Narendra Modi has done something to brand India that none before him was able to manage: Pakistani analyst

By Vipin Vijayan | First Published Jan 15, 2023, 1:04 PM IST

In a rare expression of praise, noted Pakistani analyst Shahzad Chaudhry noted that Narendra Modi had brought India to the point where the country had started to cast a wider net of influence and impact.

'Narendra Modi may be a despised name in Pakistan, but he has done something to brand India that none before him was able to manage...

'Two opposing military superpowers of the world claim India to be its ally. If this isn’t a diplomatic coup, what is...'These are some of the views expressed by noted Pakistani political, security and defence analyst Shahzad Chaudhry in a writeup for one of the largest-selling newspapers in his country.

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Extolling how India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had grown in leaps and bounds, Chaudhry wrote for 'The Express Tribune' that it was a diplomatic coup of sorts for India if two opposing global military superpowers -- the United States and Russia -- claim India to be its ally.

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Enumerating India's global standing, he cited the instance of how it was the only country that can trade freely with Russia despite sweeping American sanctions on the latter for its military operation against Ukraine.

He observed that notwithstanding its size, India's global footprint has been expanding. Be it being the fifth largest economy in the world or having the third largest military, India is on the path of increasing its capacity and capability, the analyst observed.

It is rare to see words of praise coming from across the border, especially when the political leadership of Pakistan cares to focus on playing the "Kashmir" card at the drop of a hat. Chaudhry enumerated how Saudi Arabia, which Pakistan views as its fraternal brother, is investing over $72 billion in India even as Islamabad "begs" the country to invest the $7 billion.

Comparing the Modi administration to his predecessors, the analyst observed that India's foreign reserves had jumped to $600 billion under Prime Minister Modi compared to $252 billion under the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. According to him, the fact that India's GDP is sized over three trillion Dollars was testament to the monumental progress that made it a preferred destination for investors.

He underscored how the gap between Pakistan and India is now unbridgeable, with the latter "breaking free" of the shackles that kept it hyphenated in global perception with Pakistan and tied in South Asia.

While recalling how Pakistan was politically outmanoeuvred by India on Kashmir when the latter discarded Article 370 of its Constitution that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Chaudhry said that 'gradual mutation of the demographics' in India's favour continues unabated

The analyst noted that Modi had brought India to the point where the country had started to cast a wider net of influence and impact. 'Pakistan has been skillfully reduced to a footnote in this Indian script,' he said, calling upon Islamabad to recalibrate its policy towards India and create a tri-nation consensus, along with China, focusing on Asia to be the catalyst for wider economic growth. If not done, he summed up, Pakistan may end up being reduced to a "footnote of history".

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