Modi-Obama Summit: A New Way of Doing Things?

Ahead of the visit, Syed Akbaruddin, Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson, said the talks would have "substantive outcomes."

And yet, there are serious policy differences over trade practices, tax regimes, patent protection, especially in pharma products, agri-market opening, climate change (a legacy issue for Obama) and even Afghanistan. Many say the India-US strategic partnership story is "oversold" as there is a lack of clarity on how close the two nations are to each other's strategic vision. 

"Again, the solution is to talk," says Nisha Biswal, the US assistant secretary for South Asia. "We want to work with India, trade with and invest in India, innovate with India, and grow with India."

Biswal also says India "lends a voice which very much aligns with our own goals and objectives on stability and security across the region", highlighting such concerns as freedom of navigation, combating extremism and maintaining a stable balance of power in the Asia-Pacific.

Last week the US Senate passed a bipartisan resolution designating Sep 30 -- the day Modi and Obama wrap up their summit -- as "US-India Partnership Day". It is hoped that the prime minister's visit will help build friendship between the two leaders so that differences can be managed and the relationship kicked up to the "next level". There is a sense that the relationship has run into stagnation and both sides feel it can no longer be left to languish, say Lalit Mansingh and Ronen Sen, former Indian ambassadors to the US. 

But will the summit bring about change? Expectations shouldn't be too high, as past experience has shown, otherwise they would be followed by disappointment, say others, cautioning that there are limits to coziness.

Robert Blackwill, a former US ambassador to India, however, finds Modi a "good listener", an "experimenting personality" who can produce results that both sides desire.

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