No, Modi didn't do any of the things that Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron or Liz Truss had been wanting him to do. He didn't condemn Vladimir Putin, didn't send guns for Volodimir Zelenskyy, continued to buy oil from Russia, and went on with business as usual with Moscow.
What then has Modi done that has made him a dear to the west? Little. He uttered a few words of estrangement to Putin in front of television cameras. He told Putin, when they met for the Shanghai gang's conclave in Samarkand, that "today's era is not of war".
No one would quarrel. Indeed, what Modi said is true, but isn't it also a truism? After all, even if he thought to the contrary, would Modi have said that this is a time for war? In short, Modi didn't say anything that would have set the Dnieper, the Danube or the Volga on fire.
But these diplomats and statesmen are like that they read too much between the lines, look for meanings in greetings, toast over sweet nothings, and trip over commas in the wrong place.
This story is from the October 09, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
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This story is from the October 09, 2022 edition of THE WEEK India.
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