Officials in the administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have met requests to discuss the matter with impenetrable silence. The way they see it, there are no legal reasons to block the sale, and India and the United States are supposed to be friends. Then, when Covid hit India hard, the United States sent medical relief totaling nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. They suspect Mr. Modi’s government doesn’t like the idea of the United States making so much money off the deal, which would be one of the biggest house sales in Indian history. “It was very modern for its time,” he said of the home, which had a swimming pool, a cannon out front and a wooden dance floor (“not like we used it much,” Mr. Ranjitsinh admitted).

Source: New York Times July 27, 2021 15:22 UTC