Come August 15, India's Independence Day, and one ponders upon its success and failures since it became independent 61 years ago.
True, India's agricultural and industrial production have made some impressive gains; its infrastructure is slowly improving and the average Indian today lives longer than at the time of independence.
But India also suffers from rampant corruption, a weak political leadership, sluggish and obstructive bureaucracy, high inflation, continuing suicides by farmers, terrorism, environmental destruction etc.
India's tragedy has been that it has made painfully slow progress, thanks to inept politicians involved in governance since independence. With few exceptions, India's power-hungry politicians have used politics as a vehicle to pursue personal rather than national interests.
The world's biggest democracy, as Indian politicians and bureaucrats tout India, should enforce an effective checks-and-balances system requiring accountability from politicians and officials.
Though India's status in the international arena has grown over the years, thanks to its newly acquired economic muscles backed by a vibrant information technology sector that has put India on the world technological map, India has been unable to convert its growing muscle power into international influence.
New Delhi's recent failures in the international arena include its inability to get a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, garner support for its candidate for the prestigious UN secretary general's office, or defend the cause of ethnic Indians in Malaysia, Kenya, Fiji and elsewhere.
India is way ahead of Pakistan, a country that was born out of the same womb as India. But India compares poorly with China in the international arena where China wields a strong clout, despite the criticism and problems it faces on Tibet, Taiwan, Uighurs, Darfur, Myanmar, Falun Gong, human rights and what have you.
Policy of appeasement
India has pursued a policy of appeasement towards China. This has been a costly mistake because, many Western sinologists say, China takes India for granted.
India has tried, unsuccessfully, since the 1962 border war to find a resolution to its long-standing border dispute with China which has never really abandoned its claims to parts of Arunachal Pradesh or Sikkim, and even occupies chunks of Indian territory as well as some of the Kashmir real estate that Pakistan gifted to China over Indian protests.
Gordon G. Chang, an American intellectual with a profound knowledge of China and nuclear proliferation, told me in a recent interview in New York that China is, in fact, uncomfortable having a large democratic nation on its southern plank because its own citizens would one day want a democratic system too.
China is also worried that India, a nuclear power, is getting economically stronger and will overtake China as the world's largest nation.
Indians felt slighted that Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi, and not their prime minister or the president, was invited to the opening of the ongoing Olympics in Beijing.
"In fact, Prime Minister [Manmohan] Singh should feel happy that he was not invited to Beijing because many world leaders would not want to be seen rubbing shoulders with the present Chinese leaders," Chang remarked.
Others argue that if China can play the "Pakistan card" against India, why does India not needle China by raising issues such as Tibet, Taiwan, human rights, etc. China would be on the defensive if India did that.
The former Indian defence minister, George Fernandes, despite all his political shortcomings, did put the Chinese on the defensive when he said that India's nuclear tests at Pokhran were aimed to protect India against Chinese aggressive designs.
The nuclear deal with the US, which was recently cleared in the Indian parliament, is a good start though India still needs clearances from the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) and the US Congress.
US-India relations, initially, nosedived after India's Pokhran nuclear tests a decade ago but the tests also, ironically, heralded a change in American perceptions of India.
The US is grooming India as a counterweight to China's growing economic and military strength, although both the US and India insist that their cooperation is not directed against anyone else.
Expect greater US-India strategic cooperation in the years ahead. The powerful Indian diaspora in the United States, which has brought about a fundamental change in American thinking, will push for closer ties but it will also, invariably, want to exercise influence on India's foreign policy course.
Manik Mehta is a commentator on Asian affairs.
Your comments
Whatever you might say about India's sclerotic bureaucracy versus China's efficient one, our tangles of red tape versus their unfurled red carpet to foreign investors, our contentious and fractious political parties versus their smoothly-functioning top-down Communist hierarchy, there's one thing you've got to grant us: India has become an outstanding example of the management of diversity through pluralist democracy. Every Indian has been allowed to feel he or she has as much of a stake in the country, and as much of a chance to run it, as anyone else: after all, our last elections were won by an Italian woman of Roman Catholic heritage who made way for a Sikh to be sworn in as PM by a Muslim president, in a nation 81% Hindu.
Sreejith
Dubai,UAE
Posted: August 14, 2008, 10:24
Send us your comments
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Gulf News may edit comments for length and clarity but will not change the tone of the message. Comments will only be accepted if all fields (including name) are filled correctly and the message isn't abusive, defamatory or offensive. The Gulf News website will only print your first name along with your comment. Please state in the message if you wish to remain anonymous. All comments sent may be forwarded for use in the Gulf News newspaper.
