MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2023) A Federal minister from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party on Friday rebuked US billionaire George Soros for attempting to undermine democratic processes in the country with his comments on the crisis of the Indian conglomerate Adani Group.
On Thursday, Soros said at the Munich Security Conference in Munich that Modi and Adani Group head Gautam Adani "are close allies, their fate is intertwined." Soros predicted that the company's problems would "significantly weaken Modi's stranglehold on India's federal government" and "open the door to push for much needed institutional reforms."
"Those, who support Mr. Soros need to know that democracy has prevailed in India and will continue to do so and particularly as a karyakarta of the Bharatiya Janata Party (Modi's party), these designs to weaken Indian democracy will be met with a might of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Union Cabinet Minister Smriti Irani said in a statement.
Irani noted that Soros "has not only attacked Prime Minister Modi, he has attacked the intention and the will of the Indian parliament," adding that the US billionaire was seeking to undermine India's democratic processes.
According to the Indian official, Soros pledged to help build a system in India that would protect his interests, not those of the Indian people.
In January, US-based Hindenburg Research published a report claiming, among other things, that the Adani Group had weak business fundamentals. The report expressed concern that Indian conglomerate shares could fall from their current levels due to overvaluation. Adani Group responded by saying that the Hindenburg Research report was not an attack on any particular company, but a calculated attack on India and its growth history and ambitions.
Following the report, the total capitalization of Adani Group shares - as of January 24, the date of the report's publication - fell by 7.44 trillion rupees {$90 billion) to 11.76 trillion rupees, and Gautam Adani himself dropped from 3rd to15th place on Forbes list of the world's billionaires with an estimated net worth of $75.1 billion.
