The inspiration of this video is a meme which I saw recently. It is a take on a very popular Hindi film Deewar where the elder brother Amitabh Bachchan who has accumulated wealth in dubious ways tells the younger brother, “Mere paas building hai, property hai, bank balance hai, Bangla Hai, Gaadi Hai; Tumhare paas kya hai” and the younger brother Shashi Kapoor says, “Mere pass Maa hai” meaning that it’s a very strong moral strength which I get from my mother and she cannot be discounted against these big assets you have.
This meme which is circulating today recasts this in geopolitics terms where Trump is saying to Putin here (superimpose pic)
“I have tariffs, sanctions, F-35s. What do you have?” And Putin unfazed replies, “I have Modi”
It is witty, but it carries the truth. India under Modi is not the wealthiest nation of the world, nor the most militarily powerful nation of the world. But still it is seen as an asset. Why? Because Modi has positioned India as a bridge, a bridge between the west and the global south where he can speak to Washington as well as to Moscow, to Silicon Valley on one hand to rural India on the other. His power not only comes from charisma or electoral mandate. It also comes from a very rapidly learning bureaucracy and diplomacy which is learning to counter every trick in the geopolitical chess board with its own counters. Very hardworking diplomatic service. Even though it has not done this before with such agility and continuity, it is rising up to the occasion. And when we connect the politico economic dots of just the last year, this strength becomes clear.
Just a few days after the Indian electoral elections Jake Sullivan, the national security advisor of USA arrives in Delhi. Behind closed doors, the US issues a blunt warning, a threat: Toe our line or face exposure on the Pannun episode. Soon after Modi announces a sudden visit to Moscow and summits with Putin. Biden immediately responds with an ultimatum – balance this with a trip to Ukraine within 30 days, Mr. Modi, or risk being cut off from the US banking system. Modi does reach Kiev a day before the deadline expires, bears Zelinsky’s earful but absorbs the humiliation with stoicism. Back home, India leans harder into the global south and BRICS and the de-dollarization or exchanges in native country currencies talk picks up. No fewer than 30 countries express willingness to join BRICS. Gulf giants like Saudi Arabia and UAE are already inside BRICS by then.
Counter in South Asia a US-tinged coup rocks Bangladesh. India is shocked but keeps building bridges with other nations. It is recalibrating. Trump himself worried about de-dollarization threatens 100% tariff on any country that drops the dollar. Yet voices in Asia, Africa and Latin America grow louder for financial independence and somewhere India is a very important element of this chorus.
The US hasn’t seen such an India. Relentless counter moves.
The tariffs come because of two proud leaders clashing but also because of this unprecedented counter moving by India and it becoming a pivot for the ideology of strategic autonomy and this is challenging the hegemony of the US.
So just as in Deewar where the mother outweighed material possessions, in today’s geopolitics “Mere Paas Modi Hai” represents a different kind of strength that “I have Modi or India on my side” represents legitimacy, agility of the state apparatus learning fast and balance.
India’s diplomatic service has matured into a resilient instrument of state craft, increasingly capable of counter moves in a ruthless arena and that is why in the high stake games of connecting politico-economic dots when leaders ask each other – “Tumhare Paas Kya Hai?” (What do you have?) – More than a few would love to reply – “Mere Paas Modi Hai” (I have Modi).
This article’s video form can be watched here: hps://youtu.be/sUqLaJttgdd3s