The Narendra Modi government has had depressingly few achievements so far on the domestic front. Economic reform, so greatly — and perhaps exaggeratedly[ig'za-ju,rey-tid-lee(overstated,अतिशयोक्ति)] — anticipated by many of Modi’s supporters on the non-Hindutva right, has scarcely[skehs-lee(hardly,मुश्किल से)] had its tummy tickled.
It doesn’t help the PM to have such a rabble[ra-bul(mob,crowd,भीड़)] of intellectual lightweights in his Cabinet. There’s no one on his political team making the case for deregulation with any vim[vim(energy,शक्ति)]. And it hasn’t helped that the PM spends so much more of his own time campaigning at elections than on the tasks of fiscal governance for which he was so resoundingly elected.
Had the Indian government not had the accidental windfall from depressed global oil prices, the country’s economy would be giving us all some heavy-duty heartburn. But cheap oil has allowed the government to coast, and to shrink from hard decisions. India will pay a price later.
There’s a flip side to Modi’s domestic stasis. Contrary to pre-election expectations, he’s spent much of his first 15 months in office pursuing an energetic foreign policy. This has been refreshing when his focus is spot on. His consolidation[kun,só-li'dey-shun(strengthen,सुदृढ़ीकरण)] of India’s alliance with the US, for instance, has been a marvel to behold.
As India confronts a marauding[mu'ro-ding(raiding,predatory,लूट मार करने वाला)] and mercantilist[mur-kun-ti,li-zum(commerce,वाणिज्य)] China — with its disdain[dis'deyn(contemn,scorn,उपेक्षा करना)] for international law — the US is an invaluable strategic partner. India cannot handle China without American support, and Modi knows that. Now is the time to choose sides in the impending Mahabharata between the US and China, and in siding with Washington, India has chosen the Pandavas. Think of Xi Jinping as Duryodhana.
So full marks to Modi for America, and for his rapport[ra'por(mutual understanding,घनिष्टता)] with Japan, his friendship with Israel, and his constructive approach to Bangladesh. The recent India-Africa summit, too, was an acknowledgement by India that global heft[heft(heavy,भारी)] involves more than a wild-goose chase(The fruitless pursuit of something unattainable,निरर्थक खोज) after a permanent seat at the Security Council. It helps to cultivate Africa, whose nations not only offer India economic opportunities, but an arena in which to be a responsible global leader. India has none of the colonial mentality of the Chinese, and has the sensibility to help Africa develop on more symbiotic terms.
Given the sophistication that has gone into Modi’s external affairs, however, it’s distressing that his biggest failure to date is one of foreign policy. I refer to the suddenly calamitous[ku-la-mi-tus(disastrous,unfortunate,अनर्थकारी)] state of relations with Nepal. Modi, an avowedly[u'vawd-lee(true,clearly,स्पष्ठ)] Hindu politician, has managed to lose the love of a Hindu country, the only neighbouring country with which India has open borders. The destruction of ties with Nepal has to rank as an impressive display of incompetence.
As recently as last November, Modi was in Kathmandu, feted[feyt(honored,स्वागत)] as a man who promised to treat Nepal with the respect it hasn’t always had from India. Then came a devastating earthquake, and once more, India helped the Nepalese more generously than anyone else. The Indian media may have disgraced itself with its jingoistic[jing-gow'is-tik(patriotic,राष्ट्रवाद)] coverage of India’s aid efforts, but the Indian government was unstinting[ún'stin-ting(generous,उदार)] in its support of our Nepalese brethren[bredh-(u-)rin(brothers,भाइयो)] in their time of distress.
Now, after an unseemly and hamfisted[ham'fis-tid(less skill,अकुशल)] attempt to interfere in Nepal’s internal constitutional affairs, India’s de facto[di'fak-tow(real,वास्तविक)] denial to the Nepalese of essential supplies of fuel has driven Kathmandu into the arms of China. A crippled, impoverished nation has been handed a lifeline by Beijing — giftwrapped in New Delhi. History teaches us that once the Chinese get a foothold somewhere, they never leave. Does Modi really want to be remembered as the man who lost Nepal to China?
The writer is the Virginia Hobbs Carpenter Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
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