India steps on the moon, but Modi missteps on human rights at home

India reached new heights this week — literally. It’s spacecraft, the Chandrayaan-3, successfully landed on the moon on Wednesday, making India the fourth country to have done so.

India also became the first country to land near the moon’s south pole, a currently unexplored region — even beating NASA to it.

They also managed to do this at a fraction of the cost of previous moon missions. The total price tag of the mission came in at roughly $75 million, according to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), less than most Hollywood productions, as Indian officials were quick to point out. The blockbuster ‘Oppenheimer’, for example, cost over $100 million to make.

More records

But it is not all about scientific and national grandeur. Instead, there could be a real business here.

Countries are enacted in a space race on this front due to the water ice that planners expect could support a future lunar colony, mining operations and eventual missions to Mars.

Why are space agencies racing to the moon’s south pole?

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi caught the live transmission from the BRICS political summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, alongside the leaders of Brazil, Russia, South Africa and China – clearly not his only flex on the world stage.

“The sky is not the limit,” he cited in an address to the nation, adding how this is in fact a step forward for all humanity.

Unless Modi manages to address the issue of the status of minorities and sectarian and ethnic strife within its borders, India’s rise to power will likely be stunted and overshadowed by the ghosts of its own missteps

It is India’s time on the global stage; Pakistan is nowhere near it

These are no small feats, nor are they coincidences, but rather a series of carefully calibrated events unfolding following decades of careful planning, politicking and investments in education and infrastructure.

A case study in diligence, the United States once led the way only to see India, China and soon Japan to surpass its ranks.

India’s engineering prowess is now clear, and will likely open doors for more foreign investment and partnerships anchoring its position as a “middle power” as CNN put it.

But it doesn’t stop here. India has further plans to expand its space programme. On the horizon is a joint Lunar Polar Exploration mission with Japan to explore the ‘dark side of the moon’ by 2026.

Russia, on the other hand, is licking its wounds, having lost the space race twice now, after its spacecraft, Luna-25, – its first lunar mission in 47 years – crashed before landing, just days earlier.

Pakistan, however, is breaking different kinds of records. On Thursday, its currency, the rupee crossed the 300 mark against the US dollar, falling to a record low. However, in its informal market, the currency was even more expensive, going against one of the structural benchmarks defined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

But that’s a column for another day.

Also this week, on India’s retail and economic front, it was announced that the Qatar Investment Authority will invest $1 billion for a 1% stake in India’s Reliance Retail Ventures, the retail arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, nearly doubling its valuation to $100 billion from its last funding round in 2020.

Reliance Retail, India’s largest retailer, has been partnering with a slew of global brands like Burberry, Pret A Manger and Tiffany to launch and expand their presence in India.

Led by Mukesh Ambani’s daughter Isha Ambani, the company has used acquisitions to fuel its aggressive expansion across diverse categories as it bets on India’s middle class growing more prosperous.

The $445-billion sovereign wealth fund’s direct investments in India have largely focused on venture capital, particularly in online retail, including food delivery startups as well as e-commerce platforms.

India’s Reliance to acquire dozens of brands in $6.5bn consumer goods play

For perspective, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), forecasts the country’s gross domestic product to grow by 6.1 % this year.

Of course, there is the question of India’s disparate populace, the growing slums. But then, if one has nearly $600 billion in forex reserves, these questions can be answered, even after world domination. For the record, Pakistan’s forex reserves currently sit below $8 billion.

But this is not without controversy.

India’s ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has long been fighting off concerns of sectarian and human rights violence within its borders, especially following the recent reports of ethnic violence in Manipur. The government has come under fire for not adequately addressing the violence or the broader underlying issues of migration and ethnic tensions in the region.

Earlier this year, a BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ was aired in the UK, raising questions about Modi’s actions during the 2002 riots in Gujarat. The riots had begun after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire, killing dozens. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, died in the subsequent violence. For the record, Modi was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat during this period.

India blocks BBC documentary on PM Modi from airing in India

The Indian government banned the sharing and viewing of this documentary in India, calling it “hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage” with a “colonial mind-set”.

The British Foreign Office report maintained that Modi was “directly responsible” for the “climate of impunity” that enabled the violence.

BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai were searched as part of an investigation by income tax authorities, which Amnesty International called out as “trying to harass and intimidate the BBC over its critical coverage of the ruling BJP”.

All this, while Modi managed to maintain the role of mediator during the BRICS summit and apply a conciliatory tone while stressing the importance of “consensus” within nation states on issues.

For example, Russia, also a member, now also finding itself on the periphery on the world stage after being the only country to invade a sovereign nation in the recent past. He also managed to use his platform at BRICS to justify his invasion of Ukraine. I doubt anyone took notes.

Also this week, the BRICS Group invited six new nations – Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates – to join its developing world bloc in an effort to forge a counterweight to the West. Pakistan’s invite, it seems, has not been dispatched.

“I am confident that we would be able to give new dynamism to BRICS by working with the new member countries of the grouping,” said Modi as he addressed the press, adding how India has “deep and historic relations” with the newly proposed nations, no doubt further cementing its status on the world stage.

India is well on its way to achieving superpower status – after all, it is now the only South Asian nation to land on the moon and that is no doubt a commendable feat.

However, despite its strides on the global stage, India will have to address concerns within its borders in order to continue to command the leverage and respect it is working towards.

But here’s the catch. Leaders of powerful nations who carry allegations of human rights abuses – no matter how much progress a country makes – are not really remembered within the league of extraordinary gentlemen.

Unless Modi manages to address the issue of the status of minorities and sectarian and ethnic strife within its borders, India’s rise to power will likely be stunted and overshadowed by the ghosts of its own missteps, especially those that could have been easily addressed along the way.

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