Modi has changed India’s destiny
As an ancient civilisation takes its rightful place in today’s world, India shall be acknowledged as Vishwaguru a selfconfident and self-reliant nation that leads and inspires
Seven days may be a long time in politics, but eight years is too short a time in a nation’s history. Yet, in this short time, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has raised the global profile of India and restored to the nation, in large measure, its lost pride, prestige and glory as Vishwaguru (world leader). As we enter the ninth year of his leadership as PM, not only will India rise further at home but also in the world. The course of India’s destiny has been firmly set.
PM Modi’s India First policy — of placing national interest above conventional geopolitics — has propelled India’s rise abroad. A deft mix of hard and soft power projection, coupled with a robust demonstration of India’s expertise in technology and its application that will ensure that the fourth Industrial Revolution does not pass us by, added heft to the India First policy architecture. His thrust on promoting India’s civilisational heritage and its culture has provided it with clout.
Previous governments tried to project India’s soft power but those efforts had limited impact. Promoting tourism without focusing on tourismrelated infrastructure, restricting India’s appeal to only one monument, or, worse, showcasing the lowest denominator of popular culture as India’s heritage, prevented India’s rise on the soft power front. PM Modi brought about a sweeping change in this approach, enlarging the canvas and including complementary elements. For example, yoga is now a household word around the world, thanks to PM Modi’s initiative in getting the United
Nations to declare June 21 as International Day of Yoga and backing it up with multiple initiatives to popularise this unique civilisational inheritance.
In the past, vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is one family) had become a vacuous slogan, a cliché which had lost its strong moral connotation. PM Modi has shown that India not only believes in this dictum, distilled from the wisdom of its ancient sages and contained in its ancient texts, but also lives it. Hence, when the developed world showed its reluctance to help others with the Covid-19 vaccine, PM Modi stepped forward to help neighbours as well as distant countries. India was the first country to reach out with disaster relief when a terrible earthquake struck Nepal. When Sri Lanka encountered turbulent times, India unhesitatingly stepped forward to help tide over the crisis. The world turned its face away from Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul and the rise of the Taliban, but India chose to provide food relief to the people of Afghanistan. In the past, it was India which gifted Afghans a Parliament and built an important dam. Even while placing a restraint on the export of wheat, India made it clear that countries which need wheat will be provided with wheat on a case-to-case basis. Underlying this decision is the deeply moral view that if the world is one family, food security cannot be for India alone.
While other world leaders pay lip service to values and principles, PM Modi ensures values and principles guide India’s engagement with the world. The story of Digital India is too well-known. We now host the third largest number of startups and boast of 100 unicorns. We have one of the finest Unified Payments Interface (UPI) systems, which has made digital payments far more popular than in other countries. The world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination drive was managed and monitored digitally.
On climate, India has led the way on renewables, especially solar energy, resilient development and green investment, serving as a lighthouse to the reluctant. This burst of exuberance we see, the confidence among Indians that they can do it because PM Modi believes it can be done, is all pervasive. Our sportspersons, among the finest examples of Young India and inspired by the “can do” Modi mantra, are excelling and bringing home trophies that we could only dream of earlier.
Bollywood is no longer only about popular culture of a certain variety. Our hugely talented film industry has stepped forward to combine creativity, culture and technology to produce world class content that can compete with the best globally. The entertainment media and technology have merged to make India a content subcontinent, an ideal platform for content producers around the world. India is poised to be both the largest consumer as well as producer of content. Recognition has come, most recently, by way of India being designated this year’s country of honour at the Cannes Film Market, the business side of the film festival.
The vastness of what India is — and what the world is yet to discover about this great nation — is exemplified by the gifts PM Modi carries with him for world leaders. No two gifts are similar, no two gifts come from the same place. Each is unique, each symbolises a tiny piece of the great mosaic of India’s soft power in its truest sense; each celebrates the greatness of India’s achievements and accomplishments as a civilisational nation. Today, India can send a mission to Mars and the Moon; India can make supersonic missiles and aircraft carriers; India can produce the finest creative minds; India can rapidly cover the infrastructure gap; India can manage a debilitating pandemic better than other countries and restart its economy faster than anybody else; India can effectively reduce poverty and inequality; and, India can stand tall as the world’s largest democracy.
As India celebrates the 75th anniversary of its Independence, it must be recognised that in these eight years, PM Modi laid the foundation for India’s unrestrained rise for decades to come. As an ancient civilisation takes its rightful place in today’s world, India shall be acknowledged as Vishwaguru — a self-confident and self-reliant nation that leads and inspires. PM Modi has truly and irrevocably changed the course of India’s destiny.