A jampacked audience cheering for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at Nassau Coliseum in Long Island was not surprising. It felt like a continuation of what America had witnessed several times since 2014, when he made his first official trip to the U.S. after assuming office as Prime Minister of India and addressed the Indian diaspora at Madison Square Garden in New York.
However, each such event is unique and therefore has to be assessed differently. This was Modi's first trip to the U.S. after being elected for a third consecutive term. What made his Sunday evening address significant was that he framed his return to power in a historical context - something that hadn't happened in India for six decades. He also responded to accusations from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, left-liberal groups, some Western NGOs, and certain sections of the Western media regarding India's democratic structure, religious intolerance, and freedom of speech. While Modi didn't name anyone specifically, it was clear who he was addressing, as he aimed to correct the narratives being shaped in the West.
First, on vibrant democracy, Modi appeared to be responding to accusations made by Rahul Gandhi during his recent U.S. visit, where he claimed that the recently concluded 2024 parliamentary elections in India were not "fair." Various Western institutions and NGOs have accused the Modi regime over the past decade of resulting in a "diminished democracy", "electoral autocracy", and this year, V-Dem categorised India as "one of the worst autocratisers".
"These elections in Bharat were the largest in human history. You can imagine: almost double the number of voters compared to the total population of the U.S., and more voters than the entire population of Europe. So many people cast their votes in Bharat. When we see the scale of Bharat's democracy, it fills us with pride. A three-month-long polling process, 15 million polling staff, over a million polling stations, more than 2,500 political parties, over 8,000 candidates, thousands of newspapers in various languages, hundreds of radio stations, TV news channels, crores of social media accounts, lakhs of social media channels-all of this makes Bharat's democracy vibrant," Modi stated.
Second, on celebrating diversity, Modi emphasised that India boasts of hundreds of languages and religious practices, each with its local adaptations, distinct food habits, social customs, and rituals. Yet, all these differences are unified by a single thread called "Bhartiyata." The diverse audience present - Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Malayali, Kannada, Gujarati, Bengali, and Odiya - represented what India celebrates: unity in diversity. Modi notably mentioned Telugu first, perhaps in response to Rahul Gandhi's references to the Telugu identity as an example of opposition to the imposition of any single identity.
He also used the occasion to announce the establishment of the "Thiruvalluvar Chair for Tamil Studies" at the University of Houston to help propagate the philosophy of the great Tamil saint Thiruvalluvar globally.
Third, on freedom of expression, Modi discussed the expansion of social media accounts and digital media, aiming to counter accusations from Congress and its allied political parties, left-liberal groups, and some Western NGOs that claimed freedom of expression in India had been curtailed in recent years.
"It's an era of expanding freedom of expression, and our electoral process undergoes scrutiny at this level," Modi stated.
Fourth, he highlighted his "Vikas bhi, Virasat bhi" model by discussing some outcomes of his visit. On one hand, India signed a "watershed" agreement to establish a new super tech semiconductor fabrication plant focused on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security. On the other hand, the U.S. agreed to return 297 antique artefacts that had been stolen and smuggled there.
Fifth, on policy continuity, Modi assured that policy continuity would be maintained. After all, it had been six decades since a Prime Minister returned to power after serving two full terms. "The mandate the people of Bharat have given us is huge and significant. In this third term, we have even greater goals to achieve. We must move forward with three times the strength and three times the speed."
(The author is Contributing Editor, NDTV)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author