Like a fiddle: rupee |
"I have sat in governance; I know. The rupee cannot fall this fast in this way. Oh, Nepal's rupee doesn't fall. Bangladesh's currency doesn't fall. Pakistan's currency doesn't fall. Sri Lanka's currency doesn't fall. What is the reason that India's rupee keeps getting thinner? You will have to answer this."
Modi's detractors circulate this video every single time the Indian rupee weakens against the dollar. When he made these comments in May 2013, USD was worth approximately INR55 (Indian rupees), and today it is above INR90. But sceptics did not get his point. It was a comparison with other currencies in the region. USD was worth around Rs98.5 in May 2013, and today it is worth around Rs280. This piece tells the story of how that feat was achieved.
In May 2014, as Modi took over power, the dollar was worth INR58.86 and Rs98.67, respectively. As New Delhi prepared to welcome President Xi Jinping of China, Islamabad was bracing for the long-lasting twin sit-ins of Imran Khan and Tahir Qadri. Word had it that, after India, President Xi planned to visit Pakistan to launch the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), with Gwadar at its heart. Behind the scenes, India was pushing for the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) so that sanctions on Iran could be lifted and it could operationalise Chahbahar port to get to Afghanistan before Gwadar came to life. The sit-ins helped, but still, a USD was trading at INR60.50 and PKR101.80. When CPEC was announced, the PTI government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa objected to the configuration of the routes. The politicisation of such an........