Erdogan’s India visit – A Muslim nationalist meets a Hindu nationalist

Basking in glory after emerging victorious in a recent divisive referendum, Turkish leader Erdogan is traveling to India as part of a whirlwind tour of global powers. The agenda includes terror, trade and nuclear issues. Türkei Präsident Erdogan (picture-alliance/abaca/O. Ozer )When Turkey’s charismatic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan touches down in India’s capital New Delhi for a two-day trip this weekend, he will be treated to the pomp and protocol-dictated flashy ceremonial welcome, in line with the extravagance showered by India’s equally popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi on foreign leaders.Erdogan and Modi share a lot of similarities. They both are rightwing religious nationalists governing vast multicultural democracies and emerging economies. The two leaders highlight their humble beginnings, association with religious groups and their deep personal piety.They cast themselves as leaders who are determined to take the fight to the established elites and deliver a more prosperous future for the common man.They are effective orators, with an uncanny knack to reach out to their followers and sell them their visions for the future of their respective nations. Even their electoral pledges – solid economic development and good governance – look strangely similar. Indien Narendra Modi in Neu-Delhi (Reuters/A. Abidi)While Modi and his supporters advocate an illiberal form of Hindu nationalism, Erdogan and his followers are the standard-bearers of Muslim conservatismBoth came from religious-nationalist political groupings, although their religious affiliations are different.While Modi and his supporters advocate an illiberal form of Hindu nationalism, Erdogan and his followers are the standard-bearers of Muslim conservatism. Both leaders espouse majoritarian politics in their countries, with all the concomitant effects of rising intolerance and communal tensions.Business and tradeSo there is no dearth of experiences to share when Modi and Erdogan meet on M