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The prime minister’s monologues, interrupted only by frenzied clapping and Modi-Modi chants of cheering crowds so meticulously organised on foreign soil, are a unique spectacle. No other leader of any country addresses public rallies on foreign tours. Their focus is on diplomacy as they use every minute in pursuing their countries’ strategic and economic interests instead of wasting time on tamasha that is fundamentally aimed at enlarging personal legitimacy.

This oddity is Modi’s gift to statecraft. The silly idolatry of dolled up women and unwise men don’t serve any strategic purpose. Diplomacy and statecraft require vision and gravitas. Diplomacy is not a song-and-dance show. It’s not a hug-and-gift ritual either. It may massage Modi’s ego and produce raw material for propaganda on TV channels but it’s irrelevant to the national objectives.

India was known for its conscientious positions and moral voice the world over. Every oppressed country looked up to India. Nehruvian foreign policy was based on justice and morality. Modi substituted that with muddled-up opportunism, short-sighted alliances influenced by extraneous factors and undiplomatic spectacles. The distressing isolation of India in the diplomatic efforts to restore peace in West Asia is a striking example of Modi’s thoughtless foreign policy hurting India’s strategic interest. The cradle of terror Pakistan gaining legitimacy as a peacemaker in this global crisis will have serious implications for our country in the future.    

The awards Modi receives in foreign countries have also started attracting ridicule. International newspapers have started making fun of it. Though Modi says the awards he gets are for 140 crore Indians, it is not difficult to guess how many citizens back home are eager to share the honour. The majority of Indians, struggling for basic needs, do not attach any significance to their prime minister becoming the “Guardian of the Blue Horizon” in Seychelles. Their aspirations are different; they are crying to see a sensitive and working prime minister, not a decorated emperor. Their dark........

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