Is it just co-incidence? 4 of the big 5 nations Prime Ministers or Presidents would have visited India in a 5 month span by the end of the year. It started of with David Cameron barely months after he assumed office and then Barack Obama in his longest state visit to date and that too in his 2nd year as President, much earlier than any other US President (I must mention at a much better mood than the Nixon 22hr stopover- He hated Indira Gandhi to say the least). Now, we have French President Nicolas Sarkozy with a 60 member delegation and just before Christmas we will have Russian President Medveded coming to India.
What has prompted these world leaders to visit our humble abode? Is it their recognition that India is now a superpower ready to take its position on the world's high table? Is it our increasing influence in International politics or financial institutions or our military might(3rd largest standing army) or the United Nations security council 2 year slot that is being considered a prelude to a permanent seat?
I say bullshit to all that. Time for a reality check- India is playing the international politics game quite badly since it is not able to decide its allies and decisions are still dictated to us by the big powers inspite of the so called NAM or independent foreign policy that we follow. We are the only big nation that has no military hardware and technology worth being proud of apart from a joint venture with Russia on Brahmos. If I want to look at it through the half full glass, it would mean we are doing a really good job keeping our strength a secret, but that is not what we should be doing. We should be sabre rattling, albeit carefully to make others take notice but the glass is definitely not half full as we have to depend on the french to upgrade our ageing fighter craft fleet. The two year stint in the UNSC will only give us powers to move resolutions and any participation other than a permanent membership with veto power would be meaningless and unjustified for a nation that has 1/6th of the world's population. Our participation in WTO, IMF and World Bank, Global meetings like the Climate Change summit has been good, but no real fruits have been borne of those seeds. India's opportunity to act as the third world's advocate is also now in jeopardy as we side against Iran on the nuclear issue and the small nations on the climate change issue.
There is only one reason for World Leaders to be here- they want the money. With a consumer base (Indian middle class is bigger than whole of Europe and US) and growth statistics that is far ahead of US and Europe, they need our money. France wants to sell us their reactors, US wants to sell us fighter crafts (thats why they give 2billion USD worth of free hardware to Pakistan and make profit on the 10bln USD deal with India) and need Indian investment, Britain wants Indian companies to invest there but will enforce stringent immigration laws. Russia is perhaps independent in this aspect, but they too are looking at military and energy deals with India.
France just passed a law raising retirement age by 2 years which sparked wide protests throughout the country. Britain is cutting down drastically on spending with austerity measures threatening healthcare and even education, US is still feeling the bite of the recession for it has been a jobless recovery from the recession as it has not lead to job creation but only a growth figure not in the negative(proved by the fact that Citibank paid back 57 bln USD, giving the government 12bln profit on its 45bln bailout).
"Everything is about “give and take”; it’s a “two-way street,” said the French minister of Economy and Finance as he asks India to open up its retail and insurance markets. France wants us to buy the untested, unproven, over-priced reactors and if possible the highly over-priced Rafale fighter jets too. Our PSU insurance companies have a general policy of allowing most of the claims whereas the participation of private insurers in the health insurance has not been satisfactory. Hospitals are refusing to offer cashless treatment and are asking the patients to settle the bills with insurance companies after paying the hopsitals. We survived the recession thanks to FDI norms or else TATA-AIG (AIG was given a 150bln USD bailout) would have been in some bother. Walmart is known for driving out small scale retailers and converting self-employed small shop owners into workers.
What India must do is understand these leaders are not here because the have any soft-corner for India, but they are here for the money. When we make deals, we need to understand that we should keep the well-being of our people in mind and not some international agreement or commitment, we should have an independent foreign policy unaffected by the whims of the big guns, we should have the spine to speak our mind on world issues, we should be smart enough to chose our allies and not act against our old friends who have stood by us. We should not be like an elephant unaware of its strengths, but we should wake up and realise that the world needs us and we can also dictate terms when we need to.
I do not say go and be arrogant for all I hope is that the big countries stop dictating terms to us and deal with us as equals. Right now, they are giving us a false sense of acceptance but are arm-wrestling us and using the carrot-on-the-stick policy to make us take stands against other old allies and neighbours. We are not a signatory to NPT and yet we are forced to abide by its rules, major nations are supporting our UNSC permanent seat bid but are not clear on a timeline or whether it will come with veto powers.
As I speak of an independent foreign policy, we do not have a think tank initiative to guide our decisions. We do not have world class indigenous military hardware and these deals with other countries will only discourage indigenous research. Even in nuclear energy field, we should carry out our own research and try out our own reactors for only then will we be able to pursue truly independent policies inspite of the fact that these countries offer service and fuel supplies for the entire lifetime of the reactor. The creativity, commitment and ingenuity that enabled us to test our own Nuclear Devices, send crafts that confirmed the presence of water in the moon will all be lost if we over rely on foreign products and we will be seen only as a dumping ground for products-consumer, military and sometimes even lower quality ones unfit for use in their home countries.
It is time we look upon ourselves with some sense of pride, promise to work hard, think intelligently and smartly and also with the desire to take our place in the global high table but with the understanding that it will never be a round one, but one balanced in favour of those who can play their cards smartly.
