The India Envy

LEGEND HAS IT that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tough line on Pakistan that led to his decisive election victory in 2019. Questions are still being asked about the genuineness of the threat of terrorism and the way the whole situation was handled. But it is rarely that foreign policy becomes an issue in General Elections in India. This time, however, some countries appear to take a keen interest in the elections in various ways. The extreme one was that China was planning to use electronic devices to influence the results by penetrating the electronic voting machines (EVMs). The more subtle interference is from some Western countries to change the minds of voters in India by constantly harping on the theme that democracy is dwindling in India because of the dictatorial tendencies of the Modi government. Sitting in New York and London, they shed tears over the suffering of the Indian people, without acknowledging that millions of Indians have come out of poverty since India liberalised its economy and many welfare measures were introduced by the Modi government.

The G20 festivities had a deep impact on public opinion in India and the expectation was that the successful outcome of a consensus on the Russia-Ukraine war, the emergence of the Global South, a very elaborate scheme for economic cooperation in the post-pandemic world and the admission of the African Union to G20 would enhance India’s prestige in the global scene. But the general turbulence in the world on account of Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and Haiti, and the threat of a wider war, detracted from India’s contribution to global peace through its balanced position during the G20 summit and its strenuous efforts for a ceasefire in Ukraine and Gaza.

Moreover, some totally unexpected charges came from Canada and the US that India had either eliminated Khalistani terrorists in foreign countries or was conspiring to do so. The Five Eyes Anglosphere intelligence alliance, comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US swung into action with their technological capability to monitor developments around the globe. The issue is being sorted out among intelligence agencies and little is known about the state of affairs. But this has cast a shadow on our reputation for non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. It cannot but have an impact on our bilateral relations with these countries.

Western countries have created their own legal and constitutional mechanisms to serve as watchdogs of democracy and human rights abroad. They were designed to combat communist regimes but they come handy in dealing with unfriendly governments in the South. These countries issue annual reports on human rights, religious freedom, press freedom, etc. There are agencies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch constantly criticising governments for dealing with terrorism while ignoring violence by militants against law-enforcing agencies. The responsibility of the government to maintain law and order is not given any consideration.

Since the Indian election came close, there was an intensification of propaganda by certain agencies, resulting in ratings and surveys leading to the conclusion that the people of India were on the verge of losing their freedom. Apart from newspapers, even prestigious publications like Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy write not about India’s foreign policy but the prospect of a third Modi government sounding the death knell of democracy and freedom of speech in India. Many of the writings in these journals are by known spokespersons of the Indian opposition. They should face the situation in India and participate in the electoral process and change any aberration they notice rather than gain foreign accolades by cursing our own elected leaders who are doing something for the country. At least our own citizens should know the truth that India has a Constitution, a Parliament, a judiciary, and independent newspapers, a combination that many of the countries that accuse us do not possess.

Even China, which has the most repressive system in the world, points fingers at us. India-China relations, on a downward spiral since 2020, deteriorated during the G20 summit which was boycotted by President Xi Jinping out of spite against India’s prominence and its leadership of the Global South. There has not been any progress in the Chinese withdrawal from several posts occupied in Ladakh. China has asserted its claims in Arunachal Pradesh and renamed several places in the state in Chinese. Now, there are reports that China would disrupt the Indian General Election or try to influence the results. Does Beijing think that any Indian government would accept Chinese claims on Indian territory? Perhaps, it knows this too well and it is trying, therefore, to discredit India by portraying it as an expansionist nation. China has the gumption to claim that it is the biggest democracy in the world.

Since Russia is a treaty partner with China, India cannot expect Russia to remain neutral in any conflict with China in future. Though India found consensus at G20 which was acceptable to the two sides in the Russia-Ukraine war, China gives no credit to India for the success of the G20 summit. It even challenged the notion of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam by pointing out that Sanskrit is not an official language of the United Nations.

The general tendency of most countries to malign India in various ways can perhaps be attributed to their anxiety about India’s economic growth. India’s impressive performance in becoming the fifth-largest economic power, which is poised to become the third-largest, certainly causes concern. Even the US thinks that a powerful India is a threat. At the time of the nuclear tests in 1998, it became obvious that the US considered India’s growth as a nuclear power not in its own interest. Even after the India-US agreement was signed to give India the status of a de facto nuclear power, the US went back on the promise of nuclear trade with India, citing the Indian nuclear damages law. India was given the freedom to import nuclear material from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), originally formed to deny nuclear material to India in 1974, but the US did not want to be a party to India’s nuclear development. Sadly, we seem to pay a price for our success.

India’s critics, who seek to influence the Indian electorate, appear to be opposed to the country’s growth domestically and internationally. But do they have a preference for a regime change in India? Do they think that another term for Narendra Modi as prime minister is not in their interest? Have they forgotten the accolades showered upon Modi during his first term and the early part of his second term? “The Western media criticises us not because they lack information but because they think they are political players in our country. This is about global politics and they feel the need to intrude in India,” says External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Let us hope they will settle down after the new government takes over and leave us to decide what course India will take. That will be in the spirit of the UN Charter and the principles of international cooperation.

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