1. I have got hold of an advance copy of @BarackObama's #APromisedLand & though i haven't read every page, I did read every bit on India flagged in the Index. Big news: There isn't much. Bigger news: in 902 pages, @narendramodi is not mentioned by name at all.
2. Huge praise for Dr ManMohan Singh who is warmly described as "wise, thoughtful, &scrupulously honest", "a man of uncommon wisdom& decency" with whom he enjoyed "a warm & productive relationship" though MMS was "cautious in foreign policy". His regard & respect shine through.
3. "More than anything, though, my fascination with India had to do with Mahatma Gandhi. Along with Lincoln, King, &Mandela, Gandhi had profoundly influenced my thinking."
But he worries about "impulses of violence, greed, corruption, nationalism, racism,& religious intolerance".
But he worries about "impulses of violence, greed, corruption, nationalism, racism,& religious intolerance".
4."They seemed to lie in wait everywhere, ready to resurface whenever growth rates stalled or demographics changed or a charismatic leader chose to ride the wave of people’s fears &resentments. And as much as I might have wished otherwise, there was no Mahatma Gandhi around".
5. Difficult to imagine that theSanghis who have been rejoicing on social media about one sentence in the memoir will draw much comfort from these reflections. They offer a foretaste of what Vol.2 is likely to tell us about India in a post-Manmohan Singh era, when Obama returned.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
