Trump’s Christian Nationalism Presents New International Possibilities for the BJP
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
As he races to clinch the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, Donald Trump is intensifying the outreach to America’s Christian nationalists. At a speech last week to the Christian Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Trump repeatedly quoted from the Bible and invoking God, promised to use the full power of the White House to end the ‘persecution’ of Christians and put Christian values at the centre of American political life.
The rise of ‘Christian nationalism’ in the US and its growing resonance across the Western world, according to C Raja Mohan (contributing editor on international affairs for The Indian Express) “is likely to open some interesting intersections with the BJP and the Indian government in the widely expected third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Traditionally, India has had little engagement with the Christian political formations in the US and the West. That has begun to change in the last few years, as many of these conservative forces reach out to the BJP……"
Rise of religious nationalism in Christendom in parallel with the consolidation of the BJP as the dominant force in the Indian polity
The rise of religious nationalism in Christendom, “in parallel with the consolidation of the BJP as the dominant force in the Indian polity, could mark a major break in the evolution of India’s internationalism. Over the last century, India’s global political connections were shaped by India’s communist, socialist and Congress parties that built ties with the left and centre-left forces in Europe.
“The decline of the communist parties in the West has been matched by the marginalisation of the Indian communists. Although the social democratic parties in Europe remain a force to be reckoned with, the Indian socialists have fragmented into family-dominated fiefdoms with little interest in global affairs and no capability to engage with their historical counterparts in the West. The Congress has long ceased engaging its centre-left counterparts in the West.”
Unlike Congress and the Left, “the RSS and the BJP have less of an internationalist history. This is unsurprising given their nativist roots. This could change as the nativists around the world go global. Over the last few decades, the BJP has begun to connect, if tentatively, with political parties in other countries.
“As it expanded at home in the last decade, the BJP has enhanced its outreach to the diplomatic missions in Delhi as well as foreign political parties under the ‘Get to know the BJP’ initiative. Christian Democrats and other conservative parties in Europe, too, have been knocking at the BJP’s door.
“It is not clear if Christian nationalists can overturn liberal hegemony in the US and Europe, but they are bound to make some difference to Western polities, domestically and internationally. This could open up new international possibilities for both the BJP and the Modi government, which have often locked horns with the Western liberal establishments in recent years.”
