Quick Edit: Alien Discussion

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tour to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia so far has all the optics we’ve come to expect from his foreign trips. In Papua New Guinea, diplomacy took an unusual turn when the island nation’s Prime Minister James Marape ran away with protocol to receive Modi after sunset, and surprised him back home, welcoming him by touching his feet. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is also reported to have specially gone to Papua New Guinea to meet Modi, even though the meeting with US President Joe Biden was canceled due to the political tussle in Washington over the US debt ceiling. Anyway, you definitely get quad four. And on Tuesday, in Sydney, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reflected on Modi’s popularity with the Indian expatriate there. The cheers, slogans and roar had decibel levels that are unusual for that part of the world. Overall, it appeared that Biden even asked for Modi’s autograph in a light moment. How much all this matters in the hard-and-tough world of international diplomacy is debatable, but Modi’s foreign visits remain a force to be reckoned with.