Pros and cons of the Modi-Meloni ‘Melody’ moment

The only delightful story to come out of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s five-nation tour was from Italy. His gift of a pack of Indian ‘Melody’ toffees to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had both leaders laughing over the word-play – ‘Meloni + Modi’ — during his visit to Rome. The video of that single moment has gone viral.

The incident has variously evoked amusement and puzzlement among Modi’s supporters and drawn political criticism from the Opposition Congress. These questions have overwhelmed the lightness and humour that the clever word-play may have sought to convey. Nevertheless, Modi is not an innocent bystander in the transformation of a shared joke into a media-savvy moment. As a populist figure, his every public action is worthy of dissection and analysis.

To be fair, it was not Modi who invented the mash-up. The Italian prime minister first used the hashtag ‘Good friends at COP28 #Melodi’, to caption a photograph taken together during the COP28 summit. Meloni then also posted a video with Modi, which went viral — it was captioned ‘Hi friends, from #Melodi’. The gift of a packet of India-made toffees was then an attempt to reiterate what had already become a well-established joke for occasions when Meloni and Modi met.

There are diplomatic pros and cons to the public display of warmth between the two, especially when the Italian counterpart is a more youthful, personable, and successful woman.

It signals good diplomacy by emphasising genuine rapport between the two leaders. Playful gestures between leaders who get along with each other are not signs of frivolity but trust. Such moments also humanise the two leaders — especially Modi, who is better known for scripted, boring, and teleprompter-based political interactions. The ‘Melody’ moment makes him relatable and less distant to the public at home and abroad.

More importantly, a diplomatic signal also goes out that the India-Italy relationship is genuinely friendly and not merely transactional. It also shows that Modi is more comfortable with informal diplomacy rather than formal diplomatic occasions. His critics could be faulted for viewing diplomacy as necessarily stiff and formal.

However, it is also possible to criticise the incident as emphasising India-Italy ties at the expense of India’s more strategically important relationships with the United States, Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the European Union (EU). Italy is only a secondary bilateral partner in that significant network of important relationships.

Moreover, the warmth displayed by Modi and Meloni should not erase genuine differences in the past between the two countries. The emotional wounds of the Enrica Lexie case, when two Italian marines shot dead two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012, for example, are still raw for the families of the dead fishermen. Italy took the sailors back ostensibly to vote in the national elections, but subsequently refused to send them back until the Supreme Court threatened to act against the Italian Ambassador to India. Italy dragged the case to an international court of arbitration for years before finally paying damages. India and its legal system saw a European nation demonstrate utter disdain against the institutions of a developing nation on that occasion. That bitterness has not entirely gone away.

There may be other unresolved grievances in the bilateral relationship — issues of trade and migration, and the fact that Italy has punched below its weight for India in Brussels on market access, stalled India-EU FTA, and visa facilitation. So, when a leader’s personal bonhomie outpaces the strategic depth of the relationship, questions are likely to be asked whether personal chemistry is distorting diplomatic priorities.

Questions will also inevitably arise whether as Right-wing nationalist and conservative leaders, their ties are driven more by ideological kinship than is warranted by diplomatic co-operation between the two countries. Being close to Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia, which has neo-fascist roots, will imply that India is especially warm to the European far-Right. This can complicate India’s relationship with Centre-Left European governments as Modi conflates his personal political ideology with India’s national interest. Conclusions are likely to be drawn that India’s foreign policy is shaped by the ideological affinity of its prime minister and his party, rather than pure national interest.

Some of Modi’s critics would also point to political traditions in India where its leaders are expected to show a certain gravitas — their public persona framed by solemnity, dignity, and rectitude. Modi himself has been shaped by the austere integrity and moral self-righteousness of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The ‘Melody moment’ does not sit well with the self-image of Modi as an austere ascetic (‘hum toh faqir aadami hain, jhola leke chal denge’). Between an India aspiring to be a sanctimonious world teacher or Vishwaguru and a prime minister giggling over toffees with a foreign leader falls a shadow that would not go down well with the RSS bosses in Nagpur.

Those who hold conservative values — and these include Modi’s ardent supporters — have been hard put to explain the visible ease between their leader and a woman in public. Their discomfort with the open display of warmth is reflected in the jokes about ‘Bhabhi’ or elder brother’s wife on social media. However, no Prime Minister of India can afford to be the subject of romantic speculation and Internet humour regarding a foreign leader.

Indians have deep cultural anxieties about public figures openly displaying warmth towards women outside the family. This was displayed in conservative criticism of Nehru's well-documented, years-long emotional bond with Edwina Mountbatten — that is preserved in letters, allegedly acknowledged by her husband, and rooted in genuine romantic and intellectual kinship. Modi’s supporters need not fear comparisons with Nehru. Modi's warmth toward Meloni is a public performance, structured, diplomatic, and mutually beneficial for their respective domestic optics. Modi's austere, guarded persona is the polar opposite of Nehru's expressive temperament.

It may, however, be worth speculating whether the conviviality between Modi and Meloni benefits each leader equally. For Meloni, a better equation with the leader of a rising power with a large market, is largely cost-free. For Modi, the same with a far-Right leader may complicate relationships in Brussels, Paris, and Berlin. At home, Modi risks being seen among his supporters as an ageing leader violating cultural norms in failing to maintain a sufficiently austere formality with a female, foreign political leader.

Bharat Bhushan is a New Delhi-based journalist.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.