- Thursday, February 27, 2025
The Global Times called India’s democracy a ‘so-called’ one and said the West was turning a blind eye to its ‘human rights abuses’ in order to use New Delhi against Beijing.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Chinese media has slammed India and the West, particularly the US, over the ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada which it said has put the bilateral relations between New Delhi and Ottawa “further at stake”.
The state-owned Global Times, which is often known for its belligerent takes, said in an opinion piece titled ‘Escalating India-Canada spat highlights hypocrisy of US values-based alliances’ that disputes between India and Canada in recent years have been centered around the Sikh community based in Canada “which opposes the Narendra Modi government and advocates Sikh rights”.
It went on to say that observers are of the opinion generally that a lack of meeting between Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau during the recently held G20 summit in New Delhi indicated that the relationship was facing a potential threat.
It then slammed the US saying both India and Canada were now escalating mutual accusations and expelling diplomats, exposing the “vulnerability of the so-called value-based alliance system led by the US”.
The Global Times article then took on the West saying it claims itself to be defender of human rights and often criticises other nations over human rights issues. Calling India’s democracy a “so-called” one, the Chinese outlet said the West’s praise for India’s “so-called democracy” is mainly propelled by geopolitical interests and the plan to include India in their alliance against Beijing.
“Western elites are well aware of the substantial differences between India’s so-called “democracy” and their own. Many individuals in the West do not support India’s religious and minority policies,” the piece said.
The article cited Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute of Tsinghua University in the Chinese capital, as saying that the West, especially the US, has been “waving the banner” of common values of democracy and freedom in recent years as it tries to develop comprehensive cooperation with India in a bid to contain China.
The piece then accused the West of turning a blind eye to what they think are India’s human rights abuses and infringement on ethnic minorities at home and said that it exposed the hypocrisy of the West’s alliance with India “based on their so-called common values”.
It also cited Zhao Gancheng, a research fellow from Shanghai Institute for International Studies, saying it is doubtful whether the West actually considers India as a democratic country like themselves and is just taking advantage of the situation since India is “useful to Westerners” at the moment.
It also indirectly took a dig at the Quad alliance including the US, India, Australia and Japan saying the “alliance currently formed by the US, including India, is facing increasing embarrassment”. Beijing has in the past alleged that platforms such as Quad have been formed to contain it and stoke confrontation. Russia, too, has made similar allegations.
“This once again demonstrates the vulnerability of the US in building such alliances and the inappropriateness of ideological alliances in the context of the development trends of the times, neglecting the diversity of national interests. Both India and Canada have expelled senior officials from each other, and if the India-Canada relationship continues to deteriorate, the US might quickly step in to “mediate.” After all, for the US, intervening in Canada’s affairs is a familiar and easy task,” it added.
