Washington: African American singer and longtime India admirer Mary Millben has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “the most influential and the most important leader right now in geopolitics,” praising his handling of this week’s New Delhi summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urging Washington to reset its approach toward India.
In an interview with IANS, Millben said, PM Modi-Putin engagement reflected a “deep alliance” between the two countries and must be read in the broader context of India’s expanding global role. “From the perspective of Prime Minister Modi and President Putin, it was a great meeting,” she said, adding that “this is certainly a deep alliance between India and Russia, similar in the context of the deep roots and alliance that the United States shares with India.”
Millben said PM Modi handled the meeting with characteristic strategic discipline, particularly on areas such as energy and defence. “The Prime Minister was… diplomatic and strategic with his words,” she observed, contrasting that with Putin’s stronger focus on oil and defence cooperation.
But, she said, PM Modi’s approach was rooted in national interest. “At the end of the day, the Prime Minister is going to do what is best for India… Every leader’s going to look at what is strategically best for their country.”
She argued that PM Modi’s stature has placed him at the centre of today’s geopolitical calculations. “The Prime Minister… is right now, to date, the most influential and the most important leader in geopolitics. That’s irrefutable,” she said. “The Prime Minister has positioned India and certainly himself as the most important leader… in geopolitics,” she reiterated.
Millben, who maintains close ties with President Donald Trump and his team, delivered unusually sharp criticism of the Trump administration’s recent posture towards New Delhi. She said the approach to India on trade had been “too aggressive” and went “as far as to say… in a bullying approach.”
“India is our friend, our longest and strongest democratic partner,” she said. “It is okay to go to the table with… positive and healthy discord while coming out still understanding good business with friends.” The results of that “unfortunate aggression,” she argued, were visible in intensifying engagements among major global powers, including India’s diplomacy with Russia and China.
Millben urged Trump to see the New Delhi summit as a moment to recalibrate. “I hope that the Trump administration and the President will sit back and look at this meeting… with new eyes and a new perspective,” she said.
She went further, recommending that Trump invite PM Modi to Washington for an official visit. “My advice… after seeing this meeting… invite the Prime Minister to the United States… sit down, break bread, apologise, and repair the relationship,” she said.
Such a move, she argued, would strengthen US interests—particularly in pursuit of a Russia-Ukraine peace effort. PM Modi, she said, is “the best leader and the only leader who can really be a mediator” among the key players.
Millben also said global leaders are closely watching the US election calendar. “Every leader across the world knows the truth of our election seasons… November will be a big indicator as to how many of these leaders will move forward with their agendas,” she noted.
She expressed confidence in both President Trump and PM Modi, calling them longtime friends. “I really do believe that the President and Prime Minister… are friends, they have been friends,” she said.
She added that PM Modi’s recent diplomacy underscores his global standing: “His leadership has been on full display in such a way that has solidified his legitimacy and certainly global confidence… He’s certainly outsmarted everybody, and I applaud him for that.”
The PM Modi-Putin summit in New Delhi marked a renewed round of high-level engagement between India and Russia, whose strategic partnership spans defence, energy, space and nuclear cooperation. India has maintained dialogue with both Moscow and Kyiv since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, positioning itself as one of the few major countries with working channels to all sides.
Millben, who has performed for Indian and American leaders and has emerged as an informal cultural ambassador between the two democracies, has been an outspoken supporter of stronger India–US ties and has frequently praised PM Modi’s leadership on global platforms.
(IANS)
