A head of India’s budget on February 1st, Narendra Modi asked Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, to bless the poor and the middle class. The prime minister’s request for divine intervention mingled public spirit with political self-interest: frustration about economic growth and joblessness contributed to Mr Modi’s loss of his outright majority in elections held last year.

The pair shared warm relations during Trump's first term, but reports of migrants being mistreated on US deportation flights may pose dilemmas for Modi.

Opposition lawmakers in India's parliament are protesting the US deportations of Indian immigrants. A US military plane carrying 104 Indian migrants-- deported as part of US President Donald Trump's immigration agenda-- landed in northern India's Punjab State on Wednesday.