"India's influence has grown enormously"

Körber-Stiftung: Kamala Harris may become the first Indian-American to be elected president of the United States. How would Indians around the world, especially the Indian diaspora, react?

Emotionally, people would be happy to see someone of Indian origin in the White House. Especially in her mother’s home state, Tamilnadu, there is enthusiasm for Harris. But the Indian diaspora is not uniform. You see its presence in both main parties in the United States. And we are neutral about the internal politics of the United States.

No preference at all?

No. We are prepared to deal with anyone. And our relations with the United States will continue to flourish no matter who wins, because there are many strategic interests that are aligned between the two countries. Defence cooperation is one of the strongest.

India held elections earlier this year. Did the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lose votes because it fanned Hindu-Muslim polarization too much?

If there were anti-BJP sentiments all over India, we would have lost across the country. But that didn’t happen. We have enhanced our vote share in southern states and won Odisha assembly for the first time.

So why did the BJP lose voters?

In some cases, the caste situation worked against us. In some cases, the narrative of the opposition parties went against us. There is a lot of reflection going on now, but I have no doubt that we will win in the next elections as well.

In a recent survey by Pew Research, 85 per cent of Indian respondents said that rule by a strong leader or the military would be good to govern their country. Where does this come from?

India is a democracy and whoever leads it will be democratically elected. But yes, Indians like stronger leaders, especially when the challenges are big. Because Indians want policies to be implemented.

So, President Modi is an answer to this desire for strong leadership?

Before Narendra Modi came, there was a lack of decision-making. There was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had constitutional authority and Mrs Sonia Gandhi, who ran her own parallel cabinet. The results were huge corruption and inefficiencies. That is why people chose Mr Modi as an alternative.

There has been concern about India’s democratic decline, especially after the arrest of some key opposition leaders in the run-up to the elections. How do you respond to that?

Very few leaders were arrested, and their cases have been going on for about a year. We have independent courts and election commission and they decide. There has been a lot of talk in Western media that went like: ‘If the BJP wins, it will be because of some kind of rigging. If the opposition gets more seats, then everything is fine’. This is hypocrisy.

Our survey The Berlin Pulse shows that most Germans feel that Germany lost international influence. What about Indians?

India’s overall global influence has grown enormously. Indians now travel around the world and feel that people treat them differently compared to 15 years ago. The fact that India has remained non-confrontational in almost every part of the world has helped its image to grow.

In July, Prime Minister Modi hugged President Vladimir Putin just after a Russian attack hit a Ukrainian children’s hospital. At least in Europe this certainly did not help India’s image to grow.

Look, the Soviet Union stood with us in the Indo-Pakistani war 1971, when no one else did. Today, much of our defence equipment comes from Russia and the India-Russia partnership has helped us economically by controlling the price of oil. At the same time, Prime Minister Modi has made clear that this is not an era of war. He said it directly to Mr. Putin. And he also went to Ukraine and repeated the same message.

Can we expect India to be a mediator between Russia and Ukraine?

India is ready to play any role, but it is a political decision and all the stakeholders must agree. Ukraine, the Western countries plus the United States and China.

Student protests recently toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. Why did New Delhi grant asylum to Hasina, who took an authoritarian turn during her time in office?

We have not yet formally granted her asylum, but we value her friendship. And it doesn’t mean we’re going to break off relations with Bangladesh. We are just concerned about the safety of minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh. There are hundreds of reports of Hindus’ properties being damaged.

Critics feel that Prime Minister Modi is just prioritizing the safety of Hindus.

That’s because they are the most vulnerable. The Western governments should ask the new Bangladeshi government what it is doing to protect minorities. If we see jihadi elements emerging in Bangladesh, it will be a huge challenge. It is not only our responsibility but also the responsibility of the whole world to prevent that.

India wants to reach the status of a developed nation by 2047. Is this also an opportunity for the Indian-German relationship?

Germany is a close friend, especially when it comes to technology and skilled education. There are more than 34,000 Indian students in Germany, which is becoming an increasingly attractive destination, especially for engineering and IT students. That is a very good sign! Besides that, the small and medium-sized industrial sector in Germany is an ideal model for India. We can learn a lot from Germany.

Thank you for your time, Dr Chauthaiwale.