Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come under fire for comments made during his election campaign that critics have described as hate speech against Muslims, sparking anger and fear among the minority.

The 73-year-old leader addressed a rally in the northwestern state of Rajasthan on Sunday, just days after India kicked off a six-week election process in which Modi is seeking a rare third term.

Modi told the crowd that the Congress, the country’s main opposition party, would redistribute India’s wealth among “migrants” if it came to power, in provocative remarks thought to be aimed at winning support from his majority Hindu voter base.

“When they (Congress) were in power, they said that Muslims have the first right to the wealth of the country. They will take all your wealth and distribute it among those who have more children… among migrants,” Modi warned his audience. “Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to immigrants? Would you accept that?” he added.

Modi’s Hindu nationalist activities

Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its supporters have previously referred to Muslims as immigrants and criticised them for their high birth rate. Such comments have fuelled fears among BJP supporters that Muslims will overtake India’s majority Hindu population. Muslims make up about 200 million of India’s 1.4 billion people.

Muslims are worried and angry about these reactions

India has been plagued for years by violence and sectarian conflict between Hindus and Muslims.

During his ten years in office, Modi has been criticised for undermining India’s tradition of secularism. Since coming to power, he has abolished the semi-autonomous status of the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir. In January, Modi inaugurated the great Lord Ram temple in Ayodhya in the northeast, once a flashpoint of Hindu-Muslim conflict.

His government also passed a citizenship law granting citizenship to Hindus and people of some other faiths fleeing neighbouring countries, a rule critics say is designed to keep Muslims out.

Opposition calls for probe

India’s opposition said Modi’s weekend remarks were hate speech and accused him of violating election rules that prohibit candidates from trying to influence voters through religion, community or religious symbols.

The Congress described the remarks as ‘highly objectionable’ and asked India’s Election Commission to investigate. An Election Commission official told India’s The Economic Times newspaper that the complaints were ‘under consideration’.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on social media platform X that “no prime minister in the history of India has lowered the dignity of his office like Modi”.

BJP national spokesman Tom Vadakkan insisted that the Congress had previously promised to redistribute wealth and that Modi’s remarks had been “taken out of context”.

Vadakkan told Nikkei that Modi was “talking about illegal immigrants, not Muslims in the country”. “If you look at the US, Europe or any other country, illegal immigrants are a big problem,” he added.

Modi and the BJP have repeatedly rejected accusations of discrimination, saying the party works for the benefit of all Indian citizens.

But Modi’s comments on Sunday also drew the ire of Muslim politicians.

Asaduddin Owaisi, a Muslim MP and president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-e-Muslimin party, also took to social media to criticise Modi: “Modi’s only guarantee was to exploit Muslims and get votes.”

Senior naval officers from around the world gathered in China on Monday for a maritime symposium aimed at seeking global governance of maritime issues.

A senior Chinese defence official reiterated China’s commitment to resolving disputes with countries directly concerned through friendly consultation, but also vowed to take “countermeasures” against unwarranted provocations.

The 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) opened on Monday in the port city of Qingdao in East China’s Shandong province. Zhang Youxia, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the event and delivered a speech, Xinhua news agency reported.

Zhang said the Chinese armed forces had actively participated in international maritime security cooperation and provided maritime public security goods, adding that China would play a more positive and open role in international military cooperation:

“We should resolutely abandon the Cold War mentality, join hands to build peace and stability, bridge differences through dialogue and consultation, jointly discuss and establish governance rules, and bring maritime security governance to a new level with practical results.”

He said China is committed to resolving maritime disputes peacefully through friendly consultations with countries directly concerned, but will safeguard its legitimate rights in the face of deliberate violations of its sovereignty and take firm countermeasures against unreasonable provocations.

Zhang said: “We will not cause trouble and will not fear trouble. China’s armed forces will resolutely safeguard national unity and interests.

Platform for talks

Held every two years and attended by naval commanders and delegates from around the world, this year’s theme is “Oceans with a Common Future” and more than 180 naval representatives from 29 countries are attending the four-day meeting.

This is the second time the WPNS has been held in China, which hosted it for the first time in 2014.

Delegates will review the symposium’s activities since its 18th biennial meeting, set the future agenda and discuss and vote on issues such as the WPNS Code of Conduct, the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) and unmanned systems, Xinhua reported.

Foreign naval chiefs were invited to discuss the Global Security Initiative and maritime peace, maritime security cooperation and maritime order based on international law and global maritime governance.

Liang Wei, a senior officer at the China Naval Research Academy (NRA), said the attendance at the meeting and the number of officers from other countries attending were high. “This not only shows the vitality of the symposium, but also reflects the influence and glamour of the Chinese Navy,” Liang said, Xinhua reported.

“The symposium is a rare opportunity for countries with conflicting regional interests to exchange views,” Reuters reported on Monday. Admiral Stephen Koehler, commander of the Pacific Fleet, is attending the symposium from the United States. Other delegations include Australia, France, India, Russia and the United Kingdom.

Global Times correspondents at the symposium reported that media organisations were eager to interview US delegates, but US Navy representatives refused to answer questions.

Exercises in the South China Sea

On the same day as the opening of the WPNS, thousands of Filipino and US troops began the annual Balikatan “shoulder-to-shoulder” military exercises in the Philippines, citing “Beijing’s growing assertiveness in the region, raising fears of conflict”.

Chinese analysts said on Monday that there was no conflict in the region under former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and that after the current regime took office in Manila, President Romualdez Marcos Jr. abandoned his predecessor’s “gentleman’s agreement” with China, which ensured peace and stability in the region, due to US interference. According to Chinese public opinion, the main reason for the current tensions is not China’s “growing assertiveness”, but the Philippines’ invitation to the US in the region against China.

The US-Philippine exercise is concentrated in the northern and western parts of the archipelago country, “near potential flashpoints in the South China Sea and Taiwan”.

Xu Liping, director of the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday that there is no doubt that the role played by the United States in the region is destructive and harmful, and that Washington is a troublemaker and provocateur that disrupts peace and stability in the region. “US policy in the region will one day backfire, because instability is not in the interests of the United States”.

The US is using regional disputes to legitimise its military presence in the region and for Washington, the Philippines is “just a pawn on the chessboard” and if the US provokes a direct military confrontation with China, US fleets and forces can easily walk away if the situation becomes undesirable, said a Chinese military expert and WPNS participant who requested anonymity, adding that the Philippines will stay where it is and that is why no other regional country wants to be used by the US, urging Manila to realise the consequences as soon as possible.

Asked why the Philippines did not participate in the 19th WPNS, Liang, a senior Chinese military officer, told the press on Monday that “China, as a member of the WPNS, invited the other 29 member countries and observer states, and China does not know the specific reasons why the Philippine Navy did not participate in this forum”.

The United States and South Korea are conducting their largest-ever combined air exercises on the Korean peninsula. Officials said this year’s exercise was the biggest ever, with more than 100 aircraft taking part.

The US has about 28,500 troops in South Korea. The annual exercise, called Korea Flight Training, began last week and will end on Friday.

“We have an incredibly strong alliance and this exercise is a tangible example of that,” US Air Force spokeswoman Rachel Buitrago told reporters at the base in the city of Gunsan on Friday. Pilots, planners and maintenance personnel are working side by side.

Buitrago said the drills were purely defensive, with pilots practising how to respond to fire from the ground or from other aircraft. “We are constantly training to be ready in case we are attacked,” he said.

Officials say the drills are not being conducted with a specific enemy in mind, but their focus is clear.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula

North Korea’s state media reported on Saturday that the country had tested a “super-large warhead” for a strategic cruise missile and a new anti-aircraft missile.

The tests took place in the same Yellow Sea waters as the Korean Flight Training, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday, adding that “the technologies are fast”.

Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its second hypersonic missile test. An analysis on 38 North, a North Korea-related website, said North Korea’s missiles “demonstrated their potential to hit Japan if used at mid-range”.

US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed in a joint statement following their summit to “initiate discussions to expand the scope and scale of unified military exercises and training on and around the Korean Peninsula in 2022”. The two leaders cited the need to “strengthen deterrence” in the face of North Korea’s “destabilising activities”.

The US military presence in the region and the deployment of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier have further strained relations with North Korea. South Korea, which has aligned its security doctrine with that of the United States, sees its ties with Washington as “reassurance” against North Korea.

Preparing for tomorrow

US and South Korean air force officials at Kunsan say their aim is to be ready for any scenario, referring to their joint slogan “Fight Tonight”.

Colonel Michael McCarthy, a US pilot taking part in the exercise, said the purpose of the training was for pilots from both countries to get to know each other by operating together. He added that the experience of operating a powerful aircraft over the Korean peninsula was “overwhelming”.

“We’re working to inoculate ourselves against the stress of a major operation,” McCarthy said, “so tomorrow will be a little easier.”