TIME Magazine carries Indian Prime Minister on it’s Cover but terms him an Underachiever ~ Come on India! we should not get provoked ! That’s playing into USA hands ! Come on both Congress and BJP ! stop your slugfest on this issue ! ~ That’s exactly what USA wants and is using Influential US Media for Propaganda and Provocation ~ The Question is not whether our PM is an Underachiever or not ! ~ The larger question is why has TIME Magazine done this ! ~ to bully India into FDI Retail perhaps !? or too just move attention away from a troubled US Economy led by a troubled President Obama ! ~ Both really ! ~ Move the Focus away from USA troubles ~ recollect how President Obama visited India with over 250 Top US CEOs ~ his main objective was to secure Billions of Dollars of Contracts so that atleast 50000 American Jobs could be secured ! ~ He made no bones about this ~ his current Presidential Election Campaign repeatedly throws up his anti outsourcing of IT to India stance
India,despite a pause and some hiccups,admittedly some quite severe,is well on course to grow well in the next few decades to emerge ,without doubt ,one of the strongest Economies in the World ~ India Bashing is nothing New ~ The arrogance and condescending mindset of US Media continues ~ to me it reflects a growing fear and a weakness that is merely an imitation of Strength,as Paulo Coelho would put it
Who really is the Underachiever !? USA or India ? Obama or Manmohan Singh !? ~ ask the American People themselves ~ their President would win hands down !~ the USA People are frustrated,angry,disillusioned,helpless too to see the future of the next generation mortgaged to the hilt and that those who perpetrated the Financial Mess are getting away and some of them remarkably yet run powerful offices in the Government ~ The Inspiring and Motivating “Yes We Can” ” in President Obama’s early Speech when he became the President had echoed throughout USA and the World ~ That assertion has been belied and has worn thin and is running dry today as several Quantitative Easing Measures (Printing abnormal and dangerous levels of US Dollars over several years and keeping the Fed rate to near Zero levels to try stimulating the Economy) are not seeing the desired effect
USA continues to struggle under huge Debt and Deficit ~ Deleveraging will take years ~The Unemployment Rate is @ 9 % ~ The Economy shows no sustainable sign of Recovery ~the country is an epicentre of huge financial frauds
Yes,we too in India have our own set of Issues to deal with ~ Poverty,Infrastructure,,Corruption,Religious Fanaticism and Communalism,Naxalite Movement,A Bureaucracy that stubbornly refuses to mend it’s mindset,Delayed and Denied Justice,Powerful vested Interests and Criminal Elements in Central and State Executive,Legislature and Business and the pressures of a Coalition Central Government that thwarts the Reforms Process
Why do we care what TIME thinks !? Would US be even half as perturbed if ‘Times of India’ or ‘India Today’ put US President Obama on the Cover and labelled him as CLUELESS !
Let’s not even Blame USA for playing out it’s Priority and Agenda ~ every Country has their own ~ India needs to play out it’s Priority and Agenda in the larger Interests of the Nation ~ and not get bullied to load Billion of Dollars in Contracts to large US Companies or allow them to enter India without reciprocal arrangements in place
Just remember this ~ With Europe facing crippling economic woes,USA increasingly needs the two sustainably growing Asian and World Giants ,India and China to help it’s own Economy to recover ~ The Tens and hundreds of billion of dollars contracts that India is signing with US Corporations ~ remember how the Congress led UPA Government controversially took the help of the Samajwadi party to pass the extremely controversial Nuclear Deal in the Parliament by a wafer thin margin ~ will mean that American Factories and it’s workers will be gainfully and fully employed for the next ten years just to execute Indian Orders ~ Aerospace,Defence,Nuclear Technology are some of the huge areas ~ USA also has a hawkish stance on India’s 1.2 billion Consumer Market without opening out it’s own to us
Reiterate that India’s decision makers should not get bullied ~ yes we do need each other ,but in the current economic scenario,USA needs us more than we need them ~ some would argue this observation and assertion ~ but not I
Having said this,Geo-Politically the two world’s largest Democracies,India and USA need to be allied against Nations that are ruled with different Idealogies ~ political and/or religious
So is Manmohan Singh an Underachiever !? He has confessed his hands are tied because of coalition compulsions ~ his UPA Government too has had a turbulent rule so far ~ hit with Corruption Scandals on an unprecedented financial scale
Manmohan Singh needs to turn the tide ~ and he’s quite capable of doing so
Let History Be the Judge
2 thoughts on “TIME Magazine’s Cover Labels Indian Prime Minister as an ‘Underachiever’ ~ India should not get provoked ! or we may just see ‘India Today’ carry US President Obama as ‘Clueless’ on its’ cover! !”
rightly said.
I agree with you, Gaurav, that we shouldn’t be looking at US-centric media for praise or criticism. Time magazine has given us a stick to beat ourselves with — and our petty polarised polity is having fun doing exactly that!
At the same time, I also feel that Manmohan Singh is capable of a whole lot more than he has been able/allowed to do for our country. By that token, he has – actually – underachieved.
Your thoughts?