Modi’s selling the right story

Prime Minister Modi is on a global darshan of epic proportions. Rarely has a head of government, Indian or otherwise, rushed about the planet in such a frenetic manner. Barely does the ministry of external affairs settle down after one visit than it sets about planning another. It may be a good idea to set up a ministry for prime ministerial tours.

At one level it is understandable. Foreign policy is a crucial part of the prime ministerial ambit and there are many invitations always on the table. Besides bilaterals, there are summits to attend too; often, nothing less than his presence will do. Besides, it is fairly obvious that Mr Modi likes to travel. There are international leaders to meet and the NRIs love him. The infatuation hasn’t withered among the global desis.
Mr Modi sees foreign affairs as a part of his strategic plan to not just invite investment — and to sell Indian investment, as seen in Bangladesh — but also as a global outreach of the “emerging superpower” India. The superpower theme is quite clearly the subtext. We are among the big boys — why should we get bogged down in subcontinental conflicts — is the message.

But a new undercurrent is emerging in Mr Modi’s foreign policy, one which was not ever seen in the past and one that is closely linked with the larger Sangh worldview. Mr Modi is taking the message of not just India’s future as a great force in the world, but also of its glorious past. He speaks of India not just as a maker of goods but also as a creator of philosophies. He is not merely promoting India’s manufacturing skills but also reminding the world about India’s great civilisation. Except the “civilisation” that is being projected is carefully crafted to fit in with the traditional Sanghi idea of what India is — a Hindu “nation” that has been around for millennia.

Think about it this way — modern India would have been much stronger had it not been ruled by the Congress, which didn’t do any good for 60-plus years and Bharat would have been greater had the Mughals and the British not looted it. Domestically, this is said one way or the other openly; abroad, it is conveyed indirectly.

Whether he is promoting yoga or Ayurveda, or visiting the temples in the country or indeed offering gifts such as sandalwood — 2,500 kg of it! — to Pashupatinath in Nepal, it is a particularly finely tuned strategy to establish linkages between India and foreign nations. In Sri Lanka, Mr Modi met Buddhist elders, though that has political ramifications; in Mauritius, he made it a point to visit Ganga Talao, a temple created by descendants of indentured Indian labourers and in Japan, he handed over a copy of the Bhagvad Gita to the Emperor, while not forgetting to make a dig at “secularists back home” who would be critical of such a gift.

The creation of a mythical India of the past with its grandeur and millennia old wisdom and knowledge is, of course, nothing new. Earlier those who declared that India knew all about rocket science and nuclear physics even 5,000 years ago were ignored; now their arguments are finding institutional legitimacy. From vegetarianism to cow worship to yoga in schools, we are already seeing the attempt to create an India that corresponds closely with the Sangh Parivar’s idea of the ideal nation. To think that this would not somehow seep through into other areas — education, for example, and foreign policy — is to live in a fool’s paradise.

One may well ask why a country should not promote yoga or indeed the Bhagvad Gita — both very much part of India. The short answer is, there is nothing inherently wrong with either. Yoga in schools is a good idea by itself and those objecting to it on religious grounds are being silly. Why can’t kids be taught fitness?

But it is not so simple. Seen in their entirety, and along with the other exhortations of the Sangh Parivar, they acquire a larger dimension. The pilgrimages — and that’s what they certainly appear to be — to temples in foreign countries are over and above personal choice or interest.
While we may understand the subtext, what is the ultimate objective of these exertions? Mr Modi may be doing all this out of his own convictions — he may just like to see the local temple or indeed a Buddhist priest. But, there is more to India than just those attributes. As Prime Minister, one assumes he carries the message of a diverse India, with all its intermingling of religions and communities going back centuries and which survives intact as a modern country of 1.25 billion people from varied ethnic backgrounds.

Surely we would want to show our north-easterners as much as our Goans or Keralites as much as Sikhs. Our millennia-old history is dotted with influences from all over the world. That is India’s greatest strength and that is the story we should be selling.