PM Modi has been criticised by many in the country for failing to get Pakistan’s name as a sponsor of terror included in the BRICS declaration. (PTI)

India’s domestic reforms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have had a limited impact till now, but he has “clearly made the country more proactive”, according to Chinese media.

In an article published in Chinese state media, Global Times, Shi Lancha writes that “Modi equipped with newly gained confidence on India’s growth prospects has clearly made the country more proactive.” This was visible during the recent BRICS Summit in Goa as India “outmanoeuvred” and “consigned Pakistan to be a regional pariah”. India did this by calling all countries in the neighbourhood except Pakistan for the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meet which was held in tandem with the BRICS meeting.

The article is all praise for India’s move to organise both meetings in Goa simultaneously. It says that by bringing regional countries together with BRICS members, India “breathed legitimacy and substance” into BIMSTEC.

PM Modi has been criticised by many for failing to get Pakistan’s name as a sponsor of terror included in the BRICS declaration.

However, the Global Times article reads it otherwise. It acknowledges that no BRICS member would ever “openly endorse” either India or Pakistan because of the tensions between both countries. Still, India used the BRICS stage for its gain. “India in a way secured its stance vis-à-vis Pakistan by taking advantages of its agenda-setting powers for the summits.”

The article also praises India for becoming the fastest-growing large economy in the world at present, beyond China and Russia. It says, “India finds confidence in talking about economic matters. After all, the setbacks undergone by its fellow countries made India’s recent economic achievements shine even brighter in comparison.”