PM heads to jungle with adventurer Bear Grylls

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been filmed venturing into the wilderness with British adventurer Bear Grylls in a bid to create awareness about protecting nature and wildlife.Modi, 68, features in an episode of Man vs Wild, to be broadcast on Discovery Channel India on August 12, Grylls announced yesterday in a post on Twitter.The trailer for the programme shows Modi driving into the Jim Corbett National Park in northern India and later trekking past tall jungle grass with Grylls, intercut with shots of wildlife including tigers, deer and elephants.“People across 180 countries will get to see the unknown side of PM Narendra Modi as he ventures into Indian wilderness to create awareness about animal conservation and environmental change,” Grylls wrote on Twitter.In the 45-second trailer, Modi is seen crossing a river in a dinghy with Grylls.“You are the most important man in India. My job is to keep you alive,” Grylls tells Modi in another scene, in which they appear to be making a wooden spear from material collected from the forest.“I will keep this with me for you,” Modi tells him.Modi said he had grown up in nature and that the programme was a chance to showcase India’s rich environment and wildlife, according to a statement by the Discovery Channel.“For years I have lived among nature, in the mountains and the forests,” Modi said.“These years have (had) a lasting impact on my life. So when I was asked about a special programme focusing on life beyond politics and that too in the midst of nature, I was both intrigued and inclined to take part in it.”The announcement came soon after Modi released the 2018 tiger census report that said that, with around 3,000 tigers, India had become one of the safest habitats for the big cats in the world.The show is stirring some excitement among fans of Modi, who led the Bhartiya Janata Party to a second straight general election victory this year.“This is unbelievable. PM Modi knows how to do it,” said one Twitter user, Akash Jain.But opposition politicians mocked the prime minister for taking adventure trips at a time when India faces serious challenges, including those of reviving a sluggish economy and the highest unemployment rate in 45 years.The programme previously caused controversy in India after the Indian Express reported that Modi was likely to have been filming with Grylls on the day of a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, when extremists from Pakistan killed dozens of Indian armed security personnel and almost prompted military conflict.Some reports suggest Modi delayed taking action after the attack because he was in the wilderness filming with Grylls, but this has not been confirmed. Bhavreen Kandhari, an Extinction Rebellion activist in India, said Modi’s pro-business, pro-development government contributes to India’s environmental destruction. She ridiculed the UN’s decision to award Modi the title of Champion of the Earth in 2018. “I am standing in the most polluted city in the world,” she said.“My children’s lungs are black. There is no day when I don’t get calls about trees being cut down. There is absolute devastation.” Modi’s government has made international commitments to increasing India’s solar power production, but has also given the green light to controversial mining and infrastructure projects that will result in deforestation and environmental issues.