Tuesday, September 02, 2014

India Seeking Closer Ties to Other Nationalist Governments in Asia?

INDIA’S restless prime minister, Narendra Modi, likes to brag that he sleeps for only three or four hours a night and replenishes his energy with yoga. He will need all the vigour he can muster in the coming month, during a punishing diplomatic tour to the rest of Asia. By the end, if he keeps up the pace, Mr Modi may have clarified what sort of policy he intends for India in a region where it punches below its weight.

The marathon begins in Japan on August 30th, where India’s leader travels with a delegation of billionaires and industrialists for a five-day trip. Mr Modi is close to Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, a fellow nationalist with whom he shares suspicions of China. He gratefully visited Mr Abe in 2007 and 2012 as chief minister for Gujarat, even as Western politicians shunned him after Hindu-Muslim riots in his state in 2002. Gleeful Indian pundits note that social media give a clue to their friendship. Mr Abe follows only three people on Twitter; one of them is his eager fellow tweeter, Mr Modi.

No comments: