India Prime Minister Modi Wins Re-Election
ISA SOARES, HOST, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: Hello, I'm Isa Soares, there's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. When U.S. presidential contenders joined forces with McDonald's workers, and I sit down with the CEO. He's trying to cut down the cost of transferring money abroad, but before that, the headlines for you at this hour. Mr. Narendra Modi pulled off a stunning victory in the general election. That means he will serve another five-year term. In his victory speech, Mr. Modi promised to make India strong as well as inclusive. British and Dutch voters headed to the polls today to choose members of the European parliament. Other EU countries will follow in the coming days with the election wrapping up on Sunday. It is the world's largest multi- country election involving more than 350 million voters in 28 nations. Botswana has lifted its ban on hunting, and that includes elephants. The ban was imposed in 2014 in an attempt to deter poaching. But the government now says elephants graze crops, kill livestock and destroy water supplies and sometimes injure people. Violent Spring storms are battering central United States, Missouri and Oklahoma have seen tornadoes rip through cities and rural areas alike, tearing apart buildings and homes. Several people were killed, officials are still assessing the full scope of the damage. Well, as you just heard, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns for a second term. The Indian stock market didn't quite celebrate that win, closing lower after a brief surge. For more on what Modi's victory means for India and its economy, Foreign Policy Managing Editor Ravi Agrawal joins me now from New York. Ravi, good to see you. I was -- when I was reading on this story, Ravi, which I found fascinating for various reasons, but the most striking is that you have a country that's suffering record highs of joblessness, slumping industrial production, and many of course being hit by this currency ban, yet Modi still won with a landslide victory. Was economic policy not at the center of his campaign?</s>RAVI AGRAWAL, MANAGING EDITOR, FOREIGN POLICY: No, it really wasn't. And I think there's increasingly anecdotal evidence across the board in India, showing that Indians are willing to sustain short-term economic pain in the hope of longer-term economic gain. And also, that this was an election that wasn't really fought on the economic grounds. You'll remember for much of the campaigning over the last few months, the economy wasn't the main issue, but instead it was national security, and also national identity. So identity, politics, Hindus and Muslims, that played a big role and it seems like ultimately, the people voted to give Modi five more years as opposed to any number of other potential candidates --</s>SOARES: Yes --</s>AGRAWAL: That they didn't go for.</s>SOARES: OK, so Ravi, in that case, what does this mean for India and the economy? What would be the priority, do you think?</s>AGRAWAL: Well, there are several things that this government will need to deliver on that it promised actually not this time, but in 2014. Because when --</s>SOARES: Yes --</s>AGRAWAL: Modi came to power in a wave election in 2014, an election that was so decisive and that we thought would never happen again, and it has happened again. But it's unlikely that he'll get another chance to deliver on all of these things. So I think he's going to have to come good on some of his promises beginning with job creation because as you noted unemployment is at a record high or a 45-year high, I think. But also larger infrastructure and development projects that he's promised for quite a while now. There's a liquidity problem in the banking system in India. Those are all things that I think people will look for real deliverables in the next couple of years.</s>SOARES: Yes, because when he came to power in 2014, he did promise to give India's economy a real shot in the arm. Whether it's getting rid of red tape or helping to boost investments. So do you -- from what you've heard from Modi, are these big reforms that were promised, are they going to happen? Is he still hoping to deliver on these?</s>AGRAWAL: I think he is, and there are some advances that have been made. So I think he's been able to cut red tape a little bit, I think. India's sort of ease of business rankings in the World Bank have also improved. There are some aspects of business sentiment that have improved. Which explains this week's stock market rise, even though today it sort of pared down at the end, that there was a lot of excitement among investors when they realized that Modi was coming back. So I think there's some positivity there. But you know, Modi and his decisiveness have not always gone down well for this economy, you'll remember demonetization, the cash recall --</s>SOARES: Yes --</s>AGRAWAL: That India tried in 2016, that turned out to be disastrous, but they're real hit for GDP growth. So I think Modi will try to channel that decisiveness in a different way this time, taking on more tried and tested economic reforms instead of the more adventurous ones that he tried the last time around. And the other thing there is that, with oil prices rising, he won't have the leeway that he did in 2014. So the world scenario has also changed since then.</s>SOARES: Very true. He definitely has his work cut out, Ravi. How much -- I want to get to you, your first answer you talked about, the economic policy not being center. How much of that was his campaign and his success in the polls, more about the man rather than the policy, do you think?</s>AGRAWAL: Well, this was a referendum on Modi and it was an election that pitted Modi the man, not really the party of the BJP, but Modi the man against every other candidate running against him in 543 different seats across India. So the</s>BJP -- SOARES: Wow --</s>AGRAWAL: Successfully turned what is essentially a prime ministerial race into a more presidential style campaign. And in doing that, in framing the narrative in that way, I think Modi was able to project himself as a decisive strong man-type leader who was able to be tough on terror, who was able to stand up to Pakistan, and those are things that it seems like a younger generation of Indians quite like. You know, I think when Indians look at someone like Modi who is brash and confident and globetrotting, and he's seen hugging President Obama and hobnobbing with President Putin in Russia, they like the look of that clearly, and it seems like that's why they voted for him. And also because there wasn't a clear alternative. I think most Indians realized that even if they were to vote for the Congress, the main opposition party, it really wouldn't come to power. It would have to form -- a license to form a tenuous coalition. So they've gone for a decisive strong man.</s>SOARES: Ravi Agrawal, fascinating. I can talk with you for much longer on this, I appreciate you coming in, thank you, good to see you, Ravi.</s>AGRAWAL: Thanks, Isa.</s>SOARES: Now, McDonald's workers aren't loving it. They're holding protests right across United States joined by some presidential candidates as the fast food giant gets grilled by shareholders. I'll be taking live - - talking live to a lawyer in fact, who is fighting to help the chain's workers. We'll be back after a very short break.