A less liberal but more assured nation

How Narendra Modi's reign is unfolding. [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [ESSAY]( [The New Idea of India]( By Ravi Agrawal, the editor in chief of Foreign Policy. Matthieu Bourel Illustration for Foreign Policy From the middle of April until early June, staggered over the course of several weeks, the world’s biggest election will take place. More than [960 million](//link.foreignpolicy.com/click/35142598.320420/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS9TcG9rZXNwZXJzb25FQ0kvc3RhdHVzLzE3NTYwMDg4MjUyNjg5NDA4ODE/6442801f88c29c4d765242dcD158a0714 Indians—out of a population of 1.4 billion—are eligible to vote in parliamentary elections that polls strongly suggest will [return]( Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to power for a third consecutive term. Modi is probably the world’s most popular leader. According to a recent Morning Consult [poll](, 78 percent of Indians approve of his leadership. (The next three highest-ranked leaders, from Mexico, Argentina, and Switzerland, generate approval ratings of 63, 62, and 56 percent, respectively.) It is not hard to see why Modi is admired. He is a charismatic leader, a masterful orator in Hindi, and widely perceived as hard-working and committed to the country’s success. He is regarded as unlikely to turn to nepotism or corruption, often attributed to the fact that he is a 73-year-old man without a partner or children. Modi has few genuine competitors. His power within his party is absolute, and his opponents are fractured, weak, and dynastic—a quality usually equated with graft. Whether it is through maximizing his opportunity to host the G-20 or through his high-profile visits abroad, Modi has expanded India’s presence on the world stage and, with it, his own popularity. New Delhi is also becoming more assertive in its foreign policy, prioritizing self-interest over ideology and morality—another choice that is not without considerable domestic appeal. Modi’s success can confuse his detractors. After all, he has increasingly authoritarian tendencies: Modi only rarely attends press conferences, has stopped sitting down for interviews with the few remaining journalists who would ask him difficult questions, and has largely sidestepped parliamentary debate. He has centralized power and built a cult of personality while weakening India’s system of federalism. Under his leadership, the country’s Hindu majority has become dominant. This salience of one religion can have ugly impacts, harming minority groups and calling into question the country’s commitment to secularism. Key pillars of democracy, such as a free press and an independent judiciary, have been eroded. Yet Modi wins—democratically. The political scientist Sunil Khilnani argued in his 1997 book, The Idea of India, that it was democracy, rather than culture or religion, that shaped what was then a 50-year-old country. The primary embodiment of this idea, according to Khilnani, was India’s first prime minister, the anglicized, University of Cambridge-educated Jawaharlal Nehru, who went by the nickname “Joe” into his 20s. Nehru believed in a vision of a liberal, secular country that would serve as a contrast to Pakistan, which was formed explicitly as a Muslim homeland... [CONTINUE READING](   Unlock the magazine for less. [Save up to 50% on annual plans.](   [Explore the Full Issue]( [Photos from “2024: Notes From a Generation” show young people in the cities of Jaipur, Mumbai, New Delhi, and Ranchi between January 2020 and December 2023. ]( [Meet India’s Generation Z]( The people who will shape the country’s next decades came of age during the Modi era. By Snigdha Poonam [Becoming Indian]( A novelist considers how his sense of national identity has changed. By Amitava Kumar [Modi’s Messenger to the World]( How the diplomat-turned-politician S. Jaishankar became the chief executor of India’s assertive foreign policy. By Rishi Iyengar [Is India Really the Next China?]( The case for its economic ascent is strong, but government policies still stand in the way. By Josh Felman, Arvind Subramanian [Meet India’s Generation Z]( The people who will shape the country’s next decades came of age during the Modi era. By Snigdha Poonam [Becoming Indian]( A novelist considers how his sense of national identity has changed. By Amitava Kumar [Modi’s Messenger to the World]( How the diplomat-turned-politician S. Jaishankar became the chief executor of India’s assertive foreign policy. By Rishi Iyengar [Is India Really the Next China?]( The case for its economic ascent is strong, but government policies still stand in the way. By Josh Felman, Arvind Subramanian [Subscribe to Foreign Policy]( [Save up to 50%]( an annual plan for your FP subscription allows you to save up to 50%. Subscribe for insightful geopolitical analysis today.[Choosing an annual plan for your FP subscription allows you to save up to 50%.](Subscribe for insightful geopolitical analysis today. [SUBSCRIBE NOW](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Want to receive FP newsletters? [Manage]( your FP newsletter preferences. [MANAGE YOUR EMAIL PREFERENCES]( | [VIEW OUR PRIVACY POLICY]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Reach the [right online audience]( with us. [Foreign Policy]( is a division of Graham Holdings Company. All contents © 2023 Graham Digital Holding Company LLC. All rights reserved. Foreign Policy, 655 15th St NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC, 20005.