Mind the gulf

India's image problem has now moved into a state of crisis.

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The gulf between how the country is perceived from outside and the picture of India promoted by the current national government has grown to a point of tragedy or comedy, depending on your perspective. Life, Byron said once, is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think. Feelings might have taken the driver’s seat, particularly with the brutal tragedy of the terrorist attack at Pahalgam, but the sobriety of honest thought is essential to assess the reality of the conflict with Pakistan that followed. This is where comedy returns, not only as a mark of thinking over feeling but, sadly, also of grotesquery of a different order. It takes us back to the longstanding problem of India’s international image and its startling contrast with the dominant d