Undiplomatic attacks

India’s foreign minister keeps burnishing his reputation for undiplomatic conduct

India’s foreign minister just keeps burnishing his reputation for undiplomatic conduct, most recently being chided by an Austrian journalist after he said, without presenting any further evidence, that “the epicentre [of terrorism] is located so close to India” in reference to Pakistan. When the interviewer noted how undiplomatic the accusation was, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar doubled down by claiming “what has been happening to us” justifies the remark — never mind that he still would not explain the meaning of “what”. Perhaps he was referring to recent economic data which shows the country’s unemployment rate has hit 16%, the highest level since the peak of its initial Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Meanwhile, despite India touting the raw size of its economy, economic growth, while above average, remains unimpressive, and its population is also growing at a breakneck pace. This means that in reality, the economy is barely keeping pace with population, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his allies are just relying on number fudging and a compliant media to prop up their increasingly authoritarian regime. In fact, after over eight years in charge, Modi would be hard-pressed to show any coherent plans to increase economic efficiency, cut red tape, increase productivity, or invest in improved education and training.

Perhaps Jaishankar’s tirade was an attempt to deflect from the criticism of his government’s touting of its $10 trillion economy target by several experts, including his widely respected predecessor Shashi Tharoor and a throng of top economists. Or maybe it was just another desperate attempt to fish for anyone in the international community willing to take India’s anti-Pakistan propaganda at face value. Unfortunately, the actual facts show that, if anything, New Delhi and the Modi regime have supported international terrorism while actively undermining investigations of Hindutva terrorism in India, and even acquitting or failing to prosecute terrorists who confessed or were caught on camera.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2023.

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