21st Century Narendra Modi will never become the Prime Minister of the country. ...But if he wants to distribute tea here, we will find a place for him.”

Modi made the most of his remark and milked it to his maximum advantage as he toured the entire length and breadth of the country during the general elections of April-May last year.

Now cut to January 2015 and Aiyar has made a fool of himself again as Modi has demonstrated to his countrymen and the world how to turn foreign policy into a huge event and squeeze the maximum out of it. Obama’s India visit (Jan. 25-27) signifies precisely this.

Much to the discomfiture of Aiyar as well as his Congress party, Obama literally hit the ground running on Day One of his India visit as a slew of decisions were taken, including the decision to operationalize the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation agreement that has been hanging fire since October 2008.

The two sides did not sign a single agreement but came up with three bilateral documents, including the India-US Delhi Declaration of Friendship. This document lists many of the takeaways from Obama’s India visit as follows:

(i) Hold regular summits with increased periodicity.

(ii) Elevate the strategic dialogue to a strategic and commercial dialogue.

(iii) Establish secure hotlines between the prime minister of India and the president of the United States of America and national security advisers.

(iv) Cooperate to develop joint ventures on strategically significant projects.

However, Obama shot a torpedo as a parting shot on his last engagement in New Delhi. But for this, Obama’s India visit was nothing but a dream run for Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The occasion was Obama’s town hall-style meeting as he addressed some two thousand 2,000 young people at New Delhi’s Siri Fort auditorium on Jan. 27.

Obama waded into India’s most controversial topic, which happens to be the soft underbelly of Modi as well as the BJP. The US president made a fervent appeal for religious freedom at a time when Indian opposition parties have accused Modi of not restraining his firebrand colleagues within his party and the network of ally organizations. Sample Obama’s pregnant remark: “India will succeed as long as it’s not splintered along religious lines...nowhere is it more important to uphold religious freedom than in India.” He also reminded his Indian audience with an obvious swipe at the Modi-led BJP government thus: “Every person has the right to practice their religion and beliefs and not practice it if they choose so without any persecution.”

As though this was not enough, Obama threw India’s own rule book at the Indians when quoting the Indian Constitution, he made the following observation: “Your Article 25 (of the Constitution) says that all people are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion. In both our countries, in all countries, upholding this fundamental freedom is the responsibility of government, but it’s also the responsibility of every person.”

Obama’s speech at Siri Fort has spoilt Modi’s party. In fact, Obama’s parting shot in India would bolster the opposition and give them lot of ammunition. The Congress and other opposition parties would inevitably go gaga over Obama’s remarks on religious tolerance and would take the maximum political mileage out of this during innumerable elections held in India every year.

The first such opportunity presents before the opposition on Feb. 7 when Delhi assembly polls are held.