Given India’s complicated history, its liberal democracy was bound to be messy—chaotic, even. Nevertheless, it was robust, and Indians are justly proud of it. Unfortunately, that is changing for the worse under Modi. India is evolving into something more like a gigantic version of Israel, with Muslims playing the role of the Palestinians.
The contrast between India and China on human rights issues is not, therefore, as clear cut as we would like. Does that mean we should keep illiberal India at arm’s length? Not at all! India’s shortcomings are not as baked into the system as China’s, and in any event, India does not present the danger to its neighbors that China does. Given the changing balance of power in East Asia, we can no longer afford to be too fussy about our allies.