India presents itself to the world as the largest democracy, a secular republic, a rising power and a dependable partner. Recent evidence suggests a widening gap between that self-portrait and reality. Democratic institutions are under strain at home, criminal networks and visa abuse are damaging India’s reputation abroad, and a transactional foreign policy is eroding trust among partners. These are not separate stories. They share one logic: image over accountability, majoritarian power over restraint, and interest over principle.
The clearest signals come from those who measure democracy. V-Dem ranks India 106th on its Electoral Democracy Index, scoring 0.38, the lowest since the Emergency of 1975, and classifies it as an electoral autocracy. Freedom House gives a historic low of 62 out of 100. New Delhi disputes such rankings, yet the trend is hard to dismiss, and saner minds in India themselves ask how long a model built on Hindu-nationalist identity can sustain national cohesion. Electoral integrity is the sharpest flashpoint. Special Intensive Revision removed an estimated 13.3-13.4 crore names from voter rolls, with over 71 per cent marked “absent or shifted.” The INDIA bloc and the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party protested and were met with heavy policing and detentions of rivals. ACLED logged 20606 demonstrations in 2025 and 18074 through September 2026, about 17.5 per cent of the global total, driven by grievances over representation, equality and civil liberties.
Does this mean Modi’s downfall has begun? Supporters cite high turnout, an assertive judiciary, a contributing diaspora and a long tradition of strategic autonomy — arguments deserving a hearing.
Minorities bear the heaviest burden in the form of the Citizenship Amendment Act, “bulldozer justice” against Muslim homes, and 1318 anti-minority hate-speech events in 2025, 98 per cent targeting Muslims. Manipur’s violence left 260-300 dead, tens of thousands displaced and over 360 churches destroyed, while IIOJK endured a lockdown and communications blackout after Article 370’s revocation. Add youth unemployment of 16.2 per cent and Elon Musk’s jibe about “Prime Minister Ambani” during the Starlink standoff, and critics see crony capitalism shielding a few billionaires while citizens pay the price.
Precision matters here! Most of the Indian diaspora is law-abiding and valued by host societies. The problem is specific criminal networks and visa abuse. In 2025, Canada designated the Bishnoi gang, linked to murder, extortion and drug trafficking. In 2026, the US “Operation Hard Ball” produced 24 arrests and 37 charged defendants in a network terrorising Indian communities abroad, showing how syndicates run from Indian jails reach overseas.
Other indicators trouble host countries. UK convictions of Indian nationals for sexual offences reportedly rose 257 per cent between 2021 and 2024, from 28 to 100. Indians receive roughly 70-73 per cent of H1B approvals, yet investigators uncovered over 100,000 fake degrees from 28 Indian universities.
India calls its approach multi-alignment; critics call it opportunism. It kept buying Russian oil through the Ukraine war, peaking above 2.6-2.8 million barrels per day in mid-2026, and repeatedly abstained at the UN. It is the world’s second-largest arms importer (8.2-8.3 per cent of global share), with Russia supplying around 40 per cent, France 29 per cent, and Israel 15 per cent. It deepens defence and intelligence ties with Israel as Gaza’s death toll passes 74,000, while millions of workers sustain Gulf economies and remittances.
The graver charge is intelligence activity on allied soil. Canada’s CSIS lists India among the main perpetrators of foreign interference and transnational repression. The US prosecuted an alleged Indian-linked plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Australia expelled RAW operatives, and Germany convicted Indian nationals of spying on Sikh and Kashmiri communities. In Qatar, eight former naval officers were arrested on espionage charges in 2022; most were released by 2024.
Together, these stories reinforce each other. Domestic illiberalism weakens the moral authority India claims abroad; incidents abroad redirect attention home; and partners increasingly separate India’s market from their trust.
Does this mean Modi’s downfall has begun? Supporters cite high turnout, an assertive judiciary, a contributing diaspora and a long tradition of strategic autonomy, arguments deserving a hearing. But the cost of maintaining the facade is rising, and a fractured, nationalist India is a source of regional instability that its neighbours and partners must reckon with.
The writer is an alumnus of QAU, FUI, and often writes on social issues and geopolitics. He can be reached at faisalnoorani12 @yahoo.com