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BJP Sends a Message With U.S. ‘Deep State’ Comments

South Asia Brief

News and analysis from India and its neighboring countries in South Asia, a region home to one-fourth of the world’s population. Delivered Wednesday.

Alleging a conspiracy against India, the ruling party telegraphs camaraderie with Trump.

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Michael Kugelman

By Michael Kugelman, the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly South Asia Brief and the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi leave a rally in Motera, India, on Feb. 24, 2020.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi leave a rally in Motera, India, on Feb. 24, 2020. Money Sharma/AFP via Getty Images

Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Politics

United States

India

South Asia

Michael Kugelman

December 11, 2024, 3:51 PM View Comments ()

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

The highlights this week: India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party sends a political message with comments about the U.S. “deep state,” India’s foreign secretary meets with Bangladesh’s interim leader in Dhaka, and a former Pakistani spy chief is indicted for “engaging in political activities.”

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s South Asia Brief.

BJP Spouts Conspiracy Theory on X

Last week, India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the U.S. State Department of involvement in a conspiracy—aligned with “deep state” actors in the United States and the political opposition in India—to malign and destabilize New Delhi.

In a series of posts on Dec. 5, the BJP’s official X account cited an article published by the French news outlet Mediapart detailing how the U.S. government has provided funding to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a global investigative news unit.

The BJP said OCCRP had “specifically targeted the Modi government” by publishing stories on issues including New Delhi’s use of spyware and Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s legal troubles. (Adani is close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.) Senior BJP official Sambit Patra repeated these allegations during a media briefing, but the Indian government has not commented.

A U.S. Embassy spokesperson told the Hindu, “It is disappointing that the ruling party in India would make these kinds of accusations,” and that the United States supports press freedom and independence. OCCRP rejected the allegations, insisting that it is not influenced by donors. Mediapart also refuted the charges, sharing a statement that the “BJP wrongly exploited Mediapart’s article in order to spread fake news that we never published.”

The BJP comments seem out of step with Washington’s efforts under U.S. President Joe Biden to expand ties with New Delhi: on security, technology, trade, energy, and education.

In recent years, the United States has also supplied intelligence that helped India deter a Chinese border provocation, provided sanctions waivers allowing India to do business with Iran, and backed off from earlier misgivings about Russian energy imports. These moves have strengthened, not sabotaged, a growing partnership.

Still, that India’s ruling party would make such allegations is nothing to sneeze at. The comments are a political play—part of a campaign accusing Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi of enabling foreign interference. The BJP seeks to rebound from its unexpectedly narrow reelection victory this year and likely sought to exploit public dissatisfaction in India about some U.S. policies.

These include U.S. statements about human rights and democracy in India, seen as meddling; its approach to Sikh separatists on U.S. soil, perceived as coddling activists who threaten India; U.S. policy in Bangladesh; and the recent U.S. indictment of Adani. Indian public sentiment toward the United States is largely positive, but polls sometimes reveal a mistrust of U.S. policies.

At the same time, the BJP’s messaging is perhaps a signal to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, suggesting a sort of camaraderie. Trump and some of his top allies, including FBI Director-nominee Kash Patel, have also made allegations about a so-called deep state in the United States—saying that they are victims of its excesses. The incoming administration has also telegraphed a strong desire for close partnership with India.

Can Trump’s return to the White House help ease Indian grievances? Yes and no. Though some may melt away—Trump is likely to focus less on human rights and democracy in India than his predecessor—others will remain.

Trump’s selection this week of Harmeet Dhillon to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division suggests that Sikh separatism will remain a tension point. Dhillon is a strong supporter of Sikh rights who has criticized the Biden administration for not taking a hard enough line on New Delhi for its alleged role in the failed assassination of a Sikh separatist in New York last year.

Like many close partnerships, the U.S.-India relationship ultimately faces manageable obstacles. But an unsettling takeaway from the BJP’s recent comments is that one of the long-standing pillars of the relationship—multipartisan support in both capitals—may be taking a hit.

What We’re Following

India’s foreign secretary in Dhaka. On Monday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met with Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, in Dhaka. Bilateral ties have been strained since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned under pressure in August, creating a political vacuum filled by actors critical of (and in some cases openly hostile to) India.

India also worries about security threats to Bangladesh’s Hindu community. In the last week, it seems as if there has been a new provocation every day: A prominent Hindu monk was charged with sedition in Dhaka, a mob attacked a Bangladeshi diplomatic facility in the Indian state of Tripura, and Bangladesh reversed a pledge that it would help supply internet bandwidth to states in neighboring northeastern India.

The good news is that communication channels have remained open. The public messaging from both governments about Misri’s meeting with Yunus was positive, with readouts and comments underscoring a desire to make the relationship work. Less heated rhetoric from officials could have a calming effect on the public in each country and create a more conducive environment for talks to salvage the close partnership.

Former Pakistani spy chief indicted. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s military media wing announced that Faiz Hameed, a former head of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was indicted on “charges of engaging in political activities.” Hameed, a retired three-star general, is being investigated for links to violent protests in May 2023 that targeted military facilities after the arrest of opposition leader Imran Khan.

The indictment comes a few months after Hameed was arrested; he is first Pakistani spy chief to face court-martial proceedings. Given the ISI’s dominant role in Pakistan’s politics, many senior intelligence officials could have reasonably been accused of engaging in political activities—but top military and intelligence figures generally tend to dodge accountability.

Political protesters have rarely (if ever) attacked military facilities in Pakistan, so the military apparently wanted to send a strong message. But Hameed, regarded as a Khan ally, is also clearly caught up in the confrontation between Khan and Pakistan’s military leadership. He served as ISI chief when Khan was prime minister, replacing Asim Munir, who was mysteriously fired in 2019 after less than a year in the role. Munir is now Pakistan Army chief.

A disagreement between Khan and the military leadership in 2021 over the succession process for Hameed—Khan wanted Hameed to stay on for longer than the military was prepared for—contributed to the souring of relations between Khan and the military, as well as to Khan’s eventual ouster in 2022.

India watches Syria with concern. The fall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has considerable implications for New Delhi. India’s close relationships with leaders around the Arab world—especially in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—are well known. But it also had a key partnership with Assad.

Under Assad’s regime, Syria hosted several large investments by state-owned Indian energy companies; the Syrian leader supported India’s position on Kashmir and said India and Syria have had similar experiences fighting terrorism. New Delhi will worry about the stability implications of Assad’s fall, especially as he was ousted by Islamist militants.

Though the contexts are very different, India could view post-Assad Syria through the lens of its experience with post-Hasina Bangladesh—fearing that violent actors filling a vacuum left by a partner could undermine Indian interests. For now, India has called for a peaceful political process in Syria, and its main priority will be ensuring the safety of the few Indian nationals left in the country.

Under the Radar

Two Sri Lankan nationals were among 14 people sanctioned by the U.S. government this week for “significant corruption.” The State Department announced the moves on Monday, which was International Anti-Corruption Day.

Kapila Chandrasena, a former CEO of Sri Lanka Airlines, was listed for taking a bribe in a deal for Airbus aircraft. Former Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia Udayanga Weeratunga was designated for initiating a “corrupt scheme” tied to the acquisition of MiG aircraft for the Sri Lanka Air Force. Both men and their immediate families are now barred from entering the United States or trading with anyone in the country.

In different circumstances, one might have expected the sanctions to provoke pushback from Sri Lanka. On the contrary, the government appeared to welcome them: Information Minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the sanctions would serve as a “catalyst” for other corruption investigations in Sri Lanka.

Chandrasena and Udayanga are both related to the powerful Rajapaksa family that previously ruled in Sri Lanka. (Chandrasena is related by marriage, while Udayanga is a first cousin of former leaders Mahinda and Gotabaya Rajapaksa.)

The current government in Colombo, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, is a harsh critic of the Rajapaksas and their dictatorial rule. Dissanayake ran his campaign this year on an anti-corruption platform.

FP’s Most Read This Week

Why Assad’s Regime Is Collapsing So Quicklyby Charles Lister

The Battle for Ukraine Is a War of Demographyby Ivan Krastev and Stephen Holmes

Assad Has Fallen. What’s Next for Syria and the Middle East?by Amy Mackinnon and John Haltiwanger

Regional Voices

In Prothom Alo, economist Selim Raihan calls for a new approach to Bangladesh-India relations. “Narrow, one-sided viewpoints should be dropped and bilateral relations taken ahead on the basis of sincerity, mutual respect and cooperation,” he argues. “This is not just a matter of tackling the present challenges, but will facilitate a bright future for both countries.”

In the Kathmandu Post, professor Dharma Adhikari writes about extensive Chinese media coverage of Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s recent visit to Beijing. “The increased breadth of coverage may signal the upcoming 70th anniversary of bilateral relations, which is likely to bring even more media attention to Nepal-China ties in the coming year,” he writes.

A Kuensel editorial praises a new crime and drug awareness program in Gelephu, Bhutan, but argues that it should be expanded into a national initiative: “Drug abuse, domestic violence, and crimes against women and children are not confined to one region. … Therefore, replicating similar programmes in all dzongkhags [subdivisions] is not merely an option but a necessity.”

Foreign & Public Diplomacy

Politics

United States

India

South Asia

Michael Kugelman

Michael Kugelman is the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly South Asia Brief. He is the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington. X: @michaelkugelman

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