I agree that as long as the institution is strong, it will prevail. But I don't agree with you that they can prevail independent of the political leaders in charge.
Perhaps our differing preception is because even though Trump seems to have a similiar retrogade and dictatorial mentality like Modi, western institutions - both democratic and scientific - seem to have withstood an attack on it by the Trump administration. But in India they have been nearly subjugated in the last 20 years or so.
In fact, it was the University Grants Commission - one of the highest body in India that decides on education - then filled with religious fundamentalists, that proposed the funding of BSc and MSc courses in Astrology and treating is as Science, on the urging of the right-wing government in power in 2001.
Modi may well promote nonsense, but the institutions of higher education and science in India still exist and have enough prestige and social and economic momentum that I believe they will continue to sustain themselves. Similarly Trump continues to talk utter nonsense about Coronavirus, and even knowingly misled his followers throughout the first 6 months of the outbreak, but still has Dr. Fauci leading the medical response because even Trump can't completely sideline the scientific community.