(This article forms a part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.)
Britain last week elected its third Prime Minister of the year. When Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister after seven weeks in power in the face of a sharp market reaction to her policies and an open revolt within the ruling party, the Conservatives turned to Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Boris Johnson Cabinet, to lead the party and the country. Mr. Sunak was among the first leaders who revolted against Mr. Johnson earlier this year. He lost in the leadership race that followed, but he didn’t have to stay out of power for too long.
The 42-year-old former hedge fund manager has several firsts to his credit. He became Britain’s first non-white and first Hindu Prime Minister. Mr. Sunak, who is of Indian origins, will now have the ceremonial powers to appoint Bishops to the Church of England, besides heading the government of the overwhelmingly white and Christian Britain. His rise to 10 Downing Street was particularly welcomed by sections in India who saw some historical fulfilment in a man of Indian origin becoming the Prime Minister of India’s former colonial rulers. But his election has also triggered a fierce debate on minority rights in India. In this news analysis, Varghese K. George writes about four discernible views that have emerged in India, signifying the divergence within the country on the question of minority rights in a democracy.
While Mr. Sunak’s appointment as Prime Minister has great symbolic value, his success as Prime Minister would depend on how he is going to tackle the U.K.’s economy. Since the conservatives won the 2010 elections, the U.K. has seen five Prime Ministers; and Mr. Sunak is the third in the last two months. Even Mr. Johnson, arguably today’s most popular conservative politician in the U.K., could not hold his government together for too long. Mr. Sunak faces a contracting economy and rocketing inflation, in the context of a worsening war in Europe. And he has to retain the trust of the party MPs that he could lead the Conservative Party to victory in the 2024 elections. It’s a tall ask. If he does not want to repeat the fate of his predecessors in an extremely volatile political and economic climate, he should be bold enough not to repeat their mistakes, warns The Hindu in this editorial.
Imran vs the establishment
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan
Pakistan witnessed a rare press conference by the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), the notorious spy agency, last week. Lieutenant-General Nadeem Anjum, the ISI chief, met the media along with an Army spokesperson, launching a broadside against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, in yet another sign of the breakdown of the relationship between the establishment and the former cricketer-turned-politician. The ISI said Mr. Khan had asked for illegal favours from the military when he was in power. The ISI’s attack came just days before Mr. Khan launched his “long march to Islamabad”, demanding early elections.
Ever since his government was voted out in Parliament earlier this year, Mr. Khan had accused his political rivals and the establishment of conspiring against him. He has continuously been in a campaign mode and claimed stunning victories in bypolls. But the Pakistani Election Commission disqualified him earlier this month over charges that he did proceeds from sales of gifts he received when he was the Prime Minister. But Mr. Khan seems undeterred. “This nation is ready to make every sacrifice but it will not accept thieves. The objective of the march is that decisions should be taken by the people themselves,” to told his supporters last week in Lahore.
Dirty bomb
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. File
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu held talks with his counterparts in a number of countries, expressing concerns that Ukraine was planning to launch a dirty bomb, a conventional bomb with radioactive materials. The U.S., the U.K. and France immediately rejected the Russian claims, saying Russia was planning to carry out a false flag operation. In talks with Mr. Shoigu, India’s Rajnath Singh said “the nuclear option should not be resorted to by any side as the prospect of the usage of nuclear or radiological weapons goes against the basic tenets of humanity”. While it’s difficult to ascertain the allegations and counter-allegations behind the thick fog of war, the talk of dirty bombs and nuclear attacks itself point to the dangerous escalation of the conflict. Ukraine carried out a sustained drone attack on Sevastopol in Crimea which hosts Russia’s Black Sea fleet, after which Russia pulled back from the UN-mediated grain exports deal. In retaliation, Russia fired another barrage of missiles to Ukraine. “Unchecked escalation with an open possibility of a Russia-NATO war would be catastrophic for the whole world,” The Hindu writes in this editorial. “The rhetoric on nuclear attacks and retaliation should stop immediately and Russia, Ukraine and the West should begin talks to end the conflict.”
The Top Five
- Short or long stay, Brexit Britain’s challenges remain Rishi Sunak, a committed Brexiteer, will face turbulence as most of Britain’s economic headwinds are of Westminster’s own making, writes Priyanjali Malik
- Betting on change: an American dream There is chaos aplenty on the horizon as the West, particularly the U.S., imagines a new regime in Iran, Russia and China, writes Chinmaya R. Gharekhan
- The old but relevant script of the Cuban Missile crisis With the risks for escalation and miscalculations growing in the Ukraine war, it is time to revisit the sobering lessons of 1962, writes Rakesh Sood
- Old bird, new King The takeover of the social app, which has been struggling for years to revive growth amid worries about the spread of fake news and hate speech on its platform, by the world’s richest man, a free speech absolutist, has raised both hopes and concerns about its future, writes P.J. George in The Hindu Profiles.
- Explained | Is the world’s climate action plan on track? What will be the key points of debate during the COP27 summit in Egypt in November? Why are issues such as food security, energy and biodiversity on top of the agenda? What are world leaders expected to do? What will be India’s contribution at the summit? Explains Sumeda in The Hindu FAQ.
