A destabilised Bangladesh is being radicalised and weaponised :::::: 'This country belongs to people of the hills and plains, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians' -- says Tarique Rahman .... probably the future Bangladesh PM ... But does he have the maturity ???

 'This country belongs to people of the hills and plains, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians' -- 

Tarique Rahman 

(Acting chairman of BNP and son of former PM Khaleeda Zia).

But like in life; in politics too -- somethings are easier said than done.  

"Agents of various dominant powers are still engaged in conspiracies. We must remain patient. We have to exercise caution," Tarique Rahman told the massive crowd at a reception in Dhaka on Thursday, Dec 25th. 

Calling on supporters and family admirers not to respond to any form of provocation, Tarique said that just as the nation achieved independence in 1971, people from all walks of life once again came together to protect Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty in 2024.

** This is a smart way of trying to keep the right balance.

One - he mentions Hindus in his speech and secondly; he acknowledges that the country attained the 'unthinkable' milestone - the political liberation for the country in 1971.

****  

"Today, the people of Bangladesh want to regain their right to speak. They want to get back their democratic rights," he said. 

"The time has come for all of us to build the country together. This country belongs to people of the hills and the plains, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. 

We want to build a safe Bangladesh, where every woman, man, and child can leave home and return safely."

But India should not be over enthusiastic : 

* The BNP has a profoundly anti-India image.

** Tarique Rahman has to walk the talk in more ways than one.

*** Jamaat and hardliners (anti-Hindu and mob culture) rule the roost in Bangladesh since August 2024 -- he will have to show political maturity and sagacity in keeping the ugly elements under check.

%% 

Can he handle the Yunus regime -- which came to office with hopes and has failed displaying the country's political chaos and administrative lawlessness ?

%%%%  

There are sharper Indian angles to the story in Bangladesh and these are apparently remote controlled by the Deep State.

The Dhaka model is familiar to Russia-Ukraine model ???

Lure a major power into a morally framed conflict. 

Prolong it through terrain demographics. The 'smaller nation' (that is Ukraine face existential crisis).

Resources bleed.

Global reputation damaged. Distract from the 'real enemy' -- 

the Americanisation ??

THIS was 

... used to trap Russia in Ukraine.

The goal was never to hep Ukraine.

The goal was economic exhaustion, international isolation of Russia. Push up arms sales from the US, France and other European arms suppliers and dealers.

India is smart enough and will not repeat the follies. 

Bangladesh needs a matured leadership. Does Tarique really have it ?

Moreover; will the puppeteers allow such easy exit of Yunus -- ???

A destabilised Bangladesh is being weaponised and radicalised.  

Tarique has to handle hardliners in the country and if elected as PM within next 45-60 days ....

He will have to 'review' ties with Islamabad

New Delhi, 

Beijing 

and Washington. 

In shot that would be a season of 'nightmare' for a political dynast.

Now after one and half years; various skeletons and differences are coming out in the fore.

There have been at least four interested players involved in the ouster of Sheikh Hasina. One - Inquilab Manch,

New Citizens Party, Jaamat and the fourth the lobby that believed in 'formidable axis' between BNP and Jaamat. Yunus is an additional interested individual and essentially playing as a 'puppet' guided by his individual overzealous ambitions and his international backer.

Thus; the situation is complex. The recent violence and chaos have only proved this perception rather convincingly.

In the given situation; patience and Status quo club and a by-stander isolation suit New Delhi.

Wait for 'your own time' and the so-called Restraint now works well as the best strategy for the Modi Govt in Bangladesh. 

Islamabad and Beijing will do their own calculations. 

ends 

Congress has 'Beta Bachao Mission' ::::: Political Flashpoint 2026 and beyond :::: BJP's 'Man of the year 2025' is Nitin Nabin :::: ... Congress at 'crossroads' ... Should it dump Rahul and bring in Priyanka .... What happens to Shashi Tharoor ?

Rendezvous with Success: BJP ... under Narendra Modi 

To describe in one simple sentence, what makes Narendra Modi click or why should BJP be considered a successful political party ---one must say it’s the saffron's ability to pluck victory from defeat and Namo knows how to do it almost single-handed. 

Modi has Amit Shah as his friend and most influential compatriot. The J P Nadda era is over and now the focus shifts to Nitin Nabin; BJP's new working president and 'designated' party chief.  

Nitin Nabin, just 45, has to keep himself politically relevant for his party and the Hindutva fountainhead RSS and importantly his two leaders Amit Shah and Modi hmself. ---  the ‘raison d’etre’ – a reason to justify  one’s existence! 

It goes without stating that Modi has always challenged the concept of ‘status quoist’.  

Modi and also Amit Shah this time - yet again - had banked on their ‘out-of-box’ thinking and action. Nitin Nabin came out of the hat.  'Nabin' means 'new' and hence he also represents a "uniqueness" in the Indian political scene in more ways than one. 

Like his mentor Modi; Nitin Nabin also has a very humble political background and from the hind side, he has or had nothing much in his favour. 

He hails from Kayastha caste -- not politically formidable in the cow-belt or even his state of Bihar. 

Modi fitted the OBC description net. Like Modi; even Nitin Nabin's family background or anything else in normal circumstances would have worked for him. 

Two things are his assets - a clean image and an organisation man. 

This will stand well with him and the rest depends on his hard work and single minded determination. 

Nitin Nabin is coming as a party chief when the saffron outfit has tasted power in the centre for six years under the illustrious Atal Behari Vajpayee and for last 11 and half years under Namo.

Unlike what was the position in May 2014 -- when Modi emerged as a towerng vote catcher; the BJP today has a significant pan-India presence. 

Challenge for Nitin Nabin will be handle the party's "ambitions" --- like possible power in states such as West Bengal.  

Importantly yet again -- under Moditva phenomenon and under BJP; India is considered a geopolitical counterweight to China and, in many ways, an indispensable actor on the world stage.  

An arising power, India’s ascent depends on building bridges with others.

In contrast; where does Congress stand? 

Can Sibling rivalry change the game ? What happens to Shashi Tharoor and possibly a few others ? 

Congress at 'crossroads' ... Should it dump Rahul Gandhi and bring in Priyanka ??

** 

Between 2014 and 2025 December - nothing much in terms of DNA has changed in the Congress. Rahul Gandhi is basking .... but can anyone deny he is basking in the decades old success tales of his grand mother, father and mother Sonia Gandhi (between 2004 and 2014 -- when the mom-son duo remote controlled India's PM ).

Before 2014 polls - Rahul was made AICC vice president; and the party tally came down to 44 -- lowest in parliamentary history for the grand old party.

In 2017 - Rahul became Congress president. In 2019 Lok Sabha polls - Modi magic worked again and Congress again suffered an humiliating defeat. Rahul himself lost Amethi - the family bastion but found a Muslim-dominated 'safe sanctuary'.   

Rahul resigned but Sonia returned as Congress president officially but real power now remained with the son.  

The Congress image became pro-urban Naxals and typically pro-Muslim. That discarded Hindu support base. In several states by then; the BJP strengthened its grip and the Congress kept losing states after states. Even Punjab was lost to the AAP in 2022. 

However, Rahul is still the 'high command' and an aging Mallikarjun Kharge is a rubber stamp president from the old text book. Kharge is not respected by the likes of Jairam Ramesh, Venugopal and also Randeep Singh Surjewala. 

Shashi Tharoor in the meantime ... makes news. The former UN diplomat applauds Modi and in most postings or write ups make veiled attack on the 'dynasty' (read Rahul Gandhi).

In December 2025 --  Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tried to get 'some space'. Is it the beginning of a cold war within the family - no one is sure.

After Bihar polls; PM Modi said the fallout of the Bihari voters' verdict could result in split within the Congress.

Probably even hardcore committed Congressman and woman have kept their fingers crossed on the same. 

Modi keeps hopping temples. On some occasions - he might be thanking the God -- for giving him Rahul Gandhi as an opponent.

In 2026, for Modi and Team Amit Shah's biggest asset will be  ... a mom's blind love. Sonia Gandhi is the mother and like most Indian mothers and mothers-in-law --- yes; -- her weakness is the son.

Beta Bachao Mission is not going far.

ends  

Homage to Atal Bihari Vajpayee .... on his birthday :::: Celebrated for his pan-India acceptability .... former PM gave a 'moderate veneer' to BJP's hardline pro-Hindutva image !!

Celebrated for his pan-India acceptability and a leader with an unblemished image, Atal Behari Vajpayee would be always credited with giving a moderate veneer to BJP's hardline pro-Hindutva image.

His acceptability across the political spectrum and among the minorities always came in good stead for the BJP, he had co-founded with L K Advani, whom critics and opponents often call 'communal and reactionary'.

Isey mitane ki sazish karne walo se kahedo

Chingari ka khel khatarnak hota hae ……..

(Those who are trying to ruin India, must be told that 
to play with fire is a dangerous thing) 

(Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s illustrious verse addressed to Pakistan)

March 1999, Bharat Ratna Vajpayee and some of us

In another piece, he penned: 

Kab tak Jammu ko Yun-hi

Jalne denge

Kab tak julfo ki madira Dhalne denge

Maa beheno ka apman sahenge kab tak

Bhole pandav chup chaap rahenge kab tak …..

(Uptill when will u let Jammu Burn, 

Till when this addiction of lust
continue....

Uptill when will the sisters and mothers be raped...

Till when the stake holders (UN/International community) will remain silent)

-         (Bhole pandav (Innocent UN; world community)….

-         And see how things have turned out to be across the globe!!

Born on the Christmas Day, 1924, at Gwalior to a school teacher Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, his baptism into politics had come as a student when he came in contact with the RSS founder Keshavrao Hedgewar and later became a RSS 'swayemsevak'.

First sworn in as the Prime Minister on May 16, 1996, Vajpayee had to resign only after 13 days. But as promised by him in Lok Sabha on May 27, 1996 debate, Vajpayee returned to the coveted office on March 19, 1998 and continued there till May 2004 when incidentally, the country voted out his government in what was described by poll pundits as a most shocking election results. 

The BJP's hyped 'India Shining' campaign had failed. 

The founding president of BJP, when it was launched in 1980 after split from the united Janata Party of Seventies, Vajpayee was a perfect foil to his longtime compatriot L K Advani. 

While Advani has been a forceful speaker with cold logic and argument, Vajpayee, a genius orator was a poetic and persuasive with his characteristic humourous style.

"One big difference between Vajpayee and me was his sense of humour. It always gave me complex....Unke samne mein ek rukha-sukha admi raha (Contrast to his humour, I was always dry)," BJP patriarch L K Advani told me only on December 16. 

Vajpayee and his Core Team - L K Advani and Jaswant Singh 

But the soft style was never a weakness of Vajpayee  as more than once he spoke firmly and many a times also differed with Advani. His reported oneliner to Advani on 1992 Babri-Temple issue, 

"Advaniji yad rakhiye aap...Ayodhya ja rahen haen Lanka nahi (Advani please remember you are going to Ayodhya and not Lanka)" was as famous as his assertion in Lok Sabha in 1998 defending his government's decision to conduct nuclear tests. 

"Should we prepare our defence only when we are attacked....should we not become guarded and self-dependent on our defence capabilities," Vajpayee had said countering high-profile anti-nuke debates from master orators like Chandrashekhar, a former PM.

Jailed during 1942 Quit India Movement- though there have been charges that he had given witness against freedom fighters, Vajpayee, a post graduate in political science from Kanpur University, had started off as a journalist with RSS magazine, 'Rashtradharam'.

A headline hunter later, Vajpayee often used to say, "I cannot quit politics because nothing is more intoxicating in life than to see your name in morning newspapers".

A person with a graceful taste for things apolitical like poetry and cinema, Vajpayee would be also be remembered for his description of P V Narasimha Rao as a 'karma-yogi' in Parliament while taking a dig at Rao's now famous oneliner: "Not to take decision is also a decision".

Friends and Foes

One can say that he was a statesman and orator par excellence, who played a pivotal role in shaping India's political landscape through his blend of inclusive nationalism and Hindutva ideology. 

Vajpayee was instrumental in mainstreaming Hindutva, not merely as a religious or cultural identity but as a unifying force for India's diverse population. 

In 1998, when Vajpayee named Jaswant Singh as chief negotiator with the US interlocutor Strobe Talbott, Singh was only a deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. Talbott later said, “While Jaswant rightly harmonised Indo-US relations, as the leader of the country and the government, Vajpayee advanced India’s interests.” 

ends 

Pre-election season troubles in BJP-ruled Assam ::::: Army deployed .... Internet services snapped ... 2 killed in violence in "tribal district' of Karbi Anglong in Assam

Bombs, arrows fly in Assam's Karbi Anglong, Army deployed 

The Army has been deployed in Assam's West Karbi Anglong, a day after police personnel were attacked.

Indigenous Karbi groups and other tribal bodies had been staging an indefinite hunger strike for over two weeks at Phelangpi in the Kheroni area, demanding eviction of settlers from Village Grazing Reserves (VGRs) and Professional Grazing Reserves (PGRs).

Tensions escalated sharply after nine hunger strikers were detained late Sunday night, which police said was to shift them to Guwahati for medical treatment claiming their health deteriorated.

As news of the detentions spread on Tuesday, anger mounted among tribal villagers, leading to road blockades, vandalism and eventually large-scale violence.

Reports say markets and a local BJP leader's home set ablaze. 

Internet services have been snapped. The flare-up was sparked allegedly by 'police action' against tribal hunger strikers protesting alleged encroachment on protected tribal land. 

It is a long-running fault line in the Sixth Schedule district of Assam. 

Police personnel were reportedly attacked with stones, arrows, and crude bombs. Shops and houses were torched, and the residence of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council (KAAC) chief, the BJP's Tuliram Ronghang, was set ablaze on Tuesday.  

The Karbi Anglong region falls in central Assam and shares border with Dimapur-region in Nagaland.  

The Guwahati-based daily 'The Assam Tribune' reported that a Hindu Bengali man, Suresh Dey, was a disabled person. He was charred to death after being trapped inside a building set on fire, while the protester from the Karbi community succumbed to injuries.  

There is a long-standing land dispute tied to Karbi Anglong's status under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides special protections for tribal land and self-governance through autonomous councils.

Karbi Anglong falls under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which grants special autonomy and land protections to tribal-majority areas to safeguard indigenous communities' rights, culture and control over land and governance.  

Last year, the KAAC administration issued eviction notices to alleged settlers, but these were challenged in the Gauhati High Court, which issued an interim stay, leaving the issue unresolved.

The Chief Minister affirmed that the additional security forces will be deployed in Kherani to ensure safety and peace.

"I am closely monitoring the situation in West Karbi Anglong. 

It is deeply painful that two people lost their lives during today's unrest. Additional security forces will be deployed in Kherani tomorrow to maintain peace. 

We are in constant touch with all concerned to restore normalcy and resolve issues through dialogue. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. The Government will stand with all affected families and provide all necessary support," CM Sarma wrote on X.

ends 

Ex Bangladesh PM Begum Zia's son Tarique Rahman on way 'home' with wife and daughter :::: Killing of radical activist Hadi mounts pressure on Yunus regime

Ex Bangladesh PM Begum Zia's son Tarique Rahman on way 'home' with wife and daughter  

Special train: Bangladesh Railway will operate 10 special trains to bring BNP supporters to the capital.

Political turmoil ?  

Khuda Baksh Chowdhury resigns as special assistant to Yunus 

Khuda Baksh, a former Inspector General of Police (IGP), was appointed as a special assistant to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on November 10, 2024.

Tarique's return to Bangladesh when the country is in boil would end his 17-year-long exile. 

He is often also described as the 'crown prince' of Bangladesh politics. Rahman has long been groomed for leadership and often pictured with his mother.  

Photo source - BNP media unit 

BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman has departed for Dhaka from London's Heathrow Airport past mid-night.  

He left at around 12:36 am Bangladesh time (around 1 am India) on a regular Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight, accompanied by his wife, Zubaida Rahman, and daughter, Zaima.

His return to Dhaka is happening when mother is under intensive care unit and politically the country is in turmoil. 

The recent killing of radical political activist Osman Hadi has mounted pressure on the lacklustre Yunus regime.   

Addressing the interim government at a "Shahidi Shopoth" (Martyr's Oath) programme organised by Inqilab Mancha in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh, late leader's brother Omar Hadi said, 

"It is you who had Osman Hadi killed, and now you are trying to foil the election by using this as an issue."

They are expected to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka around noon tomorrow via Sylhet.

After landing, he will be received by BNP Standing Committee members. He will then proceed by road to a reception programme at the 300 Feet area in Purbachal. 

Following his speech from the stage, Tarique will travel by road to Evercare Hospital to visit his ailing mother. 

Security is being seen as a major challenge, particularly in managing the crowd around Tarique's motorcade. 

A BNP team held a meeting with senior officials of various law enforcement agencies, reports 'The Daily Star'.

Entry to the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area remain restricted to passengers from 6:00 pm (Dec 24 - Dhaka time) until 6:00 pm Dec 25th for his arrival. 

 

Sharif Osman Hadi, an anti-India student leader associated with last year's July uprising, was shot at close range while travelling in a battery-powered rickshaw in Dhaka's Bijoynagar area on December 12. 

Two motorcycle-borne assailants pulled up beside his vehicle and shot him in the head. 

Hadi died of his injuries in Singapore on December 18, sparking widespread protests across Bangladesh. 

ends 

Should India send army ... No !! "Bangladesh is not unfriendly geography, but like a strategic sinkhole" ::::: Yunus regime .... "mostest ... weakestest Govt" in Bangladesh history ::::: "Fascist Hasina" is past ....bygone era :::: Now, stage set for mega battle between BNP leader Tarique Rahman and 'NCP plus Yunus and also Jamaat'

 It's a pun.

The word 'Weakest' has been given a superlative description - 'weakestest'

And 'Most' ... too is called 'mostest' here ... to lay emphasis. This observation was made by an eminent Bangladeshi intellectual with regard the performance of the Yunus-led regime.  

"Fascist Hasina" is past ....bygone era 

Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana were seen saddened after the heinous August 21, 2004 attack Photo: Shamsul Hoque Tanku 'The Business Standard/Dhaka) 

Bangladesh just not an accidental geography; it is a strategic sinkhole.

:::: Now, stage set for mega battle between BNP leader Tarique Rahman and 'NCP plus Yunus and also Jamaat'

Rahman is son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and heir to Bangladesh's longtime ruling family.

His return to Bangladesh when the country is in boil would end his 17-year-long exile. 

He is often also described as the 'crown prince' of Bangladesh politics. Rahman has long been groomed for leadership and often pictured with his mother. 

However,  there are a few issues from the past.  

The 21 August 2004 grenade attack took place at an Awami League rally on Bangabandhu Avenue, Dhaka killing 24 people and injuring hundreds, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

Initial trials in 2018 resulted in death sentences and life imprisonments for several suspects. 

Aug 21 blast - 2004 when BNP was in power

However, in September this year ... In a highly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh upheld the High Court’s decision to acquit all 38 accused in the notorious 21 August 2004 grenade attack case.

Even Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and one of the accused was acquitted. 

****

But problems in Bangladesh is not only about the failures of the Yunus-led dispensation or sheer politics.

There is also a geographical aspect and that cannot be neglected while one makes a study about the same from New Delhi's perspective. 

Floods are the single most destructive and persistent natural factor in Bangladesh. 

Every year on an  average 18 percent of Bangladesh is inundated.

Approximately 75 percent of the country lies within ten metres above mean sea level. 

Over eighty percent of its landmass is classified as floodplain.

An overwhelming 78 plus percent of the population lives in flood prone areas.

Take a pause - in 2017, 2007 and also 1998 ----

Nearly60 % of the country remained underwater for about 80-90 days.

Blogger 

^^^

Take a note:

Since the assassination of founder of the country Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, the people of Bangladesh have been hostage to a fight to the finish between the widow of a military dictator, Khaleda Zia, and the daughter of the freedom fighter, Sheikh Hasina. 

A rare exception was when they joined hands to bring down another military dictator, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, in 1991. 

They, however, did not bay for his blood. He was allowed to live and participate in the country’s political life for 28 years till his death in 2019. -- Pankaj Saran, a former Indian envoy to Russia 

****

Now for BNP and its new leader Tarique Rahman, the Yunus regime has emerged as a political rival.  

Bangladeshis perhaps have to lament their fortune that the perceived puppet regime of the Deep State - Yunus and his set of advisers are not part of any Solution but have proved to be part of the problem.

Since August 8th, 2024 --- when Yunus took charge; the past 16 months have seen the capture of all institutions by right-wing Islamists.

They already enjoy immunity.  It's Jamaat - which is running the dispensation by influence and default. 

The media is frightened and the recent attack on two newspaper offices were deliberate to make them crawl.

Mob rule and instant justice - as often shown in Bollywood films - are the order of the day. 

Should India pursue an aggressive military adventure?

The answer is simple and requires no second thought - No.

But the crystal clear message is that India needs to take all precautions for its own security. 

In terms of military studies and tactics -- for any invading force (may be for stabilisation) --- 

there are handicaps --- 

-- Ground marshlands, 

- Submerged supply routes, 

- Health concerns for soldiers and waterborne disease can spread easily

- Extreme dependence on air and riverine supply lines.

Prolonged deployment under such conditions destroys morale, equipment and operational momentum.

One retired Brigadier with considerable field experience and study about Bangladesh and the region has said --- 

** India must not commit any strategic mistake. 

*** Adventurism is simply unwarranted

*** Military action by New Delhi is a "trap" - the Deep State may want India to walk into a prolonged battlefield

ends 

Soft Power is 'powerful tool' but its dynamism is Changing in the new world order :::: If American Soft Power and 'influence' is on decline .... How would Indian Soft Power emerge ?

It is certainly not without good reason that the American soft power and indirect influence over other countries is on decline. 

Some would even say it's withering and even collapsing especially on democracies.  In such a situation how does India work on this aspect of foreign policy? Unlike Hard Power; Soft Power requires more time .... and more efforts. 

The Soft Power by nature is not a costly affair. But it is a vital tool that can help a country like India cherishing civilisational values to make inroads into the minds of people across the globe and also win the hearts. However, this is also something that is linked to a nation's basic approach in pursuing Hard power. This is where Donald Trump has done a few mistakes and hence his 'soft power' has lost its sheen. 

In fact,  Trump's Soft Power push is guided by negativity and contempt for the other side. As an illustration one can point out that ....  

** Trump’s strategies spend/involve so much energy and venom denouncing Europe.

**   In multiple manner; the EU 'embodied' the values of the liberal order and in doing so it surpassed Americans too. 

Please note - after Soviet domination of eastern Europe collapsed, the EU expanded to bring in countries so that they also internalise democratic principles. Today, probably Europe is a good example of use of Soft power while the US standards and roles have declined.  

After the second world war, the US pushed its global ambition. 

Even there was a principle of consensus building between Republicans and Democrats on that score. They shared and pushed a conviction that the post-war world built on American model would be better for the rest of the world and also for the US.

Democracy and the rule of law were the ideals. Of course in some cases; argument could be built that while pushing such a cherished principle -- the American leadership, say under Nixon-Henry Kissinger -- actually often encouraged military powers and dictatorship.

This is where India needs to be careful.

An image of being assertive has been pushed by the Moditva phenomenon. But there is a side effect behind all that because in countries like Bangladesh; New Delhi is also getting a tag of being a regional Dada (elder brother) per se.

Over 15 years back; I interviewed a former Nepal foreign minister Upendra Yadav and he had said -- there could be motivated allegation that India interferes into everything in our country -- but all that may not be Satya. But they are Ardha Satya for sure. 

If Hard Power is presented as something to be 'feared' and not necessarily loved and respected -- there are chance that even Soft Power will not work. 

India's Covid19 Vaccines were good examples of Soft Power 

This has happened with Russia too.

"Putin knows his aggressive revanchism won’t win Russia any love among countries whose respect he craves. 

But if he can’t be loved, he hopes at least to be feared. If you are in a social order that regards you as inferior, you have every incentive to turn spoiler," write Henry Farrell and Sergey Radchenko in a joint article for London's 'The Guardian'. 

 

'The Guardian' article also says --- "Trump wants to disrupt a social order that regards him and his worldview with contempt. 

The US president and his officials get respect from dictators and kings (although perhaps not from the ones whose respect they most want – Putin and Xi Jinping), but they know that the leaders of many other democratic countries look down their noses at them."

In Indian context, the Soft Power can be traced back to the 15th century when Vasco D Gama was welcomed in Kerala. That era marked 'establishment' of India as a confluence of worship and civilisational wisdom. 

Centuries later, India provided shelter to Parsis, Tibetans and Bangladeshis. Mind you this did not fell under 'necessiry diplomacy' ... but this simply demonstrated India's deep rooted culture in itself. 

Prior to that again, India's wisdom or ideology laid emphasis on human race and humane approach. We said - the world is one .... 'Vasudeva Kutumbakam'. 

This much cherished principle/phrase did not come as a politically correct statement.  It is based on Indian ethos. 

Under Narendra Modi, India's greatest soft power-win was in the ability to get the UN vote for the International Day for Yoga.  

Proposed by India and endorsed by as many as 175 UN member states in 2014. 

It is not about winning a war or creating strategic partners as rivaled to another.  

June 21 as the International Day for Yoga --- Connects to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for health, universal well-being, and environment. 

It encourages mindful living, self-awareness, and harmony with nature.

In 2016  none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave credence to India's strong argument for Soft Power when he told the inaugural session of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s cultural extravaganza in New Delhi that----

 "We can make contribution (of India’s soft power) only when we ourselves feel proud of our culture. But if we continue to curse ourselves, then how will the world look towards us.

The world is not only united by concerns of economic growth, but also by human values and India can play a vital role in it".

Sometime around 2019, BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabuddhe had said -- To truly understand India; one must visit India. His refrain was India cannot be understood just by reading books or visiting one or multiple websites. 

(Blogger's daughter  Tanvi Dev : Extreme left at 2016 World Fest ) 

           

 

Life is often like standing in the dusk. 

It is all about optimism. Optimism is linked to patience. 

Every storm would pass off eventually no matter, how long it is. This is the take away from any grand cultural fest.  

That’s also the essence of India’s civilisational Soft Power strength.  

The big picture message is - the international game can be no longer about pushing a single-agenda item. Soft power game also means persuasive diplomacy. It may be out of the box, but not something out of the blue.  

ends