Once shunned and now eagerly courted by the West, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has steered his country away from its secular traditions and towards the Hindu-first politics he has championed for decades.
Modi's political ascent was marred by allegations of his culpability in India 's worst religious riots this century, and his tenure has dovetailed with rising hostility towards Muslims and other minorities.
"They dislike me because of my humble origins," he said in rallies ahead of the last elections, lambasting his opponents. But the seeds of his political destiny were sown at the age of eight when he joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh , a hardline nationalist group. He later told a BBC reporter that his main weakness in responding to the riots was not knowing"how to handle the media".
But Western democracies have sidestepped rights concerns in the hopes of cultivating a regional ally that can help check China's assertiveness.
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