Diplomacy

Modi, the rock star, casts spell in America with Great India Dream

- by Manish Chand

Magic, mania and mystique. The Modi madness swamped New York’s famed Madison Square Garden on a bright Sunday afternoon when the leader of the world’s largest democracy unveiled his dream of remaking India and was lavished adulation that only rock stars can dream of.
Hundreds of Indian-Americans waving tricolours and sporting Modi t-shirts and tattoos thronged the Penn Plaza entrance to the iconic Madison Square Garden which is better known for hosting baseball legends, rock stars and singing sensations. Chants of MODI and WE LOVE MODI reverberated in the air.
Remaking India – this was the master theme of Modi who wove a melange of interlinked themes in his speech, which included national renewal, the role of the Indian-American community in enhancing the global profile of India, his pet projects like clean India mission, cleansing of Ganga and a compelling re-articulation of the ‘Make in India’ campaign he launched just a day before he started his American journey.

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Unleashing yoga power at UN, the Modi way

- by Manish Chand

After launching the ‘Make in India’ mantra back home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unleashed the country’s soft power at the UN as he exhorted the world community to observe an International Yoga Day, which he eloquently described as “India’s gift to the world.”
In his maiden speech at the UN General Assembly, which marked the 61-year-old leader’s metamorphosis into a world statesman, Mr Modi interspersed his robust pitch for reforms of the UN Security Council with a philosophical spin on organic connections between climate change and yoga, which he grounded in the spiritual concepts of harmony between man and nature. “By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help us deal with climate change. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day,” he said.

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Serious about talks with Pakistan, but sans terror shadow: Modi

- by Manish Chand

Putting the ball in Islamabad’s court, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has underlined that that he wants to hold bilateral talks with Pakistan, only “without a shadow of terrorism,” and provided the latter creates the right atmosphere for it. In his maiden address to the 69th session of the ongoing UN General Assembly on a radiant sunny day in New York, , Mr Modi outlined his foreign policy on India’s neighbourhood, and signalled in a statesman-like manner that he wants to engage with Pakistan with all seriousness
The Indian leader’s comments came a day after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif voiced frustration over stalled talks over Kashmir and more than a month after India cancelled foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan by registering strong objections to the Pakistani envoy’s meeting with Kashmiri separatist leaders.

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