Modi-led alliance wins India's general election — commission

NEW DELHI — The alliance led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured a parliamentary majority, figures from the election commission showed late Tuesday.

With a few constituencies still left to declare, it had secured 272 seats, enough for a majority in the 543-seat parliament, results on the commission website showed.

Modi portrays his country as a leader of the Global South, with himself a chief spokesman for the loose grouping, and another five years in office gives him greater longevity and seniority among the world's most powerful, despite his reduced parliamentary majority.

The 73-year-old is pressing for the world's most populous nation and fastest-growing major economy to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

"Modi will be one of the most senior leaders on the global circuit and that too with three election victories under his belt," said Harsh V Pant, professor of international relations at King's College London.

“He has set out major ambitions for himself and India and it’s unlikely that he would compromise on his legacy.”

Analysts say that India has interests rather than allies and Modi -- once a pariah -- has been courted by the United States and European nations as a counterweight to China, despite warnings by rights activists about rising authoritarianism.

He uses India’s growing global footprint to bolster his own domestic standing, and at the same time used India’s holding of the G20 presidency last year to burnish his image abroad.

Now he hopes to build on hosting the 2023 Cricket World Cup by bidding for the 2036 Summer Olympics.

Here is how a third term for Modi could build on a decade of his diplomatic ambitions.