They steal food, have a destructive nature and sometimes even bite: Rhesus monkeys are always climbing, jumping and running across New Delhi.

These animals are quite a nuisance in the Indian capital. In search of food, they destroy gardens and even attack humans.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is trying everything monkeys and delegates do G20 Summit don’t collide.

However, because monkeys are revered in Hinduism, monkey hunting is out of the question. So the authorities use a strange method to keep the rhesus monkey away from the head of the world’s most powerful government.

▶︎ In the New Delhi metropolitan area, where heads of state and government stay with their delegations, authorities have installed large cardboard statues of langur monkeys. This aggressive hunting monkey is one of the enemies of the rhesus macaque. The sight of them is said to frighten rhesus monkeys.

▶︎ There are also around 40 trained monkey exterminators on duty. They imitate the sounds of langurs and are thought to make rhesus monkeys retreat. It is said that such monkey roars are installed in every hotel where heads of state or government sleep.

▶︎ During the summit, authorities fed rhesus monkeys in forest areas so that they stay there and do not find their way to the city of New Delhi.

“We can’t hurt or erase it. Our only option is to keep them in their territory,” said council member Satish Upadhyay.

The slums seen by the G20 participants were destroyed

But the government didn’t just take tough measures against the monkeys. To ensure the summit runs as smoothly as possible, Modi also simply paralyzed New Delhi:

▶︎ Authorities, offices, schools, banks and shops will remain closed during the G20 summit on Saturday and Sunday. The goal: reduce congestion thereby reducing the usual traffic jams.

▶︎ The area containing the G20 delegate hotels and the conference center is tightly closed with police barriers so that heads of government and their employees can travel as freely as possible.

▶︎ The city is beautified with thousands of flower arrangements.

▶︎ Street dogs have disappeared. They were arrested and, according to authorities, will be released later.

▶︎ The slums seen by the G20 participants were destroyed.

Indian Prime Minister Modi used this summit to promote himself

Modi took advantage of the G20 Summit to carry out merciless PR. He wants to present himself to Indian society as a successful leader on the world stage ahead of next year’s general elections. There isn’t a lamp post in New Delhi that doesn’t have a G20 poster with Modi’s portrait on it. He announced on television that he had successfully hosted the G20 summit in India for the first time.

What the propagandists are keeping secret: The summit will be held across member states. India was actually there two years ago. But Modi gave priority to Italy and Indonesia having the Delhi summit right before the general election.

Modi is running for a Hindu national government. Just in time for the G20 Summit, he sparked speculation that India’s name would be changed to change Bharat. During his opening speech, he posed behind a sign that read “Bharat.” Bharat is the ancient Sanskrit word for India, which was used in the constitution along with India as the name of the country.

Radical Hindus are disturbed by the name India. This name was popularized by the British colonial rulers and symbolizes the system of slavery. On the other hand, “Bharat” is the name of a legendary king in ancient Hindu scriptures.

Modi wants to erase as much of the colonial past as possible and rely on national pride. However, this action is at the expense of minority groups. Muslims and Christians are currently experiencing a difficult time in this predominantly Hindu but multi-religious country.