'The West has always opposed a strong nationalist leader in India and Narendra Modi is no exception.' 'The West prefers weak leaders who are amenable to Western pressure and Mr Modi's independent stance is not to the liking of the West,' asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Opposition leaders in India have expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of the deportation of Indian illegal immigrants from the United States during his recent visit. They criticized the manner in which the Indians were sent back, shackled and handcuffed on a military aircraft. The leaders also discussed the need for India to address the root causes of migration and the importance of national interest in diplomatic relations with the United States.
'If they are not, then the Modi government should order a JPC immediately.'
'Modi's campaign has been strikingly devoid of anti-Muslim rhetoric. After the kutta pilla incident, it has been several months since he said something horrible about the Muslims of India. It is the result of democratic constraints. He has to make compromises... He's trying to reinvent himself. He will politically hurt himself if 2002 becomes the definition of Mr Modi again', says political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
'Another term for the government under the prime minister would likely be a step forward on the path to Hindu Rashtra.' 'No question of going back or any slowing down.'
If the BJP gets only 200 seats and wants to remain in power, Modi will have to make way -- either for a proxy of his choice, or for an internal rival, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'It brings precarious peace because the red lines have shifted. 'The next Pahalgam attack would mean a full scale war.'
'I defended them -- Amit Shah and Narendra Modi -- in over 10,000 national debates, but I never asked for any favour.'
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier called out the remarks made by Zuckerberg on the Joe Rogan podcast. "Mr. Zuckerberg's claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections, lost post-COVID is factually incorrect," Vaishnaw had said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on January 13.
"His own government has destroyed Gandhian institutions in Varanasi, Delhi and Ahmedabad," the Congress leader alleged.
'The BJP's numbers in this government are almost the same as those enjoyed by the Congress under P V Narasimha Rao when the reform process was kicked off in 1991.' 'As before, the only constraints on the prime minister's actions are internal, not external.' 'They come from his own assessment of the political consequences of any action,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
Seeking an apology from social media giant Meta for 'tarnishing' India's image, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the Parliament's Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, said on Tuesday that the panel will summon the firm following its chairman's comments that India's ruling dispensation lost the Lok Sabha election last year.
'By his words, actions, and body language during their joint press appearance wanted to convey his personal respect and, more broadly, his desire to work closely with India.'
The climate for 'doing business' remains forbidding, taxtortion is still rife, corruption at state and district levels has increased, oil prices remain extortive with high taxation, and the continued red tape has kept the enterprise system as stifled as before, points out Debashis Basu.
India will continue to be a strategic partner for the United States despite concerns over its ties with Russia, the Biden Administration has said.
In his poll rallies, Modi framed Pitroda's comments in his wider onslaught against the Congress, asserting that they have exposed its hidden agenda and that the party has become so removed from the country's social and family values that it wants to legally rob people of their assets and lifelong savings they want to bequeath to their children.
'Narendra Modi's friend's son presenting Narendra Modi's photo to Narendra Modi at the Narendra Modi Stadium'
'You are a prime example of hard work & dedication for our motherland!'
India needs another shot of difficult reform, of the kind only possible at gunpoint. Mr Trump holds that gun to our heads now. A drastic reduction in tariff protection, other elements of sarkari wet-nursing will force entrepreneurial India to become competitive again, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Shah said "a bitter display of spite", Kharge unnecessarily dragged the prime minister into his personal health matters by saying that he would die only after removing Modi from power.
Amul's move is being seen by many, especially opposition parties, as a threat to KMF's famed dairy brand 'Nandini'.
Ramesh asked the PM why river Ganga is "dirtier than before" even after spending Rs 20,000 crore on the Namami Gange project.
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
'Everybody knows when I hear Indian music, I start dancing'
Over the years, India has enjoyed bipartisan support in the US and this asset must be kept intact and nurtured through across the board political and civil society engagement, suggests former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The BJP may be in the Opposition in many states, but nowhere is it as divided as it is in Karnataka, points out Aditi Phadnis.
'I have serious doubts about the longevity of the NDA government and the longevity of the 18th Lok Sabha itself.'
'"PM Shastri ji created...VP Radhakrishnanji inaugurated. Narendra Modi closed it. Nehru ji lives in the hearts of INDIA'
Shane Sabastian Pereira, born in Karachi, Pakistan, was granted Indian citizenship after 43 years of living in his ancestral village in Goa. He is the second person from the coastal state to receive the certificate under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Pereira's journey to citizenship highlights the impact of the CAA on individuals seeking to become Indian citizens.
'The Congress wants to distort the very fabric of Indian society because they are obsessed with vote bank politics.'
For the past few days, Tata had been admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai.
The ISI strategy has been to use its proxies to target Hindus in India. They want an outrage and counter-targeting of India's minorities. Further, even the whiff of it restores the Pakistan army's popularity, especially when it's in the dumps, like now, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The lack of a majority isn't the issue. He has enough in 240, especially as none of his allies can pull down his coalition.' 'That's why he's started as if this were just another, normal term. That pretence is vital for him.' 'The change for Modi 3.0 comes not from numbers, but from the new environment of contestation,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
The Galwan clash occurred six months after the Doklam disengagement and two high-profile meetings. India should not be caught by surprise once again, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'Granting the country's highest civilian honour to Prime Minister Modi was surprising as it indicated the government was going out of its way to have India as a close partner.'
TMC demanded 'strong action' for the 'unfounded, inappropriate and illegal' campaign and utterances of Modi.
Now, every state election -- first up, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand later this year, then Delhi in January and Bihar in September next year -- will be seen by his followers for evidence of his recovery, and by rivals of sharpening decline, points out Shekhar Gupta.
When asked about the Uniform Civil Code, Gandhi said he would comment on it only after he knows what is BJP's proposal.
From bhikshus of Ashokan 3rd century BC and medieval Sufis to Oxfam, Omidyar and Soros now, non-State actors have any real power only when they work in conjunction with a real State, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
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