Why is the prime minister so popular abroad? For the diaspora, Modi has made it ‘cool’ to be an Indian

It was a spectacle few Australians had witnessed before, and most certainly not involving a politician. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi entered the Qudos Bank Arena, a 20,000-seater stadium in Sydney to address the Indian diaspora, the venue gave him a reception that is reserved for rockstars. If anything, it was even more intense. At least that is the impression that his host, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who shared the stage with Modi and introduced him to the crowd, gave. Albanese, who had taken a lap of honour in a golf cart along with Modi around a boisterous Ahmedabad stadium, the venue for the fourth India-Australia cricket Test match during his India visit in March, said the greeting extended to Modi in Sydney on Tuesday surpassed even a concert by American rock icon Bruce Springsteen. “The last time I saw someone on the stage here was Bruce Springsteen and he didn’t get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has got,” Albanese told the ebullient crowd. “Prime minister Modi is the Boss,” Albanese said, using Springsteen’s nickname. Joe Biden recently said much the same thing. The US president has invited the prime minister of India for a state visit to Washington DC on 22 June, and during the Quad Leaders’ summit in Hiroshima last week, told Modi that “you are causing me a real problem. Next month we have a dinner for you in Washington. Everyone in the whole country wants to come. I have run out of tickets. You think I am kidding? Ask my team. I am getting phone calls from people I have never heard of before. Everyone from movie actors to relatives. You are too popular”. Albanese, who played the ‘host’ in Hiroshima for the third in-person summit of Quad, a diplomatic partnership also involving Japan, chipped in by telling Biden that more than 90,000 people greeted him and Modi at the Ahmedabad stadium in March. This isn’t a new occurrence. Modi is used to getting rousing receptions from the Indian diaspora during visits abroad. During the ongoing three-nation tour involving stoppages in Japan, Pacific Islands and now, Australia, Modi was mobbed at Hiroshima and received a rousing welcome from the Indian community at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Accounts from people, mainly members of the Indian community who flocked to the venue to catch a glimpse of the prime minister portray wide-eyed admiration for Modi, a deep sense of respect and pride. It is unusual for a politician. The Modi totem, at least in the eyes of the expatriates, has become synonymous with the rise of India, and the prime minister is being imbued with an infallibility that closely resembles a personality cult. Associated Press talked to Sydney doctor Vani Arjunamani, one of the organisers of a rally near the stadium where Modi appeared, who said the prime minister was drawing bigger crowds than he did when he visited Australia in 2014. “It’s very interesting, isn’t it? Is there another head of state that can pull this crowd?” she asked. It would be naïve to imagine that the spectacle that involved delirious support from Indians who thronged to the stadium and broke out frequently into ‘Modi, Modi’ chants during the prime minister’s speech, was entirely organic. There certainly was a degree of political mobilization. It wasn’t just the community members from Sydney who attended the event, many had travelled from around Australia, helped by a chartered flight rebranded as ‘Modi Airways’ that brought in fans from Melbourne, or a ‘Modi Express’ from Queensland, according to reports in local media. A degree of mobilisation was evident. However, to suggest that the exhilarating welcome for Modi, his sky-high popularity, or the spontaneity among the attendees are ‘staged’ affairs would be misleading. Bleary-eyed Indian expats waiting for Modi’s aircraft to land in ungodly morning hours so that they may catch a fleeting glance of the prime minister, touch his hands, or take a selfie with him is nothing new. The scene has been played over and over in different venues across the planet, in locations and at moments where coordination or political organization is simply impossible. So, what is happening here? What explains Modi’s incredible popularity among Indians based abroad? Why does he command a cultish following among the diaspora wherever he goes, be it the US, the UK, Germany, Denmark, the Pacific Islands, or Dubai? On the community reception for Modi in Sydney, journalist Stephen Dziedzic of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, who covered the event, writes on Twitter that “I spent an hour or so outside speaking to people flocking into the venue, asking them why they came. A few things struck me… many of those I spoke to weren’t necessarily big BJP supporters. They saw themselves as patriots, not partisans… Something else is going on. The people I spoke to came back, time and time again, to a sense of pride. They were proud of the respect India (and Modi) commands.” The Australian media presumably has been taken aback by the explosion of support for Modi from the Indian community, which, though small at around 2.8 per cent of the total population, according to some estimates is the fastest-growing ethnic minority in Australia. The community’s outsized influence on bilateral ties, which are already on the upswing, is clear. Modi and Albanese announced on Tuesday that Sydney’s Harris Park area in Paramatta will henceforth be called ‘Little India.’ One of the reasons why Australian prime minister Albanese was an enthusiastic attendee at Modi’s community event in Sydney where he showered effusive praise on his Indian counterpart and credited Modi with helping “make our democracy stronger and more inclusive”, is that the public diplomacy that Modi engaged in so effectively — galvanizing and motivating the crowd with targeted messages of Indo-Australian friendship, lauding them for creating “mutual trust and mutual respect” between the two nations — may translate into political benefits for the incumbents. For instance, as The Guardian reports, Albanese urged those in the crowd to vote ‘yes’ in the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament. And while the expat Indians won’t vote for Modi in elections, the wide coverage of the event by Indian media beamed at home through TV and social media for millions to witness will have a cascading effect, uplifting Modi’s image abroad and reinforcing his popularity at home. This symbiosis makes the community events attractive for the host nations and Modi alike, but that doesn’t answer the key question. What’s in it for the Indian immigrants? What explains their adulatory invocations of Modi? “We love Mr Modi a lot,” one attendee from Oran Park in Sydney’s west was quoted, as saying by Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian newspaper. “He has brought India to the highest level.” Another one said, Modi had “lifted India up”. The frequent, overwhelming emotion that surfaces is pride. Modi has instilled in the Indian diaspora a sense of confidence, boosted their self-esteem. These are affluent Indians who have done very well for themselves abroad, but up until now their prosperity has not been accompanied by an unapologetic expression of cultural pride. The manifestation of their Indianness had remained subdued — be it in Australia, Europe, or the United States. It wasn’t to be flaunted as the expatriates put their head down to adjust, adopt and assimilate the new cultural norms while showing exemplary work ethic and emerge, for instance, as the  richest and most successful ethnic group in the US. The trade-off has been the community’s sense of identity that had so far been hemmed in by an amalgamation of perception and reality about their country of birth being globally perceived as an exotic emblem of poverty and spirituality. That  often racist depiction in Western gaze had been normalised even by the community members themselves which also served as a twisted justification for their decision to leave the motherland for greener pastures abroad. Modi’s singular greatest contribution, in their eyes, has been to uplift the country’s image before a foreign audience and enhance their own cultural identity that is now finding a fuller expression. The identity crisis and cultural incongruity have been at least partially addressed by India’s ascent as the fifth-largest economy and rise in diplomatic stature. It is now ‘cool’ to be an Indian, the fastest-growing large economy being wooed by all sides of the geopolitical divide. The question is moot whether Modi has been the catalyst behind this rise, or he has simply been effective in exploiting the curve with a great sense of timing. I would argue that India’s diplomatic and economic stature has risen faster under Modi than at any point of time in its post-Independence history, and he has the bragging rights. Modi has been astute in tracking and tapping into the strength and power of the Indian diaspora, and in sensing a change in their mood towards greater positivity. He has masterfully fuelled their sense of achievement by calling members of the diaspora, ‘rashtradoots’ (ambassadors) and ‘living bridges’. They have responded wholeheartedly to Modi’s suggestion that the diaspora is India’s projection of soft power. The adulation is, therefore, inevitable. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.