ah, india is often called the world's largest democracy. a sleeping giant, a country seemingly in search of a leader who could strike a balance between tradition and modernity. with nearly 1400000000 inhabitants, india is poised to overtake china as the world's most populous country. and its economy is also in the midst of transformation. the country is modernizing at a breathtaking pace, hoping to reduce social and equality and compete on the international stage. india boasts the world's 2nd largest military. it's geopolitical status as a nuclear power position between china and the west has allowed the country to claim its place among the worlds superpowers. after a century, a british colonial rule, the hondas gandhi, and java harlow nehru, succeeded in securing independence in 1947 by non violent means. following 60 years under the leadership of the nehru, gone to dynasty in 2014 india for the 1st time elected a member of the opposition party, a man from a modest background, the rend ramadi took office promising national renewal with the right wing nationalist is india's new superstar he now has one of the highest number of twitter followers of any politician in the world. movie is she's the largest alive figure he has been consumed in his image making. i'm a self made man. you know, my father used to sell to my mother used to clean house. i'm a lower cost. mum, put me in the prime minister's office. i'll create 20000000 jobs. now render mowdy had a mission. he believed india needed to reclaim it's pure authentic past. and it's vital role in the world with india is good to reclaim ha, history from its glory days when the enormous limbs, when the no british we were all him the, when we were glorious. mowdy seemed like the strong leader that was going to help make india proud to be indians. again, are you. i know 20 object boy got got they do somehow. so got all that bears go broke. are you it is, these are the in the thank you, let me when i heard from just with good a false swell to pull me about the next. what is each on the up? if not more on achieve modi. took center stage in an unprecedented alliance with western states against a common adversary. only now we are forgiving with india because it's a counterweight to china. ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha i for a long time, we saw india as an impoverished nation, a place where the west cent aid on the place of mahatma gandhi, where you learned how to do yoga spiritual place. but it's actually much more than that. it's developed in the last decade into one of the world's super powers, autumn hubbard, the he saw the hama trooper. now, you know, he called himself a jokey on the wood, means a gatekeeper, a protector, a guardian. he is a person of mendez energy, perhaps of best orator in india, that the country is seen in living memory. but when you look at the, the message and the values that he stands for there, frightening india is wielding more power on the world stage than ever before. it's domestic policies have taken an unprecedented nationalist and authoritarian turn. but just who is no rend remedy and how is he helping to shape a new era in india and the world to understand now render modi's influence we accompany him to the town of kit are not in the north of india. the town is wholly in the hindu religion. it's where moti discovered the power of his fate and learn to share it with his followers. above all, mowdy is a devout believer. like 80 per cent of indians, he is a hindu. in there is a country where a large part of the population has some spiritual life to his picking up on that knowledge. but he does it at the scale where it can just be meditation in his house . it has to be up in the himalayas. wood, where the gods live in front of the cameras. modi portrays himself as a holy man, a standard bearer for india, and the world more d, as a guru implies that he is some sort of spiritual leader. now, in that sense, in the range from all the as prime minister teaches, through example his by who e is what he does, what he says, what he eats. when he foss, he is an exemplar of what people should aspire to be, and people are wild by. it. modi goes to great lengths to cultivate an image of spirituality. in 2019, he walked 22 kilometers through the himalayas at nearly 4000 meters above sea. level in the revered cater enough shrine, he spent 17 hours in prayer and meditation. but like the hindu gods, mowdy has many faces. he portrays himself as both spiritual leader and men of action. all the while pursuing a mission articulated by the ideologists of the indian. far right, vin eoc demote ourself, our car in the 1920 s soccer developed an ideology that was born of the same time as the fascist and nazi ideologies in the 1920s. flower gardens wired by mussolini and wandered, soccer wrote in his book he said, died for a muslim for a christian. india is not a holy land notified to learn. so the idea is to create the indian nation in which hindus are supreme and read all minorities are at best 2nd class citizens ah, but ideally, should be removed from the body politic. this is the ideology that prime minister more the believe, said, and has been bottom since his reelection in 2019 modi has put his hindu 1st agenda into action. one of his 1st moves was to send troops to india's cashmere region. the country's only muslim majority territory, which has long been an object of dispute with pakistan. in summer 2019 mowdy launched an extraordinary show of force. he revoked the state of georgia and kashmir as semi autonomous status and imposed a strict curfew. it was a move designed to quash the long simmering conflict at the border to pakistan. one of the most densely militarized places in the world to prevent a popular uprising, modi's administration sent tens of thousands of additional troops to the region and cut off lines of communication. what followed was a purge of opposition. members, primarily muslims, more than 4000 people. political figures activists and intellectuals were arrested . what it has done is to push that whole region off the edge to day. her cousins of people are in jail. all the leaders cream cheese ministers, there is no governess between the po, finishing and jani. there is nothing in august 2019, with the cashmere crisis, still under way, the leading industrialized nations convened and b, or it's france for the g 7 summit. they rolled out the red carpet for the indian prime minister. moti seized the opportunity to furnish the pacifist image. he cultivates on the world stage and demonstrate his trademark bear hug. diplomacy. circuit has his negative negative responses came primarily from china and pakistan that, that's not a surprise. but the west didn't say a word is it's not all. looks he little less fair the west let india do as at least mean as a message was we'll be forgiving with india for commercial reasons. because india is a great market, has sell weapons and more. and now she, dom yamil, acevedo. ah, but understanding modi's rise to power also requires a look back to his background. his childhood and the obstacles. he faced the ren remote. he was born in 1950 and bhatnagar in the indian state of gujarat. india had just gained independence from british colonial rule. thanks, dumont, as gandhi, and jo, a harlow nehru, after centuries of invasion and occupation, india had to reinvent its identity. mowdy was the 3rd of 6 children. his parents who were members of a lower cast were grocer's, young to render use to help his father at work deluge on vocational baylor legend hazard that modi's father, a member of the oil press casks ran a t stall at the train station and their city dc. where mowdy is said to have helped sell t as a boy gad, economies to have l d. a contingent offer. it's an important element of them to render a modi man. i'm, i'm a deeper, it means he's a self made man, man. he worked his way up, he is a man of the people and is against a leader of book gold toys in it. like most school boys in his town, the render mowdy was recruited by the r s s or national volunteer organization, which was inspired by fascist movements in europe. founded in 1925 under british colonial rule, the r as since sought to foster hindu nationalism and cast off born influences. mowdy woke at dawn to take part in outdoor exercises and listen to patriotic speeches. ah, mowdy learned to march and raised the flag, but also to fight in defense of hindu values as a nationalist paramilitary organization. the ar assess, had found a new enemy, the ruling congress party, and the nehru gandhi class. in the eyes of the r ss, they were too close to the former colonial rulers and to willing to accept the partition of british india into india and pakistan. he was he this he all, sir donald piedmont. there were also lessons on india's history hush door recounting the golden age of the hindus and supposedly the oldest people on earth and when he presents yup, rest your day. the members became increasingly indoctrinated over time until they were finally fully indoctrinated. this some quit a but those who stayed had internalized the ideology. so kinda like modi. so he worked his way up the ranks of the r s. s. is this whole cow isa? div would organisation mowdy felt more drawn to the teachings of the hindu nationalist paramilitary group than to school. in 1965, at the age of 15, mowdy wanted to drop out and join the military. at a time when india was at war with pakistan, but his parents had a different plan in mind and arranged for him to marry a girl of the same cast. he was married off as a child. there's a tradition of child marriage in india and his family found a girl for him, roughly the same age. they were married off and when they were dose that was supposed to go live together. he barely had me say in the matter, to escape the marriage. mowdy made a decision that would change his life. he decided to leave home and travel to the himalayas. no can ozy nicholson is my azure disease levix. he didn't want to marry this girl and live with her. so he laughed, he left his wife and headed off. he is driven by a spiritual quest as he calls it me to i don't miss 1st he went to bengal. then he travelled across all of india from the west to the east of going deep into the himalayas, where he lived as a hermit and ascetic an asset. modi later recounted that he spent those 2 years studying hindu teachings and the armstrongs of the saw to hindu holy men who had renounced worldly life and western culture. ah, after returning from his pilgrimage, mowdy was certain of his destiny. his reawakened interest and hindu religion and ideology, found a home in the hindu nationalist paramilitary group that had shaped him in his youth . his new life could begin in 1973, moody was introduced to the new leader of the r. assess bala, sub de, are us. the 2 men immediately found common cause. the radical hindu leader became 23 year old modi's mentor and spiritual father. de ross taught modi how to speak with a motion and persuasive force, a whisper. it's not a lot more. oh, dear us instructed mowdy in hindu far. the political ideology of hindu nationalism formulated by vina yaktel mode, our sava car and his successors. it's an ideology that has roots in the wounds of india's history, british colonization, but also the muslim conquests and occupations between the 10th and 15th centuries. hindu nationalist is a belated response to a phenomenon that has plagued india for a millennium, which is invasions by islamic armies from central asia. so for one millennium, india was very repeatedly vandalized, plundered by armies that came in from across the western border. a great deal of heritage of india was destroyed during those reeds, and a number of hindus were massacred and forcibly converted to islam. in the 19th century, india once again experienced humiliation and violence. this time at the hand of european colonizers no bo implemented them, was the biggest or fun. who is the malazan, whether it was written simply down on for the good in belgium. that is, leave the people that was basically based on that. we made that, that then people will be in the name of the lady thing missing there. like did that is sorted in human beings, vicente or language they import religion at then the grid though, in dizziness to people as a back work not to relate. their just tried out on thinking ever since india obtained its independence in 1947. and do nationalists have dreamt of establishing a pure hindu state on the sacred ground of ancient india? it is a very powerful message to send out your supporters saying india is going to re claim her history from its glory days when the enormous slums, when the and all british we were all him though, and we were glorious. we had the best science, we had the best religion. we had all the knowledge the world needed. a and the gland to the claim that passed under the tutelage of skilled ideologists, mowdy acquired command over hindu nationalist rhetoric. in 1987, he joined the barajo, janet a party or b, j p. the main opposition to the ruling congress party mowdy swiftly rose through the ranks of the hindu nationalist b. j. p. from general, secretary of the good jerome branch to general secretary of the national party. he was now ready for the next step. the b j. p decided to send modi to go, jarrett to replace the states ailing cheap minister. the following year, after 3 decades in the shadows of his mentors, mowdy was finally ready to stand for election. in february, 2002, he won his bi election to the good urine state assembly. just days later, tragedy struck at least 58 hindu pilgrims. men, women and children died in a fire on board a train. they were returning from iowa jaw, where hindus had demolished a muslim mos. 10 years earlier. the train had stopped in a predominantly muslim city. and hindus immediately accused muslims of having set the train on fire. mowdy visited the scene to pay his respects to the victims. nobody's that he cleared about who, with that fire and how it happening. and then mode. he just came to the front, you know, he ordered the blend door needs to be brought to him to buy them, put on display for people to so to express the green, the muslim community was blamed for the tragedy and violence toward them escalated . moti remained silent riots spread across googe herat. eventually claiming more than 2000 lives. most of them muslim sick girl or says ha ha ha them when yeah, what we know comes from the testimony of a police officer who is now in prison with he stated that no rent remotely called police officers to his office in good gerard on the evening of the 27th of february, and that is them not to intervene for at least 3 days. the response of the police follow the monday dinner, but i haven't yet found all. all my pleasure will work now done within 72 hours. we were able to control the violence more than 500 people that most of the innocent civilians and you're calling this excellent work. i'm not happy. what happened? but what we have done, i'm happy mr. moody realized that he suddenly discovered a gold mine, that out here was hugely due state in society, which could be harnessed politically. he decided to advance elections. he realized that the rights and the division and the, and the most in sentiment which had been created in woodyard because of that he had of opportunity to harden this. a hindu of water back on this on what it is. it is showing the december election often mowdy obtained an absolute majority sooner more than 50 per cent of the vocal funds. that's extraordinary. for india on modi had found his election strategy and his voters, but both at home and on the international stage. he was now seen as a hard line, hindu nationalist. the u. k, imposed an official, no contact policy, and the us band him from entering the country for more than 10 years. to win over india and the world mowdy needed to paint a more likable image of himself. jealous, unco. oh, boy, of a dog. in 2014, the render mowdy stood for election as prime minister. he and his campaign turned to social media believing that mainstream media were too critical. an army of trolls tended to his image online. there were also radio broadcasts a web t v station and a youtube channel. our job was easy because the prime minister. busy was a big messenger and he also did give a big message. so all we had to do was give package it in modern the lingle. um, so we used things from cartoons we was means we used of gadgetry chosen. so each platform, like i said, has its own on different quality. his campaign was one of the most well oiled machines in the world. he had almost, it seemed bottomless supplies of cash. ah, he deployed an army off extremely talented and technologically savvy aids across the country. who built up a database, who knew how to target voters mowdy promised the indian people he would fight in equality poverty and corruption. but above all, he broke with party conventions to foster a cult of personality. he's a strong leader and you know, so initially very early on, in his 1st campaign he talked about his 56 inch chest that was strong. and would, you know, as a sign of his strength and that image of strength, solidity, discipline, almost godlike powers is one that has been manufactured and multiplied and disseminated endlessly. i will build smart cities. i will clean the ganges. i will make india into something resembling a 1st world country, perhaps even a superpower. give me that opportunity. he is an ideologue, but most importantly, he is a narcissist. he loves to project himself, he believes in himself. he sees himself as an agent of destiny. sesa the topic was saying, copying the island and the albany is a typical electoral campaign by no rend remedy relies on emotion and images too, and avoids making any specific political statement would year. her kind of politic be weak. anybody has no true interest in the economy, a boy in finances and that's not his purpose. and the phenol said in the pap, also in may 2014. at age 63, the render mowdy finally reached his goal. he was elected prime minister of india. now he would have to make good on his promises to bigger asleep, promote the country's economic growth, and to strengthen india's role on the world's political stage. boom. moti made his 1st appearance on the world stage in 2015 at the international day of yoga. he presented himself as a pacifist and spiritual leader for modi. and for india, it was a publicity coo broadcast around the world. international yoga day is now celebrated every year on june 21st. we are at home modi's. political opponents denounced his costly publicity maneuver outside the country. moti conveyed a carefully tended image of a global guru with millions of followers who came together around the world. practically in unison. berlin, kabul, new york, paris sydney, and beyond the gigantic ad campaign with international appeal. when he's abroad, especially in western democracies, he likes to be seen as one of the group of democratic leaders ah, bearing the button of the world. of course this off to you as he has an aspect to it. when you do yoga, however you do it for whatever jojo faxing it. just remember that something was started off in india. i'm. it just leaves you feeling happy about a guy with his global event, mowdy helped make good on his promise to restore india's national pride. and within a surprisingly short time, he won back the west's trust and claimed a place among the worlds superpowers. oh, but behind his carefully cultivated image of spiritual liter, mowdy is also a hawkish commander in chief, determined to make india of leading military power. shortly after assuming office moti staged a show of military might, the naval maneuvers were a warning to pakistan and china, india's neighbors and historic enemies. but also a signal to the west which was prepared to support india militarily. mowdy was wooed by several global powers who were looking to expand their security partnership. this still unofficial endo pacific alliance was a joint strategy of japan, australia, and the u. s. intended to counter chinese expansion in the pacific. bengal pacific is saw is where the future, the global system, global economy would be written in a cell, contemplate as cian, the only count away to china with sufficient power, at least in military terms, is india philip equal. please also applies to the indo pacific. ludlow geopolitical region, spanning from the strait of hor, moves to the strait of malacca whose aim it is to restrict chinese influence in the indian and pacific ocean lozano. so again, those help us if you know the countries in this indo pacific alliance hoped to reinforce india's position in the region and present a unified front to china. they suggested to modi that they step up their military exercises in the region. prime minister modi came into power at a moment when india was ready to take that role and he has grasp it firmly and it's made a big difference. there are now military exercises between those 2 great powers, and although nobody says it clearly, it's a warning to china. america has wanted india to come out of its shell to be the leader in the region that it's starting to step up to be, to be a good partner to the west. there is something that a chinese call their chain of pearls of not quite bases, but ports where they can get material for their navy ships and for their commercial ships. and india sees this with real concern because a lot of those ports are right around their borders into bangladesh. in sri lanka, you have them doing a lot of building and pakistan. they famously now have a military base and djibouti and people in the region, especially india sees with this with trepidation. so what are they doing? understandably, they're looking for friends. modi turned to american japanese and increasingly french courts and military bases to strengthen and expand his own position by focusing on the indo pacific. moti broaden his strategic alliances though to render mowdy and chinese president, she sion ping appear relaxed at this meeting. tensions between the 2 asian giants were escalating. the most critical arena for this conflict lies high in the himalayas at the border between the 2 countries. on july 3rd, 2020 mowdy paid a visit to lock. one of the most hotly disputed border regions. some 3 weeks earlier on the night of june, 15th indian and chinese troops had clashed their 20 indian soldiers were killed. it took 8 months for china to reveal that 4 of its soldiers were killed. 6 ah, i'm isa, and yet mo, don't says his gum use. the indian soldiers who were killed included a high ranking officer cuddy the soldiers there fight with hand weapon we because protocols dating back to the 19 ninety's would prohibit the use of firearms, says anti duty. so the chinese used clubs, wrapped and barbed wire, leaving the bodies returned to the family in a terrible condition when he shall trespass yellow conclave m e. dyke bail. ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. the mom i did wannna i v, y, i am ah gig ty, anyway, the key, ah, ah, gave julie he it was the 1st deadly confrontation between the 2 nations in 45 years. but the conflict goes back even further. though china was the victor in the 1962 sino indian war, the 2 countries both continue to draw their own border. chinese and indian troops regularly accuse each other of trespassing into foreign territory. the origin of the dispute in the, in the up am aaliyah's between india and china go back a 100 years maybe longer because of historically and angina with 2 large civilization, sol, authorization states, perhaps various ones in the history with buffer zones. the proposals didn't always good to fight to mutual satisfaction. oh, we have one perception be obviously have another was have sure they are all on territory that we see as indian territory. one in china has accused modi of building a strategic network of some 60 roads in the region after the deadly incident and june 2020 china and india both deployed tens of thousands of troops and military equipment to the border. satellite images show significant mobilization on both sides new roads. st training camps cropped up along with military boats, missiles and hela pads and the name of the government has forced this up. the indian government immune system was also ramped up building infrastructure on i was hired offline device to control chinese infrastructure is to well ahead because they've been doing it for decades. but our infrastructure is slowly catching up. that is also enhancing our capacities to patrol. and this is sometimes leading to competitions, the indian saying to their soldiers don't shoot, but also not backing down, which i think is not quite what the chinese expect. at the same time, india is also increasing its defense budgets every year and buying more modern military technology from the west and elsewhere. 1 point one. mm hm. that's with wonderful. don't tell you one young children while i live in china resents india's ever closer bonds with the u. s. and has been tightening its border controls. and in india, anti chinese sentiment is on the rise. modi's government has banned a number of popular chinese mobile apps. indian security has claimed that china has stepped up, its hacking and cyber attacks while he jostled for power in the new world order to render. mowdy has also cultivated relations with another key, military partner, israel and 20. 17 modi became the 1st indian prime minister to visit the country. and whenever india found itself in trouble beat against china, beat against focused on israelis gave covert support to india in the form of arms. india marcus was william z like us were traditionally many in india, felt that you could both who good revisions with the out of worth or with these really is willis. but not with book pri, mr. moody believes that you can vote movies visit to israel was momentous. for the simple reason that no one of the prime minister dead to do it for fear of upsetting our of opinion. but modi's alliance with israel goes beyond military co operation. hindu nationalists look to israel as a model as a country to admire as a pollster. ah, they see israel surviving and thriving in a sea of hostility. it's surrounded by arab muslim countries that hate israel. and yet israel manages to survive only survive but prosper and has never lost a water them. and dave always wanted india to emulate the israeli pluck in dealing with its own adversaries and pakistan. bolstered by his new international respectability and achievements, mowdy was preparing to move forward at home with his hindu burst agenda. ah, on august 4th 2020 modi fulfilled another of his major promises. in a formal ceremony, he laid the foundation for a new hindu temple in the city of iowa. to be built on the location of a mosque that was destroyed by a hindu mob in 1992. the ceremony was a symbol for the victory of hinduism over islam in india and a triumph for modi's hindu nationalist bass was 60 years. we've been order. it's fighting because he, in some groups wondering a temple to lose wondering how much did that have to meal rosure told us, how can you bear new things without hanging up once the bust afternoon, syndrome modi became prime minister. hindu nationalists began expunging the traces of other cultures in the country. india's muslim past in particular was to be erased from its landscape and its history. overland luis palmer, hendo as m was promoted everywhere, does 12, for instance, history books were rewritten to glorify the hindu past. and at the same time, they demonized the muslim invasion as humans, medical tale, w, z muslims became the victims of discrimination campaigns and segregation on you. did you, they're accused of seducing hen do girls to marry and convert them the deceit really fee andrew buelo. lizzie brucely quality or their said to be planning to slaughter a cow which are sacred to hindus animals, they might just simply be bringing the cows from the livestock market to their farm . them. anchorage and mobs would assault them, jewel or even lent the film. it ves ashley's will be given to it also rod the nation in late 2019 india lurched a further step to the nationalist right. some months after modi revoked kashmiris semi autonomous status and his victory in the temple controversy. his b. j. p dominated parliament passed a bill, offering easier citizenship to religious minorities from 3 countries. with one exception, muslims received his in sheep amendment act. this new law, the citizenship amendment act, made religion a condition for obtaining citizenship for the 1st time come a treaty. dex, electrically. andy, the new law was the culmination of modi's hard line, hindu nationalist agenda. but it triggered a wave of protests. across india, people took to the streets, declaring their support for muslims, and demanding the law be rescinded. the protesters who have gone up against movie are not praising focused on i'm not saying we want to destroy india. i'm not enemies of india is the prime minister would like to portray them. they are people. that song is the national anthem of india. the standard is the indian flag and the holy book is the indian constitution. in muslim dominated neighborhoods of delhi violence flared in february 22 anti communal. clashes and attacks by hindu mobs on muslims claim the lives of more than 50 people. their hundreds were injured . human rights activists in your work. even politicians from the opposition have found themselves behind bars. it's not been, it's not been easy to stand up and speak against this government, non dom your conky. india can asleep sound late. the human rights violations taking place on its territory are not being criticized yet. at least not on an official level. want to go for the longest time, people wondered what the state would look like. it looks the way it currently dos it. economy has created. there is calamitous joblessness, crisis, minorities are being told in so many ways that they can be full indians. this is pretty much what a hindu nation looks like. ah with ah, palm trees see an empty beach is spring in majorca before the holiday crowds take over. luca stay explores the german tours this favorite island. why is my yorker so popular? that's what i want to find out. checking in 30 minutes on d w. i will be is tied up in traffic jams. it's an ongoing problem in the canyon capital. a small start up with big ideas wants to improve the situation. electric buses to reduce small wires and affordable. they can already be found on the streets of 9 o. b, but does the project have a future? a 90 minutes? d, w. a . t w's crime fighters are back with africa. most successful radio drama series continues during the whole episodes are available online. course you can share and discuss on d. w, africa's facebook page and other social media platforms, crime fighters, tune in now. ah ah ah, that's the way a news line from berlin. ukraine continues and pushed back against the russian forces near 2nd largest city, ukrainian soldiers clear villages on the outskirts of hard teeth after russian troops withdraw. grains president warns of a long war ahead in the eastern don bass region. also coming up. nato foreign ministers gather in berlin for talks act as finland and sweden look to join the military.