In September 2014, Michelle and Barack Obama invited Narendra Modi, the then–newly elected prime minister of India, to a lavish private dinner at the White House. The presidential fête reversed a prior travel ban on Modi, who had been barred from entering the United States for complicity in genocidal violence against Muslims in 2002. An official (though hardly impartial) investigation in India had cleared Modi of all charges in 2012, but Obama’s revocation of the travel ban placed an international stamp of approval on the questionable decision, brushing aside all allegations to make way for the new far-right face of India.

A decorous dinner courtesy of the cosmopolitan first couple seems a world away from the reprehensible far-right lovefest at the recent “Howdy, Modi!” rally in Houston, where Donald Trump and Modi shared a stage. But looks deceive. In classic Obama fashion, the get-together with Modi was a polished but highly insidious act of support for Modi’s infant prime ministership, quieter but perhaps scarier than Trump’s open embrace. US corporate interests needed to keep an “economically emerging,” far-right India close, so Obama obliged.

The dinner must have gone well because soon afterward the Obamas accepted a reciprocal invitation and attended India’s Republic Day celebrations in January 2015. It was the first time a US president had been present at India’s most spectacular national event, and the press delighted in the chemistry between the two leaders. On full display were Obama’s liberal multicultural credentials, and in his grace Modi’s profile rose in turn (the rise continues despite sporadic but intense protests). Modi did not forget to show his gratitude to Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the man who engineered the Obama bromance: last year he appointed Jaishankar external affairs minister so he could continue his job of sanitizing India’s Hindu right.