In September 2019, Bill Gates Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India presented an award on behalf of his charitable organization, Gates Foundation, for the Indian leader to improve sanitation.
and sensation He follows.
Three of the Nobel Peace Prize winners wrote to Mr. Gates, on the pretext that Mr. Modi, who received an award on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, is not worth recognizing that democracy and human rights rights have eroded under his rule. “This is worrying to us, because the stated task of your organization is to preserve life and fight inequality,” Al -Hayoun wrote.
The anger did not do much to deter Mr. Gates and Mr. Modi, who have developed an unusually warm and high -level relationship in the past decade.
They met several times, and Mr. Gates was only free for Mr. Modi. Last year, immediately before national elections, Mr. Gates sat with the Prime Minister to exchange an extended television exchange that Mr. Modi used to burn his image as a technical leader.
The relationship between Mr. Gates and Mr. Modi, according to observers, former institution employees and critics, gives benefits to both men. Mr. Gates is Appointment to the visit India next week, and its third visit in three years, and will meet with government leaders and others to discuss the innovations and progress of India.
“This trip will give me an opportunity to find out what works, what is changing and what is the following – for India and the Foundation,” said Mr. Gates on Gatesnotes.
India is essential in Mr. Gates charitable work, which makes it necessary for the Gates Foundation to remain on the good side of the government that has taken on foreign donor organizations. With a huge number of Indians in terrible poverty, global development goals cannot be achieved without progress in India.
The continued arrival of Gates Foundation has become more important because President Trump withdrew the United States from the World Health Organization and has accused the USA International Development Agency. The World Health Organization, which supports a group of public health programs in India, is facing budget discounts after the exit of the United States. Gates, which is a giant in public health and global development, is among the best donors for WHO
For Mr. Modi, the support of Mr. Gates – the face of the computer era to many Indians – is a way to connect the Gates technology legacy to the digital economy supported by the Moody government, which is the “advanced India” policy column.
Mr. Modi’s desire to harness technology for growth personally with Mr. Gates, given his deep faith in the power of innovation for progress, according to the jobs he wrote on Gatesnotes and former employees with a direct vision in the activities of the Foundation in India. They spoke on the condition that his identity is not disclosed to avoid exposing professional relations.
Representatives of Gates and Gates Ventures, the good office of Hassan, did not respond to the suspension requests. A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in India had no immediate comment.
Mr. Gates has a broad company to embrace Mr. Modi, with politicians and commercial leaders throughout the West who flirt with India as an emerging geopolitical and economic power. By doing this, many have raised a party to the Moody government’s assault on the secular foundations of the country, its control of the Muslim minority in India and its silence to civil society.
Globally, the recognition of Mr. Gates is noted by Mr. Modi for his development work instead of his Hindu national policy. At the local level, the relationship has possible political benefits for Mr. Modi.
“The technology -based sections in the Indian middle class have arisen with the gates of such an iconic number,” said P. Sainath, an activist who is the founder and editor of the archive of the countryside of India, an independent digital media outlet. “To be in good condition with Bill Gates does not harm your image in these chapters.”
They encourage each other
India’s links with Mr. Gates and Microsoft, the company that he participated in its establishment, works deeply. Satia Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, from India. In January, Nadila announced plans to invest $ 3 billion in India, including artificial intelligence, to help increase the vision of Mr. Modi. Mr. Gates has visited India more than ten times over the decades, including Microsoft CEO.
The Seattle -based Gates, which started in 2000, opened its office in India in 2003 and invested in the country more than anywhere alongside the United States. This year, the Board of Trustees of the Foundation in India will meet with the twenty -fifth anniversary of its founding.
The Foundation has made a partnership with successive Indian governments and support public health initiatives, such as polio. It also works closely with the governments of the state of Uttar Pradesh and Bayhar, and they have two populations. Mr. Gates sat with former Indian prime ministers, including the predecessor of Mr. Modi, Manmohan Singh. But the talks were tightly focused on the work of the Foundation in India.
Mr. Gates hit her with Mr. Modi during his first meeting in 2014, where he talks about twice as long as it was decided, according to Gatesnotes Post. He said he admired Mr. Modi because of his common focus on public health, especially sanitation. The toilets were “high on the agenda, along with vaccines, bank accounts and healthy clinics.”
Open defecation and waste management are still huge challenges in India, a country of 1.4 billion people. The government of Mr. Mushi Bharat Abhiyan (Mission Clean India), and by 2019, claimed that it built more than 100 million toilets. This was the work that the award gave the award, as it drew a violent reaction.
When Mr. Gates traveled to India in 2023, he said that his sitting with Mr. Modi was “the most prominent” of his visit and praised him on the country’s digital payment system. “The country shows what is possible when we invest in innovation,” wrote on Gatesnotes.
Many people who have knowledge of the Foundation’s affairs said that some employees are concerned about Mr. Gates’s embrace of Mr. Modi, on the pretext that the institution could have followed its goals and in parallel with the government’s goals without Mr. Gates become a fan of the Prime Minister.
Mr. Modi sparked praise for Mr. Gates, saying that his government appreciates the Foundation’s experience and approach based on data and evidence. In 2020, when they actually met during the epidemic, Mr. Modi I encouraged The basis for “assuming the initiative” in analyzing changes in the field of health care and education required in the postpartum world.
Last March, three weeks before the elections that Mr. Modi was seeking a third term, Mr. Gates called for Official residence To chat about the country’s progress in the use of technology to improve the life of Indians.
The government had planned to broadcast the entire meeting on national television, which reaches more than 650 million people. However, the Electoral Committee told the public broadcaster that this would give the party of Mr. Modi an unfair advantage, according to a report In economic times, an Indian newspaper. In the end, only parts of Mr. Modi’s conversation were broadcast with Mr. Gates on TV, although it was fully broadcast on the Bharatiya Janata party website.
A spokesman for the Elections Committee said he had no information about the event. Rajev Kumar, chief election commissioner at the time, did not respond to the comment requests.
Narrow grip on foreign donors
India has long relied on foreign donors to achieve its goals. Organizations such as Amnesty International, Duritari International, Red Cross, Oxfam, the American Agency for International Development, and Green Thill, as well as many United Nations bodies and special groups such as Ford, Rockefeller and gates, have provided funding for a prosperous local community of NGOs or worked with them.
But as the Moody government grows increasingly from any cash or challenge, including from abroad, Indian laws that regulate the flow of foreign donor funds to local non -profit organizations have become more striking and frequently applied.
A year later, Mr. Modi becomes prime minister in 2014, the government launched a campaign against foreign organizations, starting with Greenpece. Many have begun to expand their activities or take steps to ensure the compatibility of their agenda with the government’s goals.
In 2017, the Indian government accused the Public Health Foundation in India, one of the largest non -profit groups in the country, of misuse of funds and canceling a license allowed to receive foreign contributions. Gates Corporation He was a great donor To the organization. The non -profit health institution regained its license in 2021.
The Gates Corporation explained that its role is to help the Indian government achieve its goals by providing experience in priority areas such as ensuring access to the financial services of the poor, public health, public health and climate change.
The Foundation has been closely equipped with this message after the controversy over the award it presented to Mr. Modi.
At the time, the Foundation said that its award was tightly focused on sanitation goals.
It was not long ago, Mr. Gates Meet with Mr. Modi in India. According to a government journalist at the time, Mr. Gates has strengthened his commitment to support the goals of the Indian government.
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/03/14/multimedia/14india-gates-modi-01-vjck/14india-gates-modi-01-vjck-facebookJumbo.jpg
Source link