Political interference compromising credibility of higher offices
Recent developments have cast doubts on the integrity of higher offices. The government, in its need to make things work according to its whims, has been blatantly interfering with the functioning of the various offices thus leading to erosion of their reputation. This discussion started when Modi govt made use of Army for political purposes. This trend is entirely new to India that a government would shield itself behind Army and prompt Army officers to speak good about the ruling dispensation.
Eventually, things reached a stage where the keepers of law, justices sitting in supreme court, had to register their apprehensions against the CJI. If the legal system loses its objectivity, how far behind are other agencies? Who would protect democracy if the very pillar of democracy collapses? Supreme court didn’t manage its neutral image well even when the Vice President rejected impeachment charges. Petitioners had argued that since this case was about questioning the neutrality of CJI, he should not be allowed to choose members of the bench to hear this matter. The petition was withdrawn since the most basic tenet of law was broken by the CJI.
This has raised many doubts about the functioning of the Supreme Court that has to uphold democracy and has compromised the very foundation of this country’s most important pillar of functioning. This has not just cast aspersions on the functioning of highest office of legal system in the country, but the parliament has also failed in bringing most pertinent issues to discussion and frame new policies to safeguard the sovereignty of the country.
For instance, Lok Sabha worked for only 33.6 hours among 28 days during budget session, and could pass only 2 bills in the 14 minutes it could find to pass. The 2018-19 budget was passed without any discussion. Speaker denied permission for the opposition parties to show no trust vote against the BJP. PM Modi has to ensure the discussions happen among his colleagues. But on the contrary, he and his cabinet members had staged a day-long dharna opposing the non-coperation of opposition parties.
Ironically enough, this was some gesture to overcome criticism against his authoritarian behaviour. Now, the government is literally running without a finance minister since some time. The thinkers within BJP are ruing the state it has reached within the government. Though Reserve Bank would ideally form economic policies, it gave its complete concurrence to central government to demonetize currency notes in the recent past.
About 99% of the currency was returned to the banks. But about 100 people had lost lives in the meantime. The country still continues to suffer the result of demo on the country’s economy. The Election Commission has to work neutrally without any black spots on its name if democracy has to work to the best of its abilities. But in the recent past, whether it is postponing Gujarat elections or disqualifying AAP MLAs without hearing their case, EC has been proving it is after all a caged parrot who sings the tune of its owner. The saving grace was Delhi high court which heard the case and cancelled the earlier order of disqualification.
Deemed as independent, many agencies have been compromised with as far as their functioning goes. For instance, since the Chennai High Court couldn’t decide on the legality or the lack of it, of disqualification of 18 MLAs, it seemed like the government was running its show illegally. Now Chennai High court gave a mixed verdict. Hence, the whole matter has now reached a quagmire. In a democratic set up, when all else fails, one can always rely on judicial system to serve justice. But with even judicial system being compromised on, we surely are living in those dark days of undeclared emergency.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
