Going Modi’s way in India

Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up here.Pretty much everything seems to be [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. Pretty much everything seems to be going Narendra Modi’s way. On Monday, the Indian prime minister opened a long-promised Hindu temple. The same day, his country’s stock market [overtook Hong Kong’s]( to become the world’s fourth-largest. Today, an HSBC survey showed India’s economy is [on a strong footing](. On Friday, he hosts the French president. The stars [appear to be aligning]( for the 73-year-old Modi as he vies for a third five-year term. He already enjoys a mass following, and events this week only look to be strengthening his hand ahead of elections expected to start in April. In inaugurating the temple dedicated to the Hindu god Ram, Modi fulfilled [one of the longest-standing pledges]( of his Bharatiya Janata Party to India’s Hindus, who make up around 80% of the population. But the ceremony was as much about elevating his own image. Before a live camera, Modi performed a series of rituals alongside a priest during the temple’s consecration, which was watched by Indians around the world. He later addressed the nation before a rapt crowd of billionaires, Bollywood stars and other Indian elites invited to the event. A last-minute public holiday was declared in much of the country, marked by fireworks and festivities. Critics say that construction of the Ram temple, built on the ruins of a mosque destroyed by Hindu extremists in 1992, [further sows divisions]( between India’s Hindus and Muslims. More broadly, the populist leader has been accused of eroding India’s democratic institutions and its traditions of secularism and pluralism. Yet Modi’s Hindu-nationalist agenda doesn’t appear to be denting his appeal in Western capitals as they seek to disengage from China, and foreign investors look more eager than ever to set up shop in the South Asian nation. With the opposition weakened, it’s hard to see what can stop the Modi juggernaut. — [Dan Strumpf]( The Ram Mandir under construction. Photographer: Ritesh Shukla/Getty Images Global Must Reads Donald Trump is on the cusp of clinching the Republican presidential nomination [after a decisive victory]( over his United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in yesterday’s New Hampshire primary. Following his win in the Iowa caucuses, the former US president is on track to deliver a knockout blow to Haley next month in her home state of South Carolina and turn his attention to an all-but-certain rematch with President Joe Biden. Sweden is poised to become the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization after [Turkey’s parliament approved]( its accession bid. The final step is endorsement by Hungary, whose prime minister, Viktor Orban, has invited Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson to Budapest for negotiations on NATO membership. Iran has supplied Sudan’s army with combat drones, taking sides in a disastrous civil war fueled by proxies keen for Red Sea access that has displaced millions, [senior Western officials say](. Tehran’s intervention on the side of the military, which has lost territory to a paramilitary group allegedly backed by the United Arab Emirates, raises the stakes for the North African country already on the verge of famine. Smoke rising over Khartoum on April 28, 2023. Photographer: AFP/Getty Images US forces carried out airstrikes yesterday against an Iran-backed militia in Iraq, targeting the group’s headquarters, a training facility and storage space for missiles and drones. The strikes were a response to “a series of escalatory attacks” against US and allied personnel in Iraq and Syria, [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said](. Russia’s war in Ukraine is intensifying an acute deficit of workers that’s hitting businesses from metal refineries to posh Moscow restaurants and igniting a race to increase salaries that threatens the Kremlin’s ability to replenish the armed forces. The [competition for employees]( has pushed wages up at a double-digit pace and made once-relatively lucrative military service less appealing. Russia said a Defense Ministry plane carrying 65 Ukrainian military prisoners as well as nine crew and guards [crashed in the Belgorod region]( near the border with Ukraine. Iran’s president will visit Turkey today to [discuss the war in Gaza]( and cooperation against Kurdish militants, as the neighbors seek to boost security at a time of growing instability in the Middle East. North Korea fired multiple cruise missiles into waters off its west coast and apparently tore down a monument dedicated to reunification with South Korea as leader Kim Jong Un [intensified a pressure campaign]( against his neighbor. Washington Dispatch The rapid advance of artificial intelligence into more tiers of US society will be highlighted at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing today on the technology’s effect on law enforcement and criminal justice. Witnesses will discuss the use of AI by law enforcement agencies and the advantages and hazards that presents. They will also, according to a spokesperson for the panel, suggest ways that lawmakers can [address the risks with legislation](. Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat and the subcommittee’s chair, has co-sponsored the Algorithmic Accountability Act, which would require companies to take into account possible bias when deploying AI. The hearing takes place at a time of rising anxiety over how artificial intelligence-powered video and image generators could influence elections worldwide. One person to watch today: Haley plans to hold a rally in North Charleston, South Carolina. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 5pm ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Two months of missile, drone and hijacking attacks by Houthi militants against civilian ships in the Red Sea have triggered [the biggest diversion of international trade in decades](, pushing up costs for shippers as far away as Asia and North America. The disruption is spreading, despite repeated retaliatory strikes by the US and its allies, and a multinational naval operation, fueling fears of broader economic fallout. And Finally Trump’s charge toward the Republican nomination is [fueling a speculative frenzy]( in a corner of the US equity market, setting off rallies in obscure stocks seen as tied to his candidacy. The gains have echoes of the pandemic’s meme-stock mania, when legions of day traders piled into a handful of money-losing companies, seeking to pocket quick gains when their share prices surged. Trump dances at a New Hampshire primary election night party in Nashua. 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