CHICAGO: Despite the minor electoral setback, Mr Modi appears committed to his economic reform agenda and advancing India’s international profile.
A HISTORIC NIGHT
The Tritiya (third day) crescent moon of the Shukla Paksha (waxing moon) was shining brightly in the clear Jyeshtha sky on June 9 above the Raisina Hills in New Delhi as Narendra Damodardas Modi, the Pradhan Mantri-elect of the Republic of Bharat, rose to take the oath of office and secrecy. It was a historic evening that “the much-maligned chaiwala,” wrote one of my former JNU acharyas responding to my Facebook post, “took oath for the third time as the Prime Minister of the largest democracy. Gives you goosebumps!!!”
It was indeed a historic day. A few days ago, on June 3rd night, most diaspora members were glued to their favourite streaming devices at home and numerous “watch parties.” It was already June 4 morning in India, and the 2024 Lok Sabha election trends had started to trickle in. By midnight Chicago time, it became clear that belying the exit poll predictions of a sweep, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not be able to reach the majority mark in the Lok Sabha (LS) on its own.
However, the victory of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was never in doubt. When the dust settled on the long, gruelling seven-phase elections, the NDA had won 293 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha, ahead of the 272-seat threshold mark to form a government. Both 2014 and 2019 were great election victories for Mr Modi, which normalized his supporters’ expectations of a “huge” victory. However, in an increasingly competitive and diverse democracy like India, such victories are an anomaly, not a rule. After all, only despots and communist dictators consistently and unanimously “win” elections.
It wasn’t the night the BJP and its supporters had hoped for. However, Mr Modi defeated the incumbency of 10 straight years in power. He also defeated the combined opposition of the international media, academe, think tanks, NGOs, etc. Not the least, Mr Modi and his BJP defeated the concerted interference of foreign agents and actors who had ganged up against his government.
OVERCOMING WESTERN MEDIA PROPAGANDA
Ramesh Rao, a Professor of Communication at Columbus State University in the US, provides a detailed account of the coverage of Indian elections in some of the prominent Western media outlets. While Al Jazeera, a propaganda arm of the Hamas-supporting Qatari royals, “used every tactic and strategy in their playbooks to undermine the Modi Government and paint the BJP and Modi as Muslim-baiter and Hindu supremacists, and upper caste manipulators,” the Associated Press had “many stories headlining ‘attacks’ on Muslims” in the weeks leading up to the general elections. These forces, according to Rao, present a clear danger to the idea of “India as a Hindu nation.”
Modi’s decade has sparked a Hindu renaissance in India. For Mr Modi and his supporters, Walter Russell Mead writes in his Wall Street Journal column, “[i]t isn’t enough to send the British packing… the liberation of India means placing Hindu civilization back at the center of Indian cultural and political life.”
Maura Moynihan, a New York-based journalist, author, and artist, is surprised by the anti-India rhetoric of the Western media. “Why does the Western media insult and demean democratic India as they lavish praise on the CCP’s totalitarian dictatorship?” wondered Moynihan. “The citizens of India held the largest exercise of democratic voting rights in the world. Meanwhile, people in Communist China have no such rights. Yet, it is the Indian democracy that gets questioned by the Western media.”
U.S.-INDIA RELATIONSHIP IN MODI 3.0
Despite the minor electoral setback, Mr Modi appears committed to his economic reform agenda and advancing India’s international profile. He has promised “a new chapter in big decisions.” He has retained most of his prominent cabinet ministers, notably Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, and S. Jaishankar.
Under PM Modi’s leadership, India’s international profile and geopolitical weight have grown significantly. India has also markedly tilted towards the West despite retaining its multipolar neutrality. In doing so, India has fended off vassalization efforts by actual or perceived world superpowers. India also quickly rebuffed the chatter of a NATO Plus push by a US Congressional Committee. India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar rejected that offer and said, “The NATO template does not apply to India.”
Despite not agreeing with the US on the conflict in Ukraine and on the issue of purchasing Russian oil and weapons, Mr Modi has been able to navigate this complex situation well. In earlier times, claims T.V. Paul (The Unfinished Quest: India’s Search for Major Power Status from Nehru to Modi), a professor of International Relations at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, such an act “would have led to automatic sanction” by the US. In not sanctioning India, Washington recognizes India “as a higher-status state.”
Mr Modi’s state visit to Washington, DC, and his joint address to the US Congress were milestones in the US-India relationship. US President Joe Biden’s subsequent visit to New Delhi to attend the G20 meeting showcased the growing US-India partnership, given the challenges in the Indo-Pacific. In 2022, the Biden administration signed a joint initiative on critical and emerging technologies with the Modi government. India is a crucial US ally to counter the growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific.
“Both in the US and in India, there is bipartisan consensus on bilateral partnership,” said Akhil Ramesh of the Pacific Forum, a US-based think tank. Hinting at a possible return of former President Donald Trump to the White House, Ramesh said that “any political changes in Washington or the minor change we have witnessed in New Delhi, will not affect the US-India partnership negatively.”
The bonhomie between Mr Biden and Mr Modi was visible in the two leaders’ exchange on X after Mr Biden’s phone call to Mr Modi upon his electoral victory. One of the major disappointments among India-watchers has been that neither Mr Trump’s campaign nor the GOP made any congratulatory remarks on Mr Modi’s third term.
AMBASSADORIAL APPOINTMENTS
One of Mr Modi’s key tasks would be to appoint an ambassador to the US (and other countries), which has been vacant since Ambassador Taranjit Sandhu demitted office early this year. On key ambassadorial assignments, Mr Modi should take a leaf from the US playbook and appoint a seasoned politician, not a bureaucrat. Of course, there are obvious risks to this proposal. However, they can’t be worse than what we have.
Throughout history, Dharma, not militarism or expansionism, has been the core philosophy of Indian diplomacy. Though it was never proscribed as an option, it wasn’t given any priority either.
According to Harrold Nicolson, a British politician and diplomat, the difference between “in the theory and practice of diplomatic standards are caused by variations in national character, traditions, and requirements.” To this end, India needs culturally rooted, dynamic, PR-savvy, and proactive emissaries in key foreign countries, especially the US. For example, the Indian embassy and its consulates’ handling of the attacks on Hindu temples and Indian consulates by the Khalistanis, strings of deaths of Indian or Indian origin students, etc., have been less than desirable. They have also done little to nothing to counter the rising wave of Hinduphobia on US campuses.
The author is a Chicago-based award-winning columnist.