Two recent reports emerging in the American media are intended to lower India’s image at a time when there is a government change in the US. The first was an article stating that India was scheming with politicians of Maldives to have the current proChina President, Mohamad Muizzu, removed from power. The intent was to hit India’s standing in the region by highlighting its Big Brother reputation of interfering in internal affairs of neighbouring countries where current governments are not to its liking.

The report was denied by the foreign minister of Maldives, Dr Abdulla Khaleel, during his India visit as also by the MEA. In an interview to an Indian channel, Khaleel mentioned, “The claims are totally untrue, I’m not sure from where they got the evidence to base it on. But it’s totally untrue.” The MEA spokesperson commented, “Both the newspaper and the reporter in question appear to nurse a compulsive hostility towards India. You can see a pattern in their activities.” Soon after the publication of the report, the Maldivian defence minister also visited India to revive defence ties, frozen after the withdrawal of India’s military personnel manning helicopters and aircraft gifted to the Maldives. The meeting was positive. In its independent analysis, an Indian newspaper, quoting senior Indian intelligence officials, wrote “Rogue, but influential officials in the US State Department, closely associated with those pressure and lobbying groups identified as ‘anti-India’, were behind the recent report.”

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It added that these officials are unhappy with India’s growing assertiveness. The second was an article published on 31 December, accusing India of conducting targeted assassinations in Pakistan since 2021. The article mentions that India’s RAW utilizes services of local criminals in Pakistan or Afghan contractors, and payments are made through Dubaibased intermediaries or through informal banking networks. It claims to have examined six specific incidents. It again had no substantial backing to justify its claims. Pakistani media had a field day in joining the anti-India bandwagon. It gave the Pakistani government another opportunity to blame India.

The articles were possibly also aimed at countering the narrative being pushed by Indian media that the US was behind the regime change in Bangladesh, aiming to impact India’s ties with Dhaka. Both the articles were coauthored by a known Indian critic. The timing of both reports, just prior to Donald Trump assuming the presidency, seems calculated to damage India’s global standing. This is not the first time US media has been critical of India. Despite India handling Covid 19 better than the US, it came under intense criticism. Throughout India’s elections last year, reputed American media houses, published pieces mentioning that these elections are anti-Muslim and the reelection of PM Modi would mean more violence against minorities. Some of these anti-India articles were also authored by Indians who despise the BJP. Evidently, the intent was to lower the image of the current ruling dispensation in Delhi as also influence India’s election process. However, it failed as Indians were uninfluenced.

Western media networks happily jumped on fake accusations being thrown towards India by Canada as also the Pannun case in the US. But not a single US media house mentioned the role of the deep state in the change of leadership in Bangladesh, while the world was aware of it. The US deep state wants to keep India under check while exploiting its growing distance from China as also its economic and military power in the Asia-Pacific. While US and India launch iCet to open doors for technology sharing and the US encourages companies to shift from China to India, it simultaneously, does not want India to be the sole beneficiary of the China Plus 1 policy.

Washington cannot permit New Delhi to become a challenge in the years ahead as China is, while needing India to be more than just an ally. For the US, an India with an independent foreign policy, many times at loggerheads with the views of Washington is unacceptable. In the long term it would prefer a government which it can manipulate at will. In December, the BJP leadership, displaying independence from the government, began targeting the US deep state directly. It claimed that opposition parties were basing their accusations on articles funded by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an organization which is partially funded by the US state department. This led to the US spokesperson commenting negatively on the accusations. This was possibly the first time that the ruling party has targeted the US in this manner.

Anger was building against actions of the US government over a period of time. It was evident when the State Department invited members of Sikhs for Justice, a pro-Khalistan group, to the White House for discussions, coinciding with the visit of PM Modi to the US for the Quad summit. It is also known that the deep state was involved in supporting protests in India, which could have had a damaging impact on the nation’s economy and internal security. The link between the current US leadership and the anti-India lobby in the US gained impetus when George Soros, known to be anti-Modi, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Biden.

Many Trump backers also criticized the award, with Elon Musk mentioning, “A travesty that Biden is giving Soros the Medal of Freedom.” The US-based Media Research Centre in a report mentions that Soros funds more than 180 media outlets with ties to dozens more through secondary sources, boards and the like. It adds, “Every month, reporters, writers and bloggers at the many outlets he funds easily reach more than 330 million people around the globe.” Trump has on multiple occasions mentioned his intent to dismantle the deep state. This is easier said than done as the organization is deeply embedded within the US government. While he may not achieve his aim, he would be able to curb its actions to some extent. This implies that the deep state would not function as openly as before. However, the tirade against India would continue. (The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.)