"These are challenging times. Deaths, distress and destruction are all that we are encountering daily in the media, in our vicinity and our daily lives," wrote Prof Harsh Pant. "Indian state's capacity deficit has been reflected in every single domain in the last few weeks." "But let's also remember that this crisis, much like several other such crises in the past, won't alter the trajectory of India's rise." "China couldn't succeed in confining India to the subcontinent, this crisis -- with all its devastation and misery -- will not pare down India's aspirations." "From January to March, 'Vaccine Maitri'. In late April, an appeal to the world for help as India struggles to manage its most serious crisis since Independence," wrote Prof Atul Mishra. "A non-interventionist posture coupled with constant diplomatic outreach to countries across the world is paying off." However, India's position in the world depends on what happens at home. "First, there is flawed governance of the pandemic." "Second, under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths and under-testing" show a "larger problem of data credibility and transparency", and Finally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "domestic standing may remain unscathed, but as controversies going back the past couple of years pile up, his position among foreign leaders of consequence diminishes". "The global outpouring of emergency support for India is not driven by pity, charity or guilt," wrote Prof Sreeram Chaulia. "The international goodwill that is overflowing today has also been earned by India through its far-sighted stepping up of the provision of global public goods." "Even before the pandemic broke out, India's 'rescue diplomacy' towards countries facing natural or human-made calamities had raised its stature as 'first responder' to tragedies." During Operation Raahat in 2015, "More than 4,640 Indian citizens in Yemen were evacuated along with 960 foreign nationals from 41 countries. The air evacuation ended on 9 April 2015 while the evacuation by sea ended on 11 April 2015," Wikipedia. "India, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pursued an assertive foreign policy in 2020 aimed at demonstrating the country's strength and its perception as a net provider of security in the strategically vital Indian Ocean Region, a top American intelligence agency has said," Economic Times. "In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Delhi played a leading role in delivering medical equipment to countries throughout South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, facilitating the evacuation of Indians and other South Asians from virus hotspots." "India's immense contribution to the ONUC (French: Operations Des Nations Unies au Congo), one of United Nations' (UN) most complex peacekeeping missions in its 75-year existence, has been ill-documented, even in the histories of the country's international relations," wrote Swapna Kona Nayudu. "In 1964, after successfully ending the secession of Katanga province, India, the 'sword arm of the UN in the Congo', withdrew from the scene completely, after assisting in an international operation where none of its national interests was involved in the least measure." Is the Modi government squandering international goodwill accumulated over many years by many governments, just as it forced the Reserve Bank (RBI) to transfer Rs 1.76 trillion from its reserves accumulated over decades? Business Today. "Indian authorities asked state-run banks to protect their dollar deposits on concern they could be frozen if Cairn Energy Plc moves to seize India's offshore assets as part of a tax dispute, according to people with knowledge of the matter," How humiliating that would be? "In 2001-02, Constitutional amendments froze the number of seats in Parliament and state-wise allocation," wrote Shekhar Gupta. "You can project the relative strength of the states by population by 2031. If poor governance means higher population, which means power, India is being navigated into a maelstrom," The Print. The British divided India. Modi could subdivide it.
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