The assumption of the leadership of Bhartia Janta Party (BJP) by a protégé of RSS, Narendra Modi, was ominous for India. Riding on a crest of populism, his swift ascendancy to power in 2014 precipitated the rise of Hindu Rashtra from the ashes of secularism, plural democracy, rule of law and equality before law – so assiduously cherished by M.K. Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. The factors at home and abroad that sustained his populist stay in power thus far were the hollow slogans of ‘Shining India’; the Hindu majoritarianism; the continuous Pakistan bashing and orchestrated fear of China.
We find all these factors squeezed in a Machiavellian way into his domestic and foreign and security policies. While raising the hollow slogan of ‘Shining India’ to mask over his failure to ameliorate social, economic, housing and hygienic conditions of millions, he steered the religiously and culturally diverse Indian towards the militant majoritarian nationalism idealized by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and diverted the anger of his people towards Pakistan especially accusing it of involvement in the freedom movement in Jammu and Kashmir, and terrorism, subversion and insurgency anywhere in India.
The Machiavellian prince has climbed down from his earlier diplomatic arrogance.
China was portrayed as a predator power harboring plans to annex bordering territories of India. This unfounded fear was spread at home and abroad to justify a tremendous hike in the country’s defence budget, purchase of expensive defence systems from Russia and Israel. China was used as an alibi to boost India’s image abroad particularly in the Washington DC and European capitals. These foreign and security policies were choreographed by his able Minister for External Affairs, Subramanian Jaishankar and National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval – both former career officers.
Another confidante of Narendra Modi who spearhead the promotion of Hindu Rashtra or Hindu majoritarianism as guided by the RSS was Amit shah. He played the pivotal role in revoking the Article 370 from the Indian Constitution in August 2019 doing away with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. We may recall, the article was inserted in the Indian Constitution to alleviate the apprehensions of Shaikh Abdullah granting special status and semi political autonomy to his land with its own constitution, flag and laws on all matters except defence, foreign affairs, communication. This special status was further strengthened by sub-article 35A recognizing special rights and privileges for Kashmiris within their land.
This gang of four -Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, S. Jaishankar and Ajit Doval – were behind the assertive India – that basked in reducing Jammu and Kashmir as a Union of India, ignoring Pakistan as a failed and irrelevant state, toeing the US ‘China containment’ policy regionally and internationally and harvesting benefits from India’s goodwill in Washington DC. They got away with the decade-long persecution of Kashmiris, their public support for the subversive activities of terrorist organizations including TTP and BLA against Pakistan, killing of Sikh dissidents on foreign lands particularly in Canada, USA and Pakistan.
The arrogance has never been part of valor. The cowards cloak themselves in arrogance to mask their shortcomings. Narendra Modi could be a power-seeking Machiavellian politician. He is far from Plato’s philosopher king or wise Nehru, intelligent Indira Gandhi, cool headed Manmohan Singh and A.B. Wajpai. Like the Machiavellian prince his focus was on survival in power rather than the national wellbeing. A successful ruler, as Machiavelli argued, must master the art of deception; appear virtuous while being ruthless when necessary and place state interests above conventional morality. The prince, in short, governs not by abstract justice but by calculation, manipulation, and force. Modi symbolized all these Machiavellian traits as a ruler. He was a destroyer rather than a builder. He exploited fault lines in the society to strengthen his power instead of building bridges between diverse faiths and cultures.
Before every significant election, he exploited the extremist Hindus’ hatred of Pakistan and unleashed deceptive propaganda showing Pakistan as the villain for the ills of India. This is what he did before the general elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024. He brought the two nuclear neighbours to the brink of disaster by attacking Balakot in 2019. He was humiliated with the loss of some Indian planes and the capture of Abhinandan Earthman. The tense situation preceding the 2024 general election was further aggravated before the Bihar elections accusing Pakistan of killings of tourists in Pahalgam. He refused to listen to any sane voice and attacked Pakistan. He was once again disgraced. He lost five fighter jets including two Rafael planes. The brief but intense air war from 7-10 May left India cowering for ceasefire.
This brief war, while laying bare the military and strategic shortcomings of India, reaffirmed the leading strategic power of Pakistan in South Asia. Pakistan, as a responsible nuclear state, accepted the counsel of friends for ceasefire. Unlike Pakistan, India refused to give credit to the US President Donald Trump for his vital role in pulling the two nuclear neighbors back from a dangerous brinkmanship. Narendra Modi was irked by President Donald Trump’s generous invitation to Pakistan’s Chief of the Army Staff for a luncheon meeting. He gave vent to his displeasure by declining President Trump’s invitation for a stopover in Washington DC while returning to New Delhi from Canada.
The military confrontation with Pakistan unmasked the deceptive foreign and security policy of Modi. India suddenly lost face in the rapidly changing geo-political and geo-strategic dynamics in South Asia. The USA imposed trade tariffs on it along with an additional 25% as penalty tariff for the import of embargoed Russian oil. India, faced with a humiliating rebuff from the USA, has been looking for the revival of the earlier trilateral diplomatic equation between India, Russia and China. Of late, there has been a perceptible warmth in the otherwise cold Sino-Indian bilateral relations with the Chinese Foreign Minister hopping from capital to capital in South Asia. The Machiavellian prince has climbed down from his earlier diplomatic arrogance. The pause in Operation Sindoor seems heading towards détente Permanente with his ominous era coming to a disgraced end.
The author was a member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and he has authored two books.