The United States will get a taste of Modi's style this week !
Almost as soon as Narendra Modi became prime minister of India, whispers began circulating of mysterious phone calls from his office, upbraiding startled officials for infractions like inappropriate clothing or chummy-looking public meetings with tycoons.
The message was received. Modi, who is famously austere in his own habits, intends to impose discipline.
The United States will get a taste of Modi's style this week. Booked for back-to-back high-pressure appearances during his five days in New York and Washington, Modi, 64, has also announced that he will maintain a strict religious fast for the duration of the visit, which coincides with the Hindu festival of Navratri, consuming only tea and lemonade with honey.
The visit is a big moment for Modi, who offers himself as a metaphor for the India he wants to build - ambitious, confident and impatient with slackness of any kind.
Rarely has any world leader come full circle the way Modi has: Denied a U.S. visa for nearly a decade as punishment for his handling of religious riots that broke out in the state he then led, Modi flies into New York as an immensely popular leader and a sought-after strategic partner, uniquely capable of balancing the might of a rising China.
In the four months since he has taken office, Modi has disappointed those who were hoping for an Indian Margaret Thatcher, proving to be cautious and incremental in his use of economic policy. Instead, he has set about changing the architecture of the state, diluting the powers of ministries and concentrating them in his office. Modi is building a machine for governing, one that he intends to operate for a long time.
The message was received. Modi, who is famously austere in his own habits, intends to impose discipline.
The United States will get a taste of Modi's style this week. Booked for back-to-back high-pressure appearances during his five days in New York and Washington, Modi, 64, has also announced that he will maintain a strict religious fast for the duration of the visit, which coincides with the Hindu festival of Navratri, consuming only tea and lemonade with honey.
The visit is a big moment for Modi, who offers himself as a metaphor for the India he wants to build - ambitious, confident and impatient with slackness of any kind.
Rarely has any world leader come full circle the way Modi has: Denied a U.S. visa for nearly a decade as punishment for his handling of religious riots that broke out in the state he then led, Modi flies into New York as an immensely popular leader and a sought-after strategic partner, uniquely capable of balancing the might of a rising China.
In the four months since he has taken office, Modi has disappointed those who were hoping for an Indian Margaret Thatcher, proving to be cautious and incremental in his use of economic policy. Instead, he has set about changing the architecture of the state, diluting the powers of ministries and concentrating them in his office. Modi is building a machine for governing, one that he intends to operate for a long time.
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