Expensive, but a mirage nonetheless.

"Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it is under his leadership that the foreign policy of India has given fame to the nation, which has resulted in New Delhi gaining popularity across the globe." TOI. "Due to changes in provincial laws, hundreds of students are facing deportation from Canada. The protesting Indian students have been on a hunger strike for the past four days," and "some students have threatened to go on a dry hunger strike." Mint. It's not as if these students are being bundled off to Yemen or Iran. They are being asked to return to the bosom of their families in India where Mr Modi "introduced the concept of Amrit Kaal or 'The Era of Elixir' to the entire nation on India's 75th Independence Day. Amrit Kaal is the PM's vision 2047 for 'New India', a new dawn for the country which will bring with it the chance to fulfill the nation's aspirations." investindia.gov.in. "The sensitive border state of Manipur completed one year of violence on Friday, May 3," due to which 230 people have died and 60,000 rendered homeless. During this period Mr Modi made "162 official and non-official visits to various other states in the country" as well as 14 official visits abroad. The Wire. No doubt to spread the word about impending Amrit Kaal. But he forgot Manipur. "Confident of an overwhelming BJP victory in the Lok Sabha elections," Mr Modi vowed to attend the G7 meeting in Italy on 13-15 June. TOI. "The government's decision to attend the G7 summit in Italy (June 13-15) and the conference on Ukraine in Switzerland (June 15-16) can only be seen as a cynical act." "The paradox is, while the Indian elite resorts to strident nationalistic rhetoric and jingoistic grandstanding in domestic politics, its psyche longs for a seat the high table of Western democracies. The contradiction is that the elite wants to cherrypick while the US won't settle for anything less than India unequivocally toeing the Western agenda from Ato Z," wrote MK Bhadrakumar. "As India navigates its role in the global intelligence landscape, it faces a myriad of converging and diverging interests with Five Eyes." "Avoiding confrontation between India and the Five Eyes alliance is essential for security, stability, and cooperation in an increasingly complex global environment," wrote Gen MM Naravane. When Mr Jaishankar accuses Canada of giving visas to people linked to organised crime and to terrorism (Mint), perhaps he should not forget that Canada is a member of the G7 (home.treasury.gov) and the Five Eyes group of nations (publicsafety.gc.ca.) and India is not. "A new report called 'Modi Mirage', produced by academics in the US, Netherlands and UK, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim of having dramatically enhanced India's standing in the world is a 'mirage'." TOI. In 9 years, from 2014 to 2023, Mr Modi visited 124 countries in 70 foreign journeys. From May 2014 to November 2019 his foreign visits cost India Rs 359 billion or $43 million. Wion. Foreigners, it seems, are not impressed.