Gen-Z protests at Jantar Mantar and across the country have put the Modi government on the backfoot at home — and revealed new pressure points in Modi’s international standing.
Charu Sudan Kasturi
No major world leader travels abroad as frequently as Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has visited 13 countries this year — that is almost twice the number of nations that the presidents of the United States of America, China and Russia, Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, respectively, have flown to combined in 2026. Opposition parties and other critics of the government like to suggest that the prime minister’s busy travel itinerary reflects his desire to spend time outside India. But in reality, the Indian prime minister’s list of invites is indeed long: Which country wouldn’t want to woo the world’s fourth-largest economy? Modi’s predecessor, Manmohan Singh, had a similarly high pile of invites in his inbox.
Where Modi’s foreign trips have been relatively unique is in how several leaders have hosted him, with pomp, show and personal attention that is rare in modern diplomacy. It will not be surprising if that starts changing. The popular Gen-Z protests against the Modi government at Jantar Mantar and beyond have not only rocked the corridors of power domestically but they also revealed cracks in Modi’s global image. It is a fair argument that those cracks always existed and were only papered over by Modi’s formidable public relations machinery: television channels shouting down critics, outdoing the government in amplifying its propaganda, and painting those who disagree as anti-national.
But in the rest of the world, for the most part, Modi has long been seen as a strong leader widely popular in India and with the Indian diaspora. At home, his three consecutive Lok Sabha wins were seen as evidence of broad-based support. In their own countries, the massive turnouts of NRIs for his rallies embellished the perception of his popularity among the diaspora. For leaders of countries keen on strengthening economic and military ties with India, pandering to Modi made sense. It would give their interests in India greater legitimacy and would win them votes from the Indian diaspora.
But the scale and the nature of the anger against Modi and his government on display in these past few days at protests across the country are bound to force a rethink. India will remain a country that other nations will want to engage on priority. But it will be clearer than ever to other nations now that Modi is not India. To be sure, India’s elected government under Modi remains the country’s foremost and formal representative abroad. The prime minister is, by all accounts, popular among millennials and older Indians of many demographic backgrounds. There is little evidence that his support among the most vocal segments of the Indian diaspora has witnessed a meaningful dent either.
But investments — economic or geopolitical — are made with an eye on the future. And India’s future, its Gen Z, is challenging Modi, even mocking him. Therein lies the problem for Indian foreign policy. For too long, the country’s diplomacy has been built around Modi and the narrative of his warm, personal relationships with other world leaders. When Modi visits other countries, the takeaways for India highlighted by the government and its social media army include not only actual deals but also personal awards handed out to Modi by host nations keen to please him; not just investment commitments but images of hugs, back slaps and forced laughs with world leaders. What happens when those hosts realise this is not enough to secure their future interests?
None of this is surprising. These are precisely the perils of a personality driven foreign policy. When the personality is a weak link, the whole chain can start to crumble. That is the risk Indian diplomats now face. From the Netherlands to Norway to New Zealand, the prime minister and his ways — such as his refusal to address open press conferences — are forcing India’s foreign office on the defensive. It is past time to pivot — for India’s sake. Make India’s foreign policy about India, not the prime minister. Insulate it from domestic politics. India is much stronger than any leader or government. It is worth reminding the world — just as the country’s youth just reminded India.
Charu Sudan Kasturi is a journalist who writes on foreign policy and international relations
