Trump’s MAGA + Modi’s MIGA = A mega contradiction

In his visit to Washington last fortnight, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proclaimed a new equation in US-India relations: “MAGA + MIGA = MEGA Partnership”.

By aligning India’s development goals with Trump’s signature slogan, Modi aimed to appeal to American conservatives while boasting about India’s rise as a global power. However, beneath the rhetoric of economic cooperation and shared nationalist aspirations lies a fundamental contradiction – one that exposes the fragility of this supposed alliance.

At its core, Trump’s Make America Great Again or MAGA movement has been deeply intertwined with white supremacist ideologies and an exclusionary vision of America. While some Indian-American conservatives have aligned themselves with MAGA politics, often based on a shared Islamophobia and anti-left sentiment, they have failed to recognise the movement’s broader racial and cultural prejudices.

The recent spate of anti-Indian rhetoric from MAGA figures and their supporters, from Silicon Valley to the White House, is a stark reminder that the movement does not see Hindutva supporters as equals, but rather as a convenient, expendable constituency.

Prime Minister Modi’s attempt to merge MAGA with MIGA or Make India Great Again is rooted in the assumption that nationalist movements can find common ground. Both movements center around a romanticised past, economic self-sufficiency and a muscular...

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