India’s Quiet Strength – Not Media Noise

Hype vs Reality & Multipolar Path Forward

I write this on the eve of Independence Day. I write it out of love for India. I do not wish to tear my country down. I want truth, so India can truly rise.

Our media loves big headlines about manufacturing. Newspapers, TV channels, and even NITI Aayog echo slogans like “India will lead electronics,” “5G self-reliance,” and “world leader in mobile phone production.” But much of the heavy lifting still comes from China. We import key parts, modules, and even the machines that make them, then assemble them here. Many finished goods with Indian brands are really built from imported components. Our so-called “5G network” rests largely on knock-down imports. Our space and defence agencies too are not immune to the charm of Chinese stuff. We even cheered when the US blocked Huawei, yet we still lack strong domestic research and development to fill that gap.

The same pattern shows in medicines. India still buys vital drug ingredients from abroad. Active pharmaceutical ingredients come largely from Chinese makers. That leaves our drug supply chain fragile if geopolitics or trade lines break.

Electric vehicles (EV) sound like a new India story. But our EV push depends on imported battery cells, magnets and other parts. Millions of rupees flow outward to buy things we do not yet fully make. That is not an industrial revolution. It is a supply-chain gap. 

The government’s production linked incentive (PLI) and similar schemes have pushed smartphone assembly upwards. Production numbers look good. But assembly can hide dependence. Much of the high-value kit still arrives from overseas. We must be honest about that difference. 

Why does this matter? Because slogans and PR cannot replace raw capability. If we call assembling a factory “manufacturing independence,” we sleepwalk into strategic risk. We should ask hard questions. Where are the chip fabs? Where are our own battery plants at scale? Who builds the machines that make the machines?

Instead of noisy headlines and puffed-up narratives, India should make real things quietly. True prestige follows real achievement, not empty cheers.

Foreign policy matters here. Recent U.S. pressure, including new tariffs tied to energy and trade has shaken the optimistic optics of India-US closeness. Trump slapped a 50% tariff on India over our oil imports from Russia. Reports say tariffs and trade coercion have even put some U.S. defence and Boeing aircraft purchases under review. New Delhi is watching options. This is a wake-up call: alliances shift when trade and power collide.

Recently, the US sent back 104 Indians in a military plane. Their hands and legs were chained for 40 hours, including women and children. The flight reached Amritsar. Opposition MPs called the treatment “degrading” and held protests. The foreign minister engaged Washington over the treatment. But the wounds remain. These actions frighten the diaspora and raise doubts about the “friendship” with America. This is not easy to swallow. It hurts, and many Indians now think twice before going abroad. Our friendly ties seem fragile when dignity is sacrificed.

Worse still, in early 2025 the U.S. moved to end birthright citizenship through an executive order. Children born in the U.S. to non-citizen or temporary visa holders, like many Indians, would no longer be guaranteed automatic citizenship. Courts stepped in. Multiple judges nationwide, including in Maryland, issued injunctions halting the policy, with the latest ruling reaffirming that birthright citizenship remains protected under the 14th Amendment. The worldwide backlash shows how deeply the issue touches immigrant families.

Additionally, Trump administration increased scrutiny of Green Card holders. These steps created deep anxiety among migrants, including Indians who have lived in the U.S. for decades.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs

As US ties flicker, India needs steadier partners. Russia stays close; Putin may visit New Delhi soon. Modi will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in China. BRICS and SCO should be more than photo-ops. They should mean real multipolar solidarity. Economist Jeffrey Sachs says it plainly: India and China need each other in a multipolar world. The U.S. wants to use India, but we should stand tall. We are the third-largest economy. With care and respect, we can outgrow old power centres. A stable future demands mutual respect, not subservience. Watch Jeffrey Sachs's comments in these YouTube video links: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9xE4tumqzz0 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FyYv_WgYQeg

There is a moral angle, too. Our diplomatic choices, for example a visible tilt toward Israel and distancing from Palestine, have consequences at home and abroad. Large protests and international criticism show that many countries and civil societies object to the violence in Gaza and the humanitarian cost. These choices affect how India is judged on the world stage. 

Inside the country, institutions are under strain. Eminent voices warn that politics is creeping into education and public life. When universities and public bodies change appointments for political reasons, merit suffers. When the media shrinks from critique and repeats slogans, democracy weakens. Former Vice Chancellor at Delhi University and economist Deepak Nayyar, and others have pointed out the risks to higher education and institutional autonomy. This is not abstract. It is about the future of our public life. 

These concerns are not only about universities or the media. Many people feel the bureaucracy, once expected to be impartial, is now leaning toward the political mood of the ruling establishment. It is not acting like a neutral guardian of the Constitution. Even the armed forces, which have always stayed above politics, now face such doubts. Critics say some military statements seem aimed at serving political optics instead of plain facts. This raises serious questions. Are institutions that should unite the nation being pulled into politics?

I must be blunt. A free press and tough scrutiny are not enemies of the state. They are its protectors. If journalists avoid critical questions and prefer applause over accountability, power grows unchecked. Power without checks drifts toward arrogance. Arrogance can become something close to a dictatorial mood. That is a danger no patriot should ignore.

I believe in India’s talent and grit. I celebrate every factory that gives steady work. I salute scientists and engineers who push our limits. But I will not applaud theatre for progress. I want real factories, real research, real supply chains that can stand shocks. I want policies that back substance, not slogans.

I am not trying to put India in a poor light. I am asking the hard questions that the media should be asking. I am trying to nudge our conscience. Love of country is not blind love. True patriotism is pointing out faults with respect and demanding better. If the press, our institutions and our leaders listen, India will not just sound strong, it will be strong. I want my India to have a bureaucracy that is efficient, fearless and neutral, one that upholds the Constitution above all else. I want my India where politicians do not drag our defence forces into political theatre. Our institutions must serve the Republic, not a party, not a leader and certainly not a narrative. Jai Hind!

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