India denies moving towards authoritarianism, calls Soros 'dangerous'

India has labeled George Soros as “old, rich, opinionated and dangerous” after the billionaire associated business tycoon Gautam Adani’s fate with that of Hindu nationalist leader, Narendra Modi.

The company led by Adani has lost close to $120 billion in market value since New York-based firm published a report on Jan. 24, accusing his conglomerate of committing 'the biggest fraud in the corporate world'.

Soros this week publicly criticized the Indian prime minister, saying he believes Modi will have to answer questions regarding the Adani group since their fates are “intertwined”.

The Indian prime minister is a close associate of Adani and is accused of helping the tycoon secure his ascension in recent decades, during a good part of which Modi was the chief minister of the western Indian state of Gujarat.

A recent high-profile BBC documentary criticized the prime minister’s role in the violence that ripped through the state in 2002.

“India is an interesting case. It’s a democracy. But its leader, Narendra Modi, is no democrat. Inciting violence against Muslims was an important factor in his meteoric rise,” Soros said. 

Soros also spoke about Modi’s global ties, revealing his grievances toward strong ties between India and Russia much to the US chagrin.  

“Modi maintains close relations with both open and closed societies. India is a member of the Quad (which also includes Australia, the US, and Japan), but it buys a lot of Russian oil at a steep discount and makes a lot of money on it,” Soros said.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar hit back at Soros at a conference in Sydney on Saturday, saying that the businessman's comments were typical of a "Euro Atlantic view".

Jaishankar defended Modi, rejecting the accusations that his government is moving towards authoritarianism.

Jaishankar also criticized Soros for failing to respect the Indian people's democratic choice, labeling him as someone who "still thinks that his views should determine how the entire world works."

"He is old, rich, opinionated, and dangerous because what happens is, when such people and such views and such organizations - they actually invest resources in shaping narratives," Jaishankar said in a response to a question about Soros at the Raisina@Sydney conference.

"There are still people in the world who believe that their definition, their preferences, their views must override everything else," he said.

"It worries us. We are a country that went through colonialism, we know the dangers of what happens when there’s outside interference."

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk