Is America giving Narendra Modi an easy ride?
The West is struggling to balance interests and values in India
BARRING A HUGE political upset, Narendra Modi looks likely to begin a third term as India’s prime minister soon after June 4th, when results of the general election will be announced. But the poll has not been pretty: on March 21st Arvind Kejriwal, an opposition leader who is Delhi’s chief minister, was arrested on corruption charges that he calls a political sham. Mr Modi, seemingly unnerved by low turnout, has ramped up inflammatory rhetoric against India’s Muslim minority. Although voting itself has been generally unproblematic, most Western officials agree that Mr Modi has tilted the political pitch by suppressing dissent and weakening democratic institutions. How should they deal with Mr Modi, particularly if his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wins a large mandate?
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Diplomatic inertia”
From the June 1st 2024 edition
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