On January 3, 2024, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar unexpectedly claimed that India's weakness in the face of China was entirely attributable to Jawaharlal Nehru at the launch of his new book, Why Bharata Matters.
Modi did not have the courage to confront China head-on, and even pulled out Nehru, who had been deceased for nearly 60 years, as a scapegoat. Could it be that the "old immortal" is really poor in donkey skills?
Jaishankar is Modi's confidant, and his statement is undoubtedly representative of Modi's thinking. Why did he criticize India's founding prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru? The reason may be that India is about to hold a re-election in 2024** and Modi's re-election prospects do not seem promising.
In this case, the diversion of contradictions may become an effective strategy. India's elections are dominated by two political parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress (Congress).
There has been a great deal of contradiction and discord between the two parties, with Modi representing the Bharatiya Janata Party and Nehru representing the Congress party, so this criticism of Nehru's actions could be a political ploy.
Although India has made frequent appearances on the international stage and made some progress in development during the Modi administration, India's "dirty and messy" image has not been fundamentally improved, and its treatment of foreign companies has been criticized as "robbery".
In addition, despite India's resolute attitude towards China, it has never achieved any substantive results. These negative "achievements" have allowed the Congress Party to attack Modi, and even made many Indians dissatisfied with Modi.
In order to be re-elected, Modi looked for a breakthrough point, but he never found the right direction. In the end, he shifted the blame to Jawaharlal Nehru, the leader of the Congress Party and the founding prime minister of India, who had been dead for nearly 60 years.
Jaishankar said it was because of Nehru's "inaction" that India is still in a vulnerable position today. He also pointed out that Nehru was the main reason why India failed to join the permanent membership of the United Nations.
Therefore, India's dream of becoming a permanent member of the United Nations has not stopped, because for India, whether it can join the permanent membership of the United Nations is one of the keys to the recognition of its status as a world power.
Since taking office, Modi has worked to increase India's influence in the international community, and to this end, he has actively engaged with the United States and Western countries, and has strengthened relations with Russia. He also successfully hosted the G20 meeting, hoping to demonstrate India's sincerity by raising the profile.
However, he was troubled by the fact that India's application for regularisation had not been approved. Now, while Modi is still trying to achieve that goal, the pressure on him is enormous.
To divert attention, Modi began to shift the blame to his predecessor, Jawaharlal Nehru, but the exact reason remains unclear.
It is said that Truman of the United States wrote a letter to Nehru in private, expressing his willingness to cede China's P5 seat in the United Nations to India. In his opinion, Chiang Kai-shek, who retreated to Taiwan, could not be compared with the value of India.
However, Nehru was promoting the Non-Aligned Movement at the time and maintained good relations with many countries, including China. Therefore, from the perspective of practical interests, it is not in India's interest to accept Truman's proposal.
Nehru rejected the offer. Although this is verifiable historical information and the basis for Jaishankar, there is one issue that he may not have noticed, and that is that Truman's act of writing to Nehru without permission was itself illegal.
Therefore, whether Nehru refuses or not, this offer will not have any implications.
The P5 seats in the United Nations have been forged by the battles and heroic sacrifices of history. Even France, which once surrendered, later resisted under the leadership of Charles de Gaulle, and our country paid more than 35 million sacrifices of soldiers and civilians to fight against the Japanese fascists.
All this makes the legitimacy and legitimacy of my country's permanent membership of the United Nations unquestionable. At the same time, at that time, it was a period of hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union, and Truman's wishful thinking could not change the fact that the Soviet Union did not let India become a P5, and it is more likely that this was just one of the usual tricks of the United States.
In addition, the accusations about Nehru's treatment of China are not in line with the facts.
Nehru was friendly to China in the early days, but in the 60s, he challenged China's bottom line and tried to use the support of the United States and the Soviet Union to seize southern Tibet from China.
At that time, the Indian army had already crossed the border to provoke, and the whole country was convinced that it could win the war, and even thought that China would not send troops because it was afraid. However, the President still ordered the war against India because the sovereignty of our country is inviolable.
India was defeated by China in just one month, and Nehru's confidence was shattered. India's current disadvantage on the border is not Nehru's fault, but is entirely the result of India's own obstinacy, and their provocation itself is unjustifiable.
Now, India is about to hold a **, and Modi does not hesitate to shift the blame to Nehru for re-election, which is undoubtedly a sign of poor donkey skills. You know, Nehru enjoys a lot of prestige in India, and Modi's move could backfire.
Under the current framework of permanent membership of the United Nations, India's accession is slim. The status of the P5 was established in the early days of the establishment of the United Nations, and India's accession was not in accordance with the relevant procedures and jurisprudence.
If Nehru still has illusions of normalcy and limited vision, his path to re-election will be even more difficult. We hope that Modi can proceed from the interests of the Indian people and do more good things for the country and the people, which is the greatest capital to participate in the election campaign, instead of taking some improper paths.