The former pariah is celebrated in Washington, courted in Paris, now well established, in these times of great uncertainty, in his role as an essential partner of Western chancelleries and those of the global South, capable of dialogue with Russia as well as with Japan or Saudi Arabia. Guest of honor at the July 14 ceremony, during which 250 Indian soldiers will parade down the Champs-Elysées, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come a long way. Previously accused of complicity in the anti-Muslim pogroms that bloodied the state of Gujarat in 2002 – more than a thousand dead, including a majority of the Prophet’s disciples – which he then led, he was banned from entering the United States for a period of a decade.
But this uninhibited Hindu nationalist with an authoritarian posture has now enjoyed a warm welcome in the major capitals. He has been in power for nine years, after his political formation, the Indian People’s Party (BJP), won the legislative elections of 2014 and 2019 and is in a good position to bring him back to the head of the country, when of the 2024 election.
In Washington, at the end of June, Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet in front of the Indian leader, and his visit was sanctioned by the signing of significant contracts in the military, economic and technological fields, marking the evolution of a bilateral relationship “stronger, narrower and more dynamic than ever”, in the words of the Chief Executive of the United States.
Lagging behind in development
India, long a flagship country of the non-aligned movement, has developed under Mr. Modi’s leadership a singular concept of “multi-aligned” diplomacy which allows it to reaffirm its strategic independence and widen the scope of a influence it wants in all directions. In the name of this resolutely opportunistic doctrine, it remains a partner of Russia – on which it is still 50% dependent for its defense and from which it has been buying crude oil and gas at knock-down prices since the start of the war in Ukraine – while getting closer and closer to the United States; the latter see in this great rival of China the ideal counterweight to the aggressive emergence of the Beijing regime.
Modi’s India can also boast of economic results allowing it to justify its increased role on the international scene: the prospect of growth of 5.9% in 2023, one of the strongest in the world, the now fifth largest economy in the world particular advantage of the fact that foreign investors are turning away from China and want to diversify their production chains. But while its economy is expected to overtake those of Japan and Germany by 2028, it still lags behind in development and is still home to 229 million people living below the poverty line, according to the United Nations.
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