Modi 4.0 is a prize worth striving for

Providing a corruption free regime by 2029 needs to be among the foremost objectives of Modi 3.0 to ensure a Modi 4.0 during the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.

- M.D. NALAPAT

Whether the mayhem in Nepal that caused the fall of the Oli government had among its many causes the clang of the competing for influence of the US and China is a question awaiting a conclusive answer. Let us take the countries other than India in South Asia that have witnessed a similar churn, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and now Nepal. In Sri Lanka, it is difficult to describe President Anura Kumara Dissanayake as being in the US camp. Indeed, he has sent the former President Ranil Wickremesinghe to prison for corruption. Many regard the genial, ever accessible Ranil as pro-US, although it must be added that even his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa was initially regarded as pro-US, but under the influence of his elder brother Basil developed an uncomfortable closeness to China. Ranil was different but of course, Ranil had to depend on the Rajapaksa brothers for keeping his job intact. He is paying for that in prison, where indeed he is garnering greater sympathy than he ever had in office.

As for Anura, he made his first visit to India after taking over the Presidentship early in his term. In Bangladesh, it could be argued that the titular head of state and government, Mohammad Yunus, has been close to the US. However, if it is true that there was a White House inspired regime change through street protests that toppled Sheikh Hasina in the autumn of 2024, there is little doubt that Sheikh Hasina had been seeking to cosy up to China months before she was toppled through the street protests that finally led to her fleeing to India. As in Nepal and earlier in Bangladesh, the reality of the corruption flourishing under her rule proved a prime mover in getting Gen Z into the streets in protest.