Why America is 'unhappy' with India ? ::: At Shangrila Dialogue, a loaded statement came from French President and it does talk about changing dynamics in Asia with India emerging as a key player

Videos from two American celebrities have gone viral in recent times. One is oprah winfrey, noted TV producer and host and the other is Denzel Washington, actor and director.

These are not run of the mill videos from American celebrities. They talk about India - not in the usual negative or patronizing tone. They tie to tell some facts of life, statistics and India's growth journey.

Oprah says - while America told the world how to Dream Big; India on the other hand India is learning to Dream Smart. She lauds Indian IITs and start ups and also 'satellites' launched in budget smaller than Hollywood films. 

India is not trying to imitate, India is doing something far more powerful. It's innovating with scarcity. 

Denzel also makes his point. 

 

This emergence of a 'new India' has shaken the west, India's tradiditional rivals and even the political detractors of incumbent PM Narendra Modi.

India's political system over the decades generally was dubbed as a status quoist. A passive player. It is true Modi's politics and governance in the last 11 years brought a different genre. 

The government-controlled economy, permit raj and licenses had tied India down. Even people's and individual's and community's aspirations were stifled. Things might have started in 1991 and was later given a push by the Vajpayee government from 1998 to 2004; but the real journey of the 'elephant' started after May 2014.  

The economic reforms aided by rapid diffusion of technology changed the game in more ways than one. The private companies, individuals and groups began to tap talent. In the process we had several industrial houses and business honchos who showed that given the determination and the vision; people can build empires from scratch with no ancestral business behind them.

Indian companies are no longer local players, they have emerged as global disruptors. What has perhaps worked as a miracle and force multipliers is that in India innovation came as the order of the day not as a luxury, but as necessities.

India is today a country that is learning to design for inclusion from day one. The western model seems to have been made for the elites. 

The west has reached the stage where its prosperity is coming to an end whereas the Indian model stresses not so much on economy alone. It is about human bonds, emotion and values. 

Yoga is an example. So has been India's drive in health sector vis-a-vis distribution of vaccines during Covid 19. This was the mantra of 'universal brotherhood' that left even much more prosperous countries focusing only abut themselves.   

Anyone who doubts that the US is heading for challenges and that India is not progressing faster than it was imagined is actually living in denial.

That's the catch point today. And the recent Operation Sindoor has also demonstrated India's rise as a defence power. These have left the US, its 'self-important' president and the rest of the western world surprised and a bit irked.

According to Denzel Washington's video - even in cyber security, it is the "Indian minds" that is at the strategy table. 

"Let me tell you, some of the top brains at Google, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM  - they have got one thing in common - the Indian DNA. That's not an accident, that's evolution," says Denzel.

Analysing the deliberations at the just held Shangrila Dialogue in Singapore, expert C Raja Mohan wrote:  

"Much of Asia was eager to hear from Hegseth about the Trump administration’s strategic intentions. Many countries remain caught in the crossfire of President Donald Trump’s trade wars and were watching closely to see if Washington would uphold traditional alliances or, as in Europe, move to dismantle them."

At Singapore, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth outlined the administration’s priorities for Asia. However, French President Emmanuel Macron’s keynote address offered a 'European perspective on Asian security' that diverged from Washington’s in key respects. 

Macron's comments came as Moscow thumbs its nose at the West by ignoring international outcry and calls for an end to its invasion of Ukraine, and concerns grow that China may make good on its threat to take control of Taiwan as it continues to assert its strength in the South China Sea.

"We have a challenge of revisionist countries that want to impose… under the name of spheres of influence… spheres of coercion," said Macron.

"Countries that want to control areas from the fringes of Europe to the archipelagos in the South China Sea... that want to appropriate resources, whether fishing or mineral, and crowd out others for their benefit," he continued.

This was a loaded statement and does talk about changing dynamics in Asia with India emerging as a key player. 

Macron's speech came on the heels of a tour of Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore in which the French politician sought to present his country as a reliable defense and business partner for countries caught between the US and China. 

This is another crucial perspective.