LONDON: Think tank Chatham House has published a research paper ahead of India going to the polls warning that concerns about India’s “democratic backsliding” could promptthe West to review its cooperation with Delhi.
India has become less liberal over the last decade, but it has arguably become better governed, the paper finds. However, the illiberal turn in India’s democracy and its more muscular deployment of Hindutva within its foreign policy may complicate a deepening relationship with the West.
“Western governments’ concerns over the direction of India’s democracy have so far been secondary to those about China’s one-party state. But an erosion of India’s democratic credentials would have implications for how the country is perceived globally, and may prompt the West to review the nature and limits of its cooperation with India,” the paper by Chatham House senior research fellow for South Asia Dr Chietigj Bajpaee says.
The paper says the US is more likely to overlook concerns about the status of India’s polity than European countries, which are more influenced by human rights considerations.
Giving examples of “democratic backsliding”, the paper alleges the Indian govt is pursuing authoritarianism via controlling “levers of power” such as the tax authorities, security services and media, by conducting tax raids of NGOs and media houses, and arresting opposition politicians. It says that if Modi wins a third term and introduces a uniform civil code, this “will continue to raise concerns in the West about India’s democratic and secular credentials”.
Nevertheless, the paper points out the “downward trajectory of Indian democracy” is not as bad as in 1975 when PM Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency and suspended democratic rule. Indian democracy is more robust than perceived, Bajpaee writes, citing as evidence the fact that BJP has struggled to gain a foothold in state elections in the south.
The paper raises concerns that the Hindutva agenda “may spill over into the foreign policy domain” — giving as an example the use of “Bharat” at the G20 in India, use of vernacularphrases such as “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, and efforts to project India’s soft power through yoga — though it describes such actions as “benign” compared to world views propagated by China.
“A significant escalation of communal unrest within India, and/or signs that BJP’s Hindutva agenda is substantively influencing the country’s external policies and engagements, might prompt Western countries to reconsider their present strategic calculations towards India,” the paper warns.
It claims this is likely to place limits on deeper cooperation in sensitive areas such as intelligence sharing but not on polity-focused collaboration.
In the near term, India’s “imperfect democracy” outweighs China’s one-party state.
India has become less liberal over the last decade, but it has arguably become better governed, the paper finds. However, the illiberal turn in India’s democracy and its more muscular deployment of Hindutva within its foreign policy may complicate a deepening relationship with the West.
“Western governments’ concerns over the direction of India’s democracy have so far been secondary to those about China’s one-party state. But an erosion of India’s democratic credentials would have implications for how the country is perceived globally, and may prompt the West to review the nature and limits of its cooperation with India,” the paper by Chatham House senior research fellow for South Asia Dr Chietigj Bajpaee says.
The paper says the US is more likely to overlook concerns about the status of India’s polity than European countries, which are more influenced by human rights considerations.
Giving examples of “democratic backsliding”, the paper alleges the Indian govt is pursuing authoritarianism via controlling “levers of power” such as the tax authorities, security services and media, by conducting tax raids of NGOs and media houses, and arresting opposition politicians. It says that if Modi wins a third term and introduces a uniform civil code, this “will continue to raise concerns in the West about India’s democratic and secular credentials”.
Nevertheless, the paper points out the “downward trajectory of Indian democracy” is not as bad as in 1975 when PM Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency and suspended democratic rule. Indian democracy is more robust than perceived, Bajpaee writes, citing as evidence the fact that BJP has struggled to gain a foothold in state elections in the south.
The paper raises concerns that the Hindutva agenda “may spill over into the foreign policy domain” — giving as an example the use of “Bharat” at the G20 in India, use of vernacularphrases such as “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, and efforts to project India’s soft power through yoga — though it describes such actions as “benign” compared to world views propagated by China.
“A significant escalation of communal unrest within India, and/or signs that BJP’s Hindutva agenda is substantively influencing the country’s external policies and engagements, might prompt Western countries to reconsider their present strategic calculations towards India,” the paper warns.
It claims this is likely to place limits on deeper cooperation in sensitive areas such as intelligence sharing but not on polity-focused collaboration.
In the near term, India’s “imperfect democracy” outweighs China’s one-party state.