Soundbites in Place of Strategy: How Modi Squandered India's Global Voice

 

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/indias-diplomacy-is-measured-not-mute/article69780623.ece

Lewis Carroll once quipped, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” It seems Priyam Gandhi-Mody, in her recent op-ed, has taken that advice a bit too literally. With the enthusiasm of a Bhakt moonlighting as a strategist, she argues that India’s silence on global affairs is proof of rising diplomatic maturity. “India speaks when it matters,” she declares. Allow me to disagree — robustly.

Let’s begin with the absurd. Amit Shah, in full campaign mode, not so long ago claimed that “Modi ne war rukwa dee” — that the Prime Minister stopped the Russia-Ukraine war. Never mind that the war hasn’t paused for a second. Neither Moscow nor Kyiv remembers this magical intervention. And yet, we are told this is what “measured” diplomacy looks like — restraint wrapped in gravitas. I call it what it is: a strategic muzzle, saffron-tinted and politically convenient.

Since 2014, the world has been anything but quiet. Two major wars in Europe. A genocide in Gaza. The Sudan implosion. Iran and Israel volleying missiles. And China? It now camps on our territory, quite literally, in Ladakh and Arunachal. Through all this, India has issued a few half-hearted press notes, some bland tweets, and the now-somnolent Samarkand soundbite: “This is not an era of war.”

Let’s offer Mr. Modi a reality check: there never was an era for war. Yet wars happen. The world doesn’t need fortune cookie philosophy. It needs clarity. It needs moral courage. What it gets from South Block is a black hole — either radio silence or incoherence.

Take the April 2024 Israel-Iran exchange. Israel bombed an Iranian consulate — a flagrant violation of diplomatic norms. Iran hit back. The region stood on edge. And India? Missing in action. The Prime Minister’s Twitter handle went eerily quiet. Even Pakistan, which we habitually mock for its dysfunction, managed a clearer, firmer statement.

When Priyam says India “leads when required,” one must ask — required by whom? Certainly not the people of Gaza. Not the diplomats in Tehran. Not our own jawans watching PLA tents multiply on the LAC. What we’re witnessing is not strategic silence, but electoral cowardice dressed up in the robes of diplomacy.

Now let’s address another gem from the op-ed: that Arab nations have become top investors in India. Sounds impressive until one digs a little. Yes, sovereign wealth funds from the UAE and Saudi Arabia have made bets — but mostly on Indian conglomerates, not new capacity. Calling this FDI is like claiming Adani buying airports is the second coming of JRD Tata. And when Saudi Aramco showed interest in Bharat Petroleum, who slammed the brakes? Not the Left, not the Congress — but the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, Modi’s ideological cousins, waving Nehruvian flags of strategic assets and self reliance.

The author cautions against “unnecessary intervention.” Fair enough. But let’s not confuse speaking up with meddling. Speaking up is what nations with a conscience do. India once did — loudly and clearly. We stood tall against Apartheid, spoke out against colonialism, championed nuclear disarmament, and led the charge for Third World solidarity. We had platforms — NAM and SAARC — flawed, yes, but potent tools of soft power and moral leadership.

Modi inherited these institutions. He chose to mothball them.

Non-Aligned Movement has been forced into the pages of history. SAARC, once a regional glue, is now embalmed and forgotten. These were not just acronyms — they were levers for shaping a multipolar world, projecting Indian values, and offering leadership to the Global South. Modi discarded them without offering a viable alternative.

Instead, we got BIMSTEC — dusted off and paraded during Modi’s 2019 inauguration, touted as the future of regional cooperation. Six years on, it has yielded little more than bureaucratic chatter and empty communiqués.

And then there’s “Strategic Autonomy,” the new buzzword. What does it mean, nothing more than a "VVIP pass" flashed whenever convenient? Apparently, that we must say nothing even when our soldiers are assaulted, when our neighbours gang up against us, or when Pakistan receives funds from institutions where we have a vote. Autonomy, in this case, has become a euphemism for paralysis.

Take Operation Sindoor. When Indian tourists were massacred in Pahalgam, Pakistan’s allies circled the wagons — Turkey, China, Azerbaijan, even Iran. And India? We stared at our shoelaces. No global outrage. No diplomatic blitz. Not a single so-called neutral stood up to condemn Pakistan. So much for leading the Global South.

Then came Donald Trump’s bizarre boast repeatedly : that he stopped a war between India and Pakistan. The real scandal isn’t the absurdity of the claim — it’s that no one in Delhi refuted it. Not the South Block, not even Modi, who usually never lets facts get in the way of a favourable headline. That silence turned Trump’s fiction into diplomatic fact. This isn’t strategic autonomy. It’s strategic inertia —dangerous and complacent.

As for the Ukraine rescue — the government's favourite anecdote — let’s not confuse student evacuations with peace-making. Every country pulled its citizens out. Ours just did it later, and with more press conferences. To then claim we stopped a war? That belongs in a Netflix comedy special, not the Lok Sabha.

True power — be it diplomatic or moral — is the ability to shape events. By that yardstick, India has rarely been more voiceless. We once had Nehru with his Bandung vision, Vajpayee with his measured gravitas, Manmohan with quiet persuasion. Today, we have silence packaged in teleprompter slides and propped up by press releases.

So yes, Ms. Gandhi-Mody is right about one thing: India speaks when it matters. It’s just that, increasingly, it chooses not to speak at all.