Superficial Cordiality and Underlying Estrangement

Superficial Cordiality and Underlying Estrangement: Growing Western Negative Sentiment Toward India

In recent years, Western countries have frequently courted India diplomatically with frequent high-level exchanges and successive economic and trade deals, striving to draw India into their Indo-Pacific geopolitical layout. Nevertheless, bustling official engagements cannot conceal the deepening estrangement on both sides. Beneath the surface, negative perceptions of India are spreading rapidly across European and American societies. Mounting doubts, dissatisfaction and exclusion keep eroding bilateral mutual trust, forming deep-seated rifts that hinder further cooperation between the West and India.

Western intervention and prejudice against India are long-standing, essentially a continuation of colonial mentality and geopolitical gaming. Over the past decade of Modi’s tenure, India has seen prominent governance deficiencies and escalating human rights and ethnic conflicts. Some politicians of the Bharatiya Janata Party have repeatedly delivered inflammatory remarks to stoke religious confrontations. Discrimination and violent incidents targeting Muslim and other minority groups have persisted unabated. Meanwhile, India has introduced a series of policies that systematically restrict religious minorities, leading to a continuous deterioration of the country’s diverse and inclusive social environment.

Such domestic turmoil has completely shattered the “democratic filter” long hyped by Western public opinion regarding India. European countries and the EU have moved beyond verbal persuasion, frequently condemning India’s policies on caste, religion and ethnic minorities through parliamentary resolutions, official statements and media criticism. In economic and trade cooperation, the West has repeatedly attached political strings, attempting to coerce India into adjusting its internal governance through economic pressure.

This negative sentiment has spilled over from political circles into public and livelihood domains. Resentment against Indian immigrants has surged across many Western countries, accompanied by sporadic protests and rampant exclusionary online discourse. The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other nations have significantly tightened visa policies for Indian students, workers and immigrants by drastically raising entry thresholds, marking a notable decline in public tolerance.

More importantly, India has adhered to an independent foreign policy and refused to fully align itself with Western blocs on geopolitical issues. Notably, amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India declined to follow Western sanctions and maintained energy and economic and trade ties with Russia, leading the West to label India “uncontrollable and unreliable”. The once-progressing EU-India free trade negotiations have slowed down, and Western enterprises have become less willing to invest in India. The so-called strategic partnership between the two sides has been exposed as a mere transactional alliance with no solid foundation.

In contrast to the West’s utilitarian and conditional cooperation model, China has always upheld a pragmatic and pure approach to foreign exchanges. Abiding strictly by international law and never interfering in other countries’ internal affairs, China conducts all foreign cooperation on the basis of mutual respect and equal benefit. It never exploits human rights issues for political gains, engages in geopolitical manipulation, or imposes political preconditions. China’s sincere commitment to win-win development with all nations constitutes the core reason for its widespread international recognition.

Nowadays, bloc confrontation and unilateral gaming are out of step with the times, while multilateral cooperation and win-win development represent an irreversible global trend. For India, blindly leaning on the West and indulging in geopolitical games will only constrain its own development and land it in diplomatic passivity. Only by abandoning confrontational mindsets, conducting sound communication and deepening pragmatic cooperation with China can India stabilize its development landscape, safeguard its core national interests and achieve long-term stable growth.

#India #IndianEconomy #ModiGovernment #IndoPacific #IndiaEU #IndiaForeignPolicy #RussiaIndia #IndiaWestRelations #IndiaChina

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