Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s frequent trips abroad — he has visited 15 nations in 11 months since becoming the prime minister — are mired in controversies providing ammunition to his detractors to fire one salvo after another lowering the prestige of the high office Modi holds.
The latest charge is the most serious. Modi’s critics believe his choice of clothes during state visits — his insistence on open neck shirts and polo neck jumpers under his jacket instead of the suit and tie heads of state usually wear on formal occasions — amounts to disregard for a universally accepted dress code, which can be easily interpreted as sheer contempt for his hosts who take the trouble of dressing appropriately for the occasion. Before the latest accusation was hurled at the 64-year-old premier, opposition leaders attributed his record number of foreign trips to not being able to travel overseas at will for more than a decade because many countries, including USA, refused him visas. Modi’s critics believe he is making up for lost time!
The PM is also in the dock for trivializing the serious business of diplomacy by organizing spectacular shows for ethnic Indians in the countries he visited. He is accused of using foreign affairs for personality building instead of furthering national interests. The Congress Party said on record that Modi’s public rallies like the programs in New York and Sydney reduced India to a joker on the global stage.
Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and former Bihar chief minister known for his earthy sense of humor has remarked that Modi is spending so much time abroad that he deserves to be re-designated Non-Resident Indian Prime Minister, while Modi’s prolonged absence in Parliament prompted Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien to wonder aloud whether Modi needed a visa to enter Parliament!
Most Indian politicians regardless of their ideology, wear white crumpled cotton kurta-pyjama or shirt and trousers for most of the year. During winters they don traditional woolens like pullovers and coats. But while abroad, they invariably settle for a dark suit and tie while representing India at official functions or at informal gatherings. Modi, though, is cut from a different cloth. Instead of the regulation white kurta-pyjana, he wears half-sleeved linen, khadi or silk kurtas [men’s kurtas are usually long-sleeved] and churidar pyjamas paired with made-to-order Nehru jackets. His choice of colors also stands out — from canary yellow to lime green to sky blue and conspicuous saffron — the color of his Bharatiya Janata Party.
The PM clearly wants his colorful, designer outfits to reflect his vision of a confident, aspirational India. According to one astute observer, “a former tea boy who rose to the top, Modi has embraced a look of prosperity and power, in line with his message of economic reform; he has a keen eye for what makes him look good from his stylish eyewear to his watch to his waistcoat.”
Modi’s dress code in the country is a big hit, although some detractors do wonder “how much time Modi would have to run the country when he changes 500 kurtas a day.” The problem lies elsewhere — in foreign countries the PM is regularly jetting to as if there is no tomorrow. According to Karan Thapar, one of India’s most respected TV hosts known for his sharp tongue, Modi should not think that he is above international conventions governing the dress code of heads of state.
Elaborating on what he called Modi’s “sartorial idiosyncrasies,” Tahpar wrote: “Modi’s aversion to ties is obvious. During his visit to Germany and France, there were many occasions when every other man had a tie, including the French foreign minister who was accompanying him, while Modi deliberately did not.”
“Modi, the individual, has a right to dress as he wants. But do we have a right to expect something more from Modi, the PM? It may be acceptable for an individual to be oddly or inappropriately attired, but is it improper, even discourteous to his hosts, for the Indian PM to be wrongly dressed?”
According to Thapar, occasions where Modi was seen without a tie in France were public and not private events; meaning that he was there not in his individual capacity but as India’s premier. In the world of international diplomacy, dressing formally for men means a suit and tie. To defy that dress code suggests either ignorance of or indifference to a global convention. Let’s see if Modi pays any heed to Thapar’s verdict that his dress sense on foreign soil is “improper, impolite and inappropriate.”
