Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his 10 years of rule has focused on development, an influential Indian-American author has said, hoping that a third term for him would give India another five years of stability and provide him an opportunity to address some of the major challenges facing the country.

“India can courageously counter all this (challenges being faced from outside the country). The reason India can counter all this is because of the Modi government. Despite all the things that people claim, argue and criticise, the fact is that they’ve delivered development. A lot more development is needed but they have delivered,” Princeton-based Indian-American author Rajiv Malhotra told PTI in an interview.

A prolific writer, Malhotra over the last few decades has authored several books in opposition to the Western academic study of Indian culture and society.  “Snake in the Ganga: Breaking India 2.0” is his latest book. Referring to the Indian media reports, Malhotra said it looks like Modi is coming back to power for the third term.

Malhotra said that during his two terms, the Modi government had carried out development that benefited all sections of society.

“You can show statistically that every segment of society from poor to minorities, and so on have benefited. When you can show it numerically that now they have roads, clean water, better health facilities, food, and education. So then people have to say this government has delivered whereas the previous government was making all the slogans of fighting poverty etc., and not delivering,” he said.

“Ultimately, poor people need economic development and that has been a successful central agenda of this government,” Malhotra said, arguing that Modi in his third term should focus on several key challenges, including intervention from outside powers in India’s internal affairs.

He suggested creating a national think-tank, carrying certain constitutional amendments that give equal rights and benefits to all Indians irrespective of caste, religion and ethnicity.

Malhotra, who heads the Infiniti Foundation in the US, agreed with the recent statement of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar that external forces had tried to influence the results and nature of Indian elections.

“First of all, let me just say that while I like Jaishankar’s ability, his audacity and his quick response. That’s all good. Previously they were apologetic. But I will say I have a criticism that he is not able to anticipate. He can react. He is unable to anticipate where it’s coming from, where the vulnerabilities are, where the next attack is coming, who the bad guys are, and who the ones doing it are,” he said. “They haven’t done a diagnostic. They haven’t done deep enough research. Because of that, they are running around wondering where the next attack will come. You cannot survive long-term when the other side is deciding when, how and where to attack you and then you will respond. I think in the field of physical attacks, and terrorist attacks, India has become pretty good. The intelligence agencies can stop the attacks or anticipate and respond before they happen in many cases,” he said.

“There are many instances where they’ve been able to preempt attacks. But in the intellectual space of narratives of tarnishing India’s image, stirring up violence against India, whether it’s Khalistan, whether it’s Kashmir separatists, whether it’s all these woke kids who are shouting and screaming, whether it’s the United Nations or whether it’s the, you know, campuses and think tanks, India has not been able to (address that),” Malhotra said.

Malhotra alleged that the Reliance group is funding an anti-India professor in the United States.

“One of the worst anti-India, anti-Hindu scholars in the world is Professor (Victor David) Hanson at Stanford. He is called Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani professor at Stanford. All this dismantled Hindutva and all that, he is one of the signatories to all these things. You read his papers, it’s so loud, clear,” he said.

“He considers that this whole Hindu revival and the Hindu Rashtra idea and the RSS and Modi, are violating human rights of minorities. They should have sanctions against them. They are a bunch of Nazis. It is not like you have to be very subtle when reading it. It is so blatant out there. These people go and give a talk to the US Commission on Religious Freedom. They talk to the US Senate and Congress. They are the ones who all the enemies of India are supporting whether it’s ISI, whether it’s Kashmir separatists, whether it’s Khalistanis. They like to quote this kind of thing. And, surprisingly, Ambani has a name on it,” Malhotra alleged.