In an open conversation, PM Modi discusses his journey from poverty to power, India's cultural heritage, and his diplomatic perspective on global challenges.
In a freewheeling podcast that was more interesting in those parts in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi revealed more of his past than has been his wont, there were things to learn about his passage from abject poverty to heights of political power, including about his days of introspection in the Himalayas and what insights he gained from being present at his father’s tea shop.
As one of the more prominent leaders of the free world today in charge of a country with rising economic clout, there would have been people who have dwelt on his every word and the choice of a right-wing podcaster may have been appropriate given the PM’s political background. What emerged prominently from a long conversation was India’s cultural heritage and long role in advocating peace, in which the PM also believes strongly.
Modi may not have said too much that was new about his relationships with other world leaders. But at a time when global geopolitics and geoeconomics have assumed totally different dimensions with the advent of Donald Trump for a second term at the White House, what he has to say carries more than the usual significance.
A sneaking admiration for a former president who dodged a bullet narrowly during his campaign was apparent in the PM’s reference to a resilient and stronger Trump. No world leader may agree in toto with what Trump has done in disrupting the world order, but playing up to him in the hope of being scalded less nationally by way of trade seems a priority which Modi is clearly doing. And he may have had an endorsement of sorts in Trump posting his podcast on his media handle in a hint on where strong leaders stand in their mutual esteem.
A stark assessment of Pakistan was a given considering how many Prime Ministers of India have been burnt when they reached out to the neighbour with an olive branch. Spurning it has always been Pakistan’s way given its perfidy as a state that believes in using terror as a weapon of state. Former PM Imran Khan may have said many times that Pakistan is also a victim of terror. Maybe so, but the one playing with fire must expect to be singed too.
Carrying as he does India’s heritage of a country’s people who mostly believe in living in peace, Modi was certain to denigrate the approach of Pakistan’s leaders as opposed to the people who may wish to live in peace. Incidentally, it is 60 years since Pakistan declared its second war on India in 1965 and things haven’t changed much on the diplomatic front since then.
It is Modi’s plea seeking patience for things to further improve with China after the breakthrough came in his last meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping after which tensions on the border had subsided. There is room for optimism in Modi’s projection that India and China will find ways to compete rather than confront each other in their affairs, be it trade or people’s ties.
Modi’s ambition of playing peacemaker in the Ukraine war was stressed again as had advised both parties that resolution will come only at the negotiating table. As the leader of the land of Gautam Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi, his quest for world peace gels with the nation’s objectives.
Modi’s vehicle for outreach to the people in the age of the social media might seem unusual and differ from most politicians’ love of the media conference mic, but his revelations in his two podcasts, in both of which he also spoke of the Godhra riots freely, offer more than just glimpses of India’s Prime Minister and his worldview.
