For the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi Strength is everything. At home, that means cracking down on minorities and co-opting the media. Abroad, it means responding angrily to criticism of New Delhi. and even appeared to be a political assassination on friendly territory.
On September 18, 2023, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of killing Hardeep Singh Naijar in British Columbia. Due to the futile push for separatism of the Sikhs. two months later The United States Justice Department has announced that it has thwarted India’s attempt to kill another Sikh patriot. Trudeau last month accused India of continuing to harass and intimidate Canadian Sikhs. The Indian government responded by denying the charges and ridiculing Ottawa.
Much of Modi’s base views the prime minister’s spats with America and Canada as a show of courage and evidence that India cannot be intimidated. “We hit (Trudeau) a lot harder than he expected,” R. Count Goswami, an important TV news anchor Said during the news broadcast The Prime Minister has proven to be “much smarter” than his US counterpart, Goswami added. “We send a message to America that we don’t have to be so dependent.”
But India is not so independent that it can press for friendship without reservation. The country’s intelligence agencies are currently at odds with the U.S. Department of Justice. India may lose economic investment. Foreign policy teams are scrambling for damage control. And the fact that the assassination plot was revealed damaged the country’s reputation. Posing like a strong person at home is different from actually being a strong person abroad.
Modi’s tough guy style is the basis of his attractiveness. He rose to power by polarizing the nation’s Hindu minority and the Muslim minority. It suggested that Muslims stood in the way of restoring Hindu greatness. (According to the fictional Hindu nationalist legend India is the leading Hindu country in the world. until the Muslim conquerors took over) when he ruled the Indian state of Gujarat. He stood by as the pogrom killed at least 790 Muslims. His party won more seats in the elections that followed. On the contrary The party lost a seat in the last vote. where economic concerns are at the center of political debate
Since coming to power The Prime Minister’s party accepts little difference of opinion. and are extremely comfortable with the use of violence for nationalist goals. Hate crimes are on the rise. And Modi has done little to curb those crimes. Neither Modi nor his officials have ever been convicted of murder. media report has tied them to the suspicious death in 2010 of Amit Shah, Modi’s long-time deputy governor. Two people have been charged with kidnapping, extortion and murder. Including the killing of a third, four years later, after Modi became prime minister. Judges dismissed various cases. According to Ottawa Shah is behind a campaign of intimidation against Canadian Sikhs.
The Modi government’s dissatisfaction with Sikhs goes back at least to 2020. That year, the government attempted to deregulate India’s agriculture sector. And Sikh farmers have been protesting the law for months. until New Delhi withdrew The Modi government has been less dignified in defeat. It responded to this loss by arguing that the protests were the work of Sikh separatists intent on breaking up the state. This claim is patently false: within India, Sikh separatism has not been in effect since the 1990s, but the government has always been able to point to separatist groups in the diaspora. If New Delhi orders attacks on Nijjar and Pannun, it may do so to demonstrate that it is serious about this supposed threat. or because of anger towards religious minorities
However, Hindu nationalism has not played well abroad. But it creates annoyance in every country. Many Hindu nationalists want to create an Akhand Bharat: a greater India encompassing all or parts of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet. New Delhi has revealed murals of the entity. on the new parliament building in May 2023 in response. The three states then filed formal complaints. Western officials and human rights groups have repeatedly criticized the government’s Hindu-first policy. Democrats and Republicans in Congress Including Lindsey Graham, a Trump loyalist. Protesting the revocation of partial autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir. It was India’s only Muslim-majority state in 2019 (India also revoked all state status).
But few things were more annoying to the West than the successful Nijjar and Pannun attacks. The fallout led Trudeau to expel six Indian diplomats, including the Indian High Commissioner, to Canada, according to printingwhich is the news agency of India The UK has also fired a senior Indian intelligence official. printing Further reports that the United States Ordered Indian intelligence officials to leave San Francisco. and prevented the country’s intelligence agencies from replacing station chiefs in Washington. If these reports are correct India may face new problems in collecting data abroad. Of course, Western countries might start withholding intelligence from India if their trust is strained.
Under Trump, the United States is likely to care less about extraterritorial assassinations than it did under incoming President-elect Joe Biden, who has praised Modi. And the nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is a Hindu nationalist with ties to India’s ruling party. But Trump may not stop the investigation for a number of reasons.
Trump is a compassionate person. And he hates trade deficits. America is one with India. (in April Trump describes India as The Justice Department has indicted the former Indian official in the Pannun case. It’s an indictment that insecure Attorney General Pam Bondi has used to silence Trump’s domestic critics. Maybe let it play out. And no matter what happens in government The killing could have a negative impact on India’s reputation in the private sector. Mihir Sharma, an Indian economist and Bloomberg recent columnist Uneasy that both events will cause investors “Who previously had no real interest in Indian politics” are less open to doing business in the state.
Beyond North America and Europe Even a country that has little interest in the struggle between India and the West is unlikely to escape the events that have impressed New Delhi. In both the US and Canada, India has been caught. The New York plan was a total failure. And the details of the operation are hardly inspiring. According to Canadian news sources India has contracted with a criminal gang to carry out the Nijjar killings. In America, it has been accused of trying to hire DEA agents, in other words. The execution was sloppy. It is not the job of intelligence agencies to hack information.
Modi likely knows that fighting America and Canada will not help India. The world is full of leaders who choose stupid battles. that harm their country Under President Xi Jinping, China has embraced what is known as The country called for “wolf warrior diplomacy” or responded aggressively to the slightest insult to Beijing. For example, the country slammed Australia after calling for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Beijing slaps sanctions on a number of Australian exports. As a result, Australia has redirected those exports and deepened its relationship with the United States. President-elect Donald Trump has spent his first term repeatedly clashing with friendly nations. Washington’s allies have dropped economic deals that do not include the United States. At the 2019 NATO summit in London, video captured the moment including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Trudeau and other leaders. Mocking Trump America’s international approval rating has dropped.
Of course, states sometimes have to upset neutral countries and friends. Several US administrations, including Trump’s and Barack Obama’s, have criticized Europe for not spending enough on defense. Washington and Kiev have repeatedly argued over the amount and criteria of American military assistance. New Delhi has had to argue with Ottawa over Sikh separatists before: in the late 20th century, Canada was a safe haven for deadly terrorists who sparked a violent insurgency in the north. India
But what line separates necessary argument from barbaric confrontation? And New Delhi often skips it. Modi will not undermine his country’s position. India is too important for an ally to walk away. But he certainly made his life more difficult than necessary. He limits valuable opportunities for cooperation. And after a strong feeling came quickly The hangover of humiliation had arrived.
