Modi Pushes India Even Further To The Right As Economy Sputters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent much of his first term laying the groundwork to transform India into a nation that is both attractive to global investors and unabashedly Hindu. Now he’s doubling down. Modi has visited nearly a dozen nations since his landslide re-election win in May, seeking investments from the Middle East, sharing a stage with Donald Trump in Texas and hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at a seaside resort.
He’s also clashed with Malaysia and Turkey over a shock decision to scrap autonomy in India’s lone Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.

At home, the Kashmir move is one of several that has worried Muslims, who make up about 15% of the broader population. Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, led by his close associate Amit Shah, has spearheaded changes to Muslim divorce laws and updated a registry that could strip citizenship from nearly 2 million people, including many Muslims.