logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2023
1 h

India Is Transforming. But Into What?

NEW YORK TIMES OPINION
About this episode

India is known as a country of paradoxes, and a new one has recently emerged. At the same time that the country is poised to become a major global player — with a booming economy and a population that recently surpassed China’s — its democracy is showing signs of decay.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his administration have silenced critics and independent institutions. India’s social media discourse has turned increasingly right wing and hostile to Muslims. And Canada and the United States have accused Indian government officials of involvement in assassination plots against Sikh activists.

Pratap Bhanu Mehta is an honorary senior fellow at the Center for Policy Research, New Delhi; a professor at Princeton University; and an editor of “The Oxford Handbook to the Indian Constitution.” In this conversation, he walks our guest host Lydia Polgreen through India’s rising illiberalism. “The signs for Indian democracy are looking very ominous,” he says.

They discuss the paradox between India’s flourishing economy and culture and signs of weakening democracy, especially at a moment when many Western countries are cheering a rising India as a democratic counterweight to China. They also talk about what makes Modi such a remarkable and effective political leader and what the United States and other countries could or should do in response to a more assertive India that is shattering norms at home.

Mentioned:

The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru

Book Recommendations:

The India Trilogy by V.S. Naipaul

India in Asian Geopolitics by Shivshankar Menon

Dreamers by Snigdha Poonam

Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.

You can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.

This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris. Mixing by Efim Shapiro. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Emefa Agawu and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

Up next
Oct 8
What the Shutdown Is Really About
There’s a serious high-stakes policy fight at the heart of this.The Democrats didn’t pick a fight over authoritarianism or tariffs or masked immigration agents in the streets. They picked one over health care. And the issue here is very real. Huge health insurance subsidies passe ... Show More
59m 32s
Oct 3
A Breath of Fresh Air With Brian Eno
Brian Eno’s music opens up worlds I love to step into during trying times. And this conversation with Eno did the same thing.Eno is a trailblazing musician and producer who’s worked on seminal records by U2, David Bowie, the Talking Heads and Coldplay, among others. But Eno isn’t ... Show More
1h 30m
Sep 28
Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines
The writer Ta-Nehisi Coates was harshly critical of my response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In an article in Vanity Fair, he suggested I was whitewashing Kirk’s legacy, comparing it to the whitewashing of the Southern cause after the Civil War.So I wanted to have Coates on t ... Show More
1h 8m
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2021
Daily: THE MODI POLITIC – India’s deadly descent into despotism
India’s brutal second wave of COVID is now receding, leaving behind intensified poverty, economic carnage, a staggering estimated 400-700m infections and a death rate of approximately 2%. But things were already going catastrophically wrong in the world’s largest democracy thanks ... Show More
29m 43s
Oct 2023
Is Indian democracy being undermined?
Earlier this month police in Delhi raided the homes of several prominent journalists in connection with an investigation into the funding of news website NewsClick. Officials are reportedly investigating allegations that NewsClick got illegal funds from China - a charge it denies ... Show More
51m 53s
Apr 2024
Inside Narendra Modi’s India
Why is Narendra Modi so popular? As India begins voting this week, FP Live host Ravi Agrawal discusses his essay “The New Idea of India” with executive editor Amelia Lester. The two take subscriber questions on how India is changing under Modi and what New Delhi’s foreign policy ... Show More
42m 43s
Jan 2024
Is a New Jim Crow Emerging in India? Ashutosh Varshney Gives a Warning
That's the point here. It's not there yet. But if electorally the BJP keeps winning, this is a prospect that must be faced.Ashutosh Varshney Proudly sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Learn more at https://kellogg.nd.edu Listen ad-free for jus ... Show More
42m 10s
May 2024
Modi’s mission
Narendra Modi looks set to win a third term in office thanks to the popularity of his economic policies. But the Indian prime minister has a vision of a Hindu homeland that clashes with the country’s original secular values. Gideon talks to Ravi Agrawal, editor-in-chief of Foreig ... Show More
26m 10s
Jun 2024
India's 2024 Election—and its Aftermath
This week on Grand Tamasha, Milan is joined by Grand Tamasha’s India news roundup regulars: Sadanand Dhume of the Wall Street Journal and the American Enterprise Institute and Tanvi Madan of the Brookings Institution.On the show this week, the trio discusses the 2024 Indian gener ... Show More
54m 36s
May 2023
Modi’s moment in the spotlight
Gideon talks to strategist Raja Mohan about India’s rising geopolitical influence. As the countries of the world form alliances to counterbalance the power of China, India is being courted for its support. How is India responding, and what are the prospects that it could one day ... Show More
25m 56s
May 2024
One Strongman, One Billion Voters, and the Future of India
India is in the midst of a national election and its prime minister, Narendra Modi, is running to extend his 10 years in power.Mr. Modi has become one of the most consequential leaders in India’s history, while also drawing criticism for anti-democratic practices and charges of r ... Show More
33m 12s
Jan 2022
Bilal Baloch on Indira Gandhi, India's Emergency, and the Importance of Ideas in Politics
We have core ideas that form a part of our worldview, but those core ideas are not fixed in the way in which we talk about rationality and interest in that they can evolve. And we have to, when we think about human behavior, political behavior, we have to give serious attention t ... Show More
46m 18s