The people of India admire PM Modi because they see him as one of among them. A leader of the common man born out of the common man’s strife in life. Xi Jinping is a dictator, who is leading the people of China to an abysmal pit.
Panaji: The values enshrined in the United Nations Charter are peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity.
In the end, it comes down to values, “We want the world our children inherit to be defined by the values enshrined in the UN Charter: peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity,” expressed Antonio Guterres, Secretary General, United Nations.
Indeed, I concur with the Secretary General of the United Nations, “In the end it comes done to values”. The values embodied in our global political leaders that will decide the fate of the world and faith in the world.
Two leaders have been the talk of global politics in recent years. One Narendra Modi of India. The other Xi Jinping of China.
I have been a keen follower of the work of Narendra Modi even before he became the Prime Minister of India. I admired his work as the Chief Minister of Gujarat. I admire his work now as the Prime Minister of India. He embodies the principles of leadership of integrity, professionalism and respect for diversity.
With India being a nation of cultural, ethnic and religious diversity and with the nation being poised to evolve in the global socio, economic and political space, it needed a leader to lead its people with conviction in the country and its people.
Political growth in India is often related with political legacy. Modi is not a leader born out of political aristocracy or political nepotism. He is a leader who has come from the common people of India and now is the hope of the common people of India.
Narendra Modi’s evolution and political rise that led to him occupying the chair of the Prime Minister of India is inspirational to young Indians because it teaches us that if Modi, who once worked as a “chaiwala” can through hard work, commitment and self-discipline grow to be a leader of a nation as diverse as India, then a common man too can aspire to lead India in the future.
The people of India admire Modi because they see him as one of among them. A leader of the common man born out of the common man’s strife in life.
For long, coveted influential political positions in India were the birthrights of those who belonged to political aristocracy or to people that slaved under political aristocracy. Modi shattered this legacy when he become the Prime Minister of India in the first term and when people voted for the BJP in the second term.
The people of India trust that under Narendra Modi’s leadership India will rise to take centerstage in the world.
Modi is, as the old adage goes, “a diamond in the rough”. With each passing day, this diamond from the heartland of India, from the home of a common man, shines bright globally.
Some political leaders are born into a political leadership position. This not a phenomenon attributed to India alone. It is witnessed globally too.
China’s political leader Xi Jinping is one such example. He comes from political aristocracy and that has dominated his arrogant and self-righteous approach to politics in China and this has defiled China’s relationship with the world.
Xi Jinping is a dictator. There is no other way to describe the President of the People’s Republic of China. More than the people around the world, Xi Jinping is leading the people of China to an abysmal pit. He is creating a nation of Chinese zombies. Soon and unfortunately, the Chinese will become pariahs on the global stage.
The Communist Party of China (CPC) tries hard to position Xi Jinping as a global leader with a people centric approach to global issues. But if you study deeper you will see that under Xi Jinping, China has become a rogue nation in the eyes of the world.
The Covid-19 pandemic and China’s failure to work as a global team player and deal with the global health crisis is wide open for the world to see. China continues to deny its role in the leak of the SARS-CoV-2 but with each passing day new evidence exposes the hand of China and the leak from the Wuhan Virology Lab under the control of China’s military.
China lied to the world and that led to the death of millions of people and caused insurmountable sufferings all over the world, both socially and economically.
The quintessential difference between Modi and Xi Jinping as a global leaders is that Modi’s decisions are driven by his commitment to take India to global heights and Xi Jinping’s decisions are driven by his personal ambition to be recognized as a powerful global leader. Both however, position themselves as a people leader.
Modi wants to leave a legacy of India, Xi Jinping wants to leave a legacy of Xi Jinping.
As a global leader, I see that Modi’s political leadership is an embodiment of the values of peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity. The values enshrined in the United Nation’s Charter.
Most political rivals of Prime Minister Modi have tried arduously to tarnish Modi’s image by discrediting his committed work towards peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity.
Their aim is to portray Modi as a dictator. On the contrary, he is far from being a dictator. He is just an Indian committed to India and its people. His sometimes stern and unexpected decisions have always been in the interest of the people of India. And the people of India have wholeheartedly supported him in most of his daring decisions.
If you look at China, the people of China live in fear. They do not dare challenge Xi Jinping’s decisions or that of the CPC. There is no freedom. There are no human rights. There is no respect. There is no justice. There is no tolerance. There is no peace. Xi Jinping’s leadership is a mockery of the values of the United Nations. But, more importantly, China under Xi Jinping does not care about the values of the United Nations. It only adheres to the ambition of one man, Xi Jinping.
As the world of global politics evolves and changes, while nations are fraught with unpredicted challenges—socially, environmentally and economically—we need to depend on political leaders with values of peace, justice, respect, human rights, tolerance and solidarity.
Our global political leaders must enshrine the principles of integrity, professionalism and respect for global diversity. Leaders that put humanity first—humanity in their individual nations and humanity around the world.
Power in the hands of global leaders with no values is dangerous for the world. The Covid-19 pandemic and the origins of SARS-CoV-2 is an example of the dangers of power and greed of a political leader. No matter what China tells the world, the world knows that China in its hunger for global dominion under the political leadership of Xi Jinping unleashed its ambitious biowarfare plan on the world with the Covid-19 pandemic.
China will surge ahead with its politics of being a bully in Asia and globally, while India will surge ahead with its values of being a global peacemaker asserting its influence over global issues with forcefulness and solidarity. This is because of the difference in its political leadership.
In the long run, Narendra Modi will leave a legacy for India, of India and by India while Xi Jinping will leave China in ruins.
At this point in time, global political leaders would shy away from taking on China’s political might. Eventually, they will have to choose a side between China and the US. If the US needs to reinforce its status as a global superpower then it would need to cut China to size and the Covid-19 global health crisis is the smoking gun it needed. If the Eagle fails in taming the Dragon, then the fire of the Dragon will engulf the world, making the power of the Eagle irrelevant.
India, however, even though it appears to be waiting on the sidelines, as the two global giants fight it out for global supremacy, in the near future it will take centre-stage globally because of its political leadership in Narendra Modi and because of its India centric values.
The Tiger is not sleeping, it is merely keeping a close eye on the animals in the jungle, biding its time.
Savio Rodrigues is the founder and editor-in-chief of Goa Chronicle.