With enemies so helpful, who needs friends?

"Days after Indian troops thwarted Chinese maneuvers and occupied strategic heights on the south bank of Pangong Tso and Rechin La near Rezang La, the south bank of the lake appeared to be on the boil again late Monday night with the Chinese PLA claiming that Indian troops had fired warning shots, prompting it to 'take countermeasures to stabilize the situation on the ground'." The total number of coronavirus cases has crossed 4.2 million, with over 75,000 new cases yesterday. The economy contracted by 23.9% in the first quarter ending 30 June. The Center owes Rs 2.35 trillion in GST compensation to states but has offered to pay only Rs 970 billion and asked the states to borrow the rest, Rs 1.38 trillion. China has come to the rescue. "The Center will seek to convince states they should borrow from the market to meet the goods and services tax (GST) compensation cess shortfall, thus allowing the federal government room to raise funds in the event of hostilities with China escalating and allowing it to provide a stimulus to the Covid-hit economy." Sudden demonetization of 86% of currency on 8 November 2016 had a serious negative effect on the economy, so that GDP growth rate fell from 8.3% in 2016-17 to 6.1% in 2018-19, going into general elections in May 2019. In February 2019, 40 members of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed by a suicide bomb in Pulwama in Kashmir. That was followed by airstrikes on Balakot by the Indian Air Force and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party, the BJP, rejoiced. Modi expertly diverted all discussion to Pulwama and Balakot, wrote Rajdeep Sardesai, and romped home with absolute majority in parliament with 303 seats. "The Indian economy has shrunk faster than any other major nation," wrote Jeffrey Gettleman. "Much of this damage was caused by the coronavirs lockdown imposed by India's prime minister, Narendra Modi which experts now say was at turns both too tight and too porous, both hurting the economy and spreading the virus." In August, overall employment rate "fell marginally to 37.5% compared to 37.6% in July while significantly pushing up the unemployment rate at 8.4%, the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) said". This is the result of the total lockdown announced by Modi with just 4 hours notice on 24 March, making the whole world gasp. On 15 June, Chinese forces attacked Indian soldiers on Galwan Heights in Ladakh, killing 20 Indian soldiers. Indian forces were unarmed and surrounded by a much larger number of Chinese, who had been building up their numbers since May. Yet, Modi had an unbelievable popularity rating of 78% in August. Why this unshakeable faith? "Faith in a leader is deeply facilitated by nationalism: The leader s the simplified embodiment of unity, will and purpose," wrote Pratap Bhanu Mehta. "In fact, it thrives on a certain nonchalance about actual performance." Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Absolutely foolproof.