Hi, this is Hot Mic and I’m Nidhi Razdan.
There is outrage in the Arab world over derogatory comments about the prophet by BJP spokesmen, who have now been banned from the party. Over the weekend, three Arab countries called on India’s envoy to protest vigorously – Qatar, Kuwait and Iran. Saudi Arabia and Oman have also strongly condemned the BJP leaders’ comments. India has very good ties with all these countries. The protest is thus a major setback for these carefully cultivated relationships, which are important both strategically and economically.
Qatar was the first to issue a very forcefully worded statement saying it expects a public apology and immediate condemnation of these comments from the government of India, pointing out that allowing such Islamophobic comments with impunity poses a serious danger to the protection of human rights and can lead to further prejudice and marginalization, creating a cycle of violence and hatred. This was followed by a forcefully worded tweet from Qatar’s assistant foreign minister, who said that “Islamophobic discourse has reached dangerous levels in a country long known for its diversity and coexistence. Unless the systematic hate speech against Islam in India is officially and systematically dealt with, this will be considered a deliberate insult to 2 billion Muslims.”
The Indian embassies in Qatar and Kuwait said in their statements that these are not the views of the Indian government, but of fringe figures, as they called it. You have to wonder, are national spokespersons now fringe elements? That said, the Indian embassies also claimed vested interests have incited people to use these derogatory comments. To make matters worse, India’s Vice President Venkaiah Naidu was in Qatar on an official trip when this controversy erupted, causing considerable embarrassment. So how did this issue explode and become such a huge diplomatic narrative?
Well, this row is in two parts – the first is a comment made on national television a few days ago by BJP spokesman Nupur Sharma, which went viral on social media and provoked a strong response. The second is a tweet from Delhi BJP spokesman Naveen Kumar Jindal, who made matters worse and both incidents together caused a huge backlash in the Arab world. In recent days, there have been reports that supermarkets in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Bahrain are removing Indian products from their shelves. The issue was also the top social media trend in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries for several hours.
India has maintained good relations with Arab countries, and Prime Minister Modi in particular has prioritized India’s relationship with these countries. From Saudi Arabia to the UAE, Iran, Qatar. India has good ties with all of them. Prime Minister Modi’s first international visits this year were to the UAE and Kuwait in January. India’s commitment to the region is high, and this is the reason. Official estimates show that more than six and a half million Indians live and work in the Gulf States. In addition, Qatar is one of the largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas or LNG to India. Nearly 40% of India’s gas supply comes from Qatar. India also has strong trade ties with many Gulf states, especially Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Or the GCC, which is headquartered in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the UAE make up the GCC. Official data shows that in 2020-21, the total value of India’s trade with GCC countries was worth more than $87 billion, including imports worth about $60 billion. Total two-way bilateral trade for this period grew by 27% from the previous year. When it comes to its minorities, India has fallen behind internationally, no matter what the spin doctors may say.
Arab countries aside, last week we saw US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speak about increasing attacks on people and places of worship in India. He spoke at an event organized for the release of the State Department’s annual report on international religious freedom. It is the first time in recent memory that the US Secretary of State has called India out so openly. In fact, Blinken also brought up India’s human rights situation in April, right next to Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar. India’s foreign ministry reacted angrily to Blinken’s latest comments, accusing the US of indulging in vote-banking politics, calling them “ill-informed comments” from senior US officials. But the resistance of the Arab world in particular has finally forced action. India’s domestic politics can no longer be linked to its international image and diplomatic ties to other countries when so much is at stake.