New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been referred to as the world’s most popular politician and the Prime Ministers of Nordic countries have a lot to learn from him, according to an article in Norway’s leading financial newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN).
On May 18, Prime Minister Modi will visit Norway.
India’s Prime Minister Modi will be received by King Harald, promote Indian business, meet with the Indian diaspora and attend an India-Nordic Prime Ministers’ meeting.
“The Nordic Prime Ministers should listen carefully. They have a lot to learn from their Indian counterpart,” the Norwegian newspaper noted.
The article, written days ahead of PM Modi’s visit to Norway on May 18, said that “whilst Nordic Prime Ministers barely enjoy a domestic approval rating of 30 per cent, PM Modi stands at around 70 per cent in the polls. No leader in any major country is nearly as popular at home as PM Modi”.
“PM Modi has been in power in India for more than twelve years. Should he choose to stand again, all the signs suggest he will be re-elected. A distant dream for European leaders. His (PM Modi’s) success can be attributed to rapid economic development, a winning ideology, the world’s strongest political party and his own life story,” the article said.
It also mentions PM Modi’s humble beginnings as “almost unique” in a world where nearly all Heads of state come from the upper middle class.
“He (PM Modi) has no one to thank for his career but himself — and the Hindu nationalist movement. He is an Indian Einar Gerhardsen — self-taught, an organiser. (Einar was Norway’s former Prime Minister),” the article remarked.
It further points out that “PM Modi is himself a strong driving force behind the Indian economy which is currently growing at seven per cent, faster than China’s and far outpacing any other major economy. But at current growth rates, India’s economy will quadruple by 2050. India will then be the world’s second-largest economy, rivalling the US”.
“It also highlights PM Modi’s achievement in accelerating green growth. India is now the world’s third-largest producer of solar and wind energy; no one should be surprised if they overtake the US and take second place. Last year, coal emissions in India fell for the first time,” the article said.
“Western leaders can learn a great deal from PM Modi’s consistent green message. Prime Minister Modi almost never talks about global climate negotiations or emissions. He asks no one to make sacrifices for the environment. The message is that India can lift 1.5 billion people out of poverty through green growth. There is no longer a choice between the economy and the environment,” the report added.
It also opines that even if secular parties were to win the next election, India’s ideology will remain Hindu nationalism.
“Hindu nationalism is India’s answer to the question that all non-Western countries have faced since the Industrial Revolution. How to modernise without becoming like the West? Japan was the first to untangle that knot — becoming ultra-modern, yet remaining deeply Japanese. Korea is now richer than Japan and a major exporter of Korean culture and music. China anchors its modernity in its own roots — in Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism,” the article said.
The article also highlights that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is currently the world’s largest political party, with more than 100 million members. The party has achieved something unprecedented in India by getting the support across all castes as well as the rich and poor.
“Among Western analysts, it has become something of a pastime to find fault with the BJP. The critics are right in saying that the BJP stands for the unification of Hindus. But there is little evidence to suggest that there have been more conflicts between Muslims and Hindus under the BJP. There was more violence and more pogroms when the Congress Party was in power. Millions of Muslims are crossing into India from neighbouring countries; hardly any Muslims are fleeing the other way,” the article said.
It also underscores that India is the only country to have chosen a democratic model which is due to the fact that democracy is deeply rooted in Indian culture and tradition. This has nothing to do with the British as other former colonies of the Raj such as Pakistan, Myanmar and the Gulf monarchies are not democracies.
“In a world where Norway needs new allies for a rules-based international order and Norwegian business needs new horizons, we have much to gain from closer ties with India. But this requires us to be willing to listen, not just to lecture. Then countless win-win opportunities could open up,” the article concludes.
–IANS
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