The Davos rhetoric

AT home we have allowed ourselves to be mesmerised by PM Modi’s soliloquy at Davos. India’s top leader is leaving no stone unturned to woo foreign investors by making promises of health, wealth and happiness. It was an impressive performance but no one can be confident that the foreign investors would be as impressed as are the Indian television anchors. 

The ground reality is, at best, a mixed bag. The inconsistencies are all too glaring. Haryana — the BJP-ruled state that surrounds India’s Capital on three sides — houses several multinational companies. The state is increasingly getting disgraced due to incidents of rape and crime against women. The law and order situation in PM Modi’s home state Gujarat is no better. A handful of fringe elements, evoking caste chauvinism, indulged in violence and the authorities remained unmoved. Hence, the PM’s “prosperity and peace” slogan is seen as a hollow promise. The other tagline — “health and wholeness” — is factually incongruent. India has slipped 36 notches to the 177th position in the latest global Environmental Performance Index, which has been released at the same forum. The third promise of “wealth and wellness” is also elusive. A recent report said India’s richest 1 per cent had cornered almost three-fourth wealth created last year. Our leaders and brand ambassadors must know that global investors pick investment destinations on the basis of reality and not rhetoric. And, the foreigner is not easily impressed with glib jumlas.  

The World Economic Forum, where PM Modi spoke, has two main takeaways from his speech — “Modi faults global institutions created after the Second World War for not meeting needs of developing nations” and “India is removing the red tape and rolling out the red carpet.” The second one is just a cliché. The World Economic Forum was hardly the forum to present ideas about creating new global institutions. The WEF is not into global governance, fair or unfair; it is into global business and profits. The world businessmen will come to India only when we are able to present ourselves as a peaceful and orderly nation.