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| Punch lines of US on Modi government | | | Jamwal Mahadeep Singh | 4/19/2019 9:09:21 PM |
| A cursory visit on US attitude towards India takes us to the year 2014, when in July U.S. diplomats were summoned by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to speak on the revelation of 'Washington Post' that US intelligence agencies had been authorized to spy on the Indian Prime-Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier too India, in July and November 2013, had demanded that the US respond to revelations that the Indian UN mission in New York City and the Indian Embassy in Washington had been targeted for spying. Prior to Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister of India, the US Government had made it known that Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat would not be permitted to travel to the US. Although technically speaking there was no US 'visa ban' from 2005 to 2014, the US government policy of considering Modi as 'persona non grata' had resulted in a 'de facto' travel-ban. However, the travel-ban was lifted after Modi becoming PM of India and he visited US in September 2014, followed by President Barack Obama becoming the first US president to be the chief guest of the 66th Republic Day celebrations of India held in 2015. Modi's again visited to America in 2015 and toured Silicon Valley. Next he visited America in June 2016, followed by his next visit in June 2017 and met President Donald Trump. These visits of Modi saw him delivering his maiden address in the United Nations general assembly, "Delhi Declaration of Friendship" addressing the joint session of Congress and expectation from entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley in NDA government's Make in India initiative.
At the same time US kept drawing the punch-lines also about Modi Government and its performance. In 2016 US lawmakers wrote to Narendra Modi, expressing "grave concerns" over "increasing intolerance and violence" against members of minority communities in India, citing the incidents also. A group of 26 members of the House of Representatives and eight senators in all 34 United States lawmakers had written to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take immediate steps to ensure that the fundamental rights of religious minorities are protected and that the perpetrators of violence are held to account. The lawmakers urged Mr. Modi to turn his words into action spoken in 2014, that the government was committed to "ensure that there is complete freedom of faith... and not allow any religious group, belonging to the majority or the minority, to incite hatred against others". This letter was shot when Modi government was in power for the last two years and it painted a dark page in Modi governments' dispensation.
In 2018, India was put on the list of nations with potentially questionable foreign exchange policies in April alongside China, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland. The United States could remove India from its currency monitoring list of major trading partners, the 'US Department of Treasury' said in a report published in October 2018. The report said India's circumstances have shifted markedly, as the central bank's net sales of foreign exchange over the first six months of 2018 led net purchases over the four quarters through June 2018 to fall to $4 billion, or 0.2 percent of GDP. Recent sales have come amidst a turnaround in foreign portfolio flows, as foreign investors pulled portfolio capital out of India (and many other emerging markets) over the first half of the year. The rupee depreciated by around 7 percent against the dollar and by more than 4 percent on a real effective basis in the first half of 2018. India has a significant bilateral goods trade surplus with the United States, totaling $23 billion over the four quarters through June 2018, but India's current account is in deficit at 1.9 percent of GDP. As a result, India now only meets one of the three criteria from the 2015 Act. If this remains the case at the time of its next report, treasury would remove India from the monitoring list.
The elections in India in progress for formation of the 17th Lok Sabha were declared by ECI on 10th of March 2019. But the elections in India, we find mentioned in a report presented to the US senate select committee by director of national intelligence on 29 January 2019. India could see a spike in religious violence in the run up to the general elections, a top US intelligence official has warned. He has also strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's term for degrading the country's religious harmony. A visitation to the report via search engine reveals the contents of the report with reference to Indian Elections under headings:
1. Indian Elections and Ethnic Tensions: Parliamentary elections in India increase the possibility of communal violence if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stresses Hindu nationalist themes. BJP policies during Modi's first term have deepened communal tensions in some BJP-governed states, and Hindu nationalist state leaders might view a Hindu-nationalist campaign as a signal to incite low-level violence to animate their supporters. Increasing communal clashes could alienate Indian Muslims and allow Islamist terrorist groups in India to expand their influence.
2. India-Pakistan Tensions: We judge that cross-border terrorism, firing across the Line of Control (LoC), divisive national elections in India, and Islamabad's perception of its position with the United States relative to India will contribute to strained India-Pakistan relations at least through May 2019, the deadline for the Indian election, and probably beyond. Despite limited confidence-building measures-such as both countries recommitting in May 2018 to the 2003 cease-fire along the disputed Kashmir border-continued terrorist attacks and cross-border firing in Kashmir have hardened each country's position and reduced their political will to seek rapprochement. Political maneuvering resulting from the Indian national elections probably will further constrain near-term opportunities for improving ties.
3. India-China Tensions: We expect relations between India and China to remain tense, despite efforts on both sides to manage tensions since the border standoff in 2017, elevating the risk of unintentional escalation. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an informal summit in April 2018 to defuse tension and normalize relations, but they did not address border issues.
A big question that arises from above punch-lines is whether these observations by US, one of the world's biggest and oldest democracies can be brushed away? We do not find any repulsions of Indian government on US concern neither the voices in India have dived down about intolerance and communal hatred. The Indian politicians are not in the habit of accepting their follies but always look for trickeries to create vote bank and never bothered to create an atmosphere of religious harmony, a backbone for a healthy society. Such fraternity of politicians has turned politics into highly profitable business in India.
Concluding at the home there is resonance that the scenario for Modi in 2014 was entirely different but he ditched the common man and tied with business tycoons! Making them earn crores and billions and common man was served with existing schemes with a new brand name. After realizing that the cat is out of the bag, he is indulging in various acrobatics to lure back the common man's attention. Modi took a venture which is already, "Ready" long back and introduced to the nation during this election time to brain wash the citizens mind as though he is principally behind this achievement. Does this dispensation has taken for granted that Indian civilians are all damn fools who can be carried over very easily by false promises and by brain wash by its PR and IT teams? |
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