by Vibhuti Jha, President, Human Potential Project
The election of Mr. Narendra Modi and his party, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to lead India ,for the next five years , has been a watershed moment in the Indian political scene in as many years. After a long time, one single party has been voted in with majority to overcome the malaise and sufferings of “coalition politics” the country had to endure for the past ten years of the Congress party led UPA. The people of India are anxious to see India reach its full potential to become a true leader in the world economy leading to higher employment, bring good jobs and better livelihood for all. The majority given to BJP leaves it with no excuse if it were to fail in that promise made to the people of India. In a complex and complicated country like India, patience is running short and the electorate will be, as it must, very unforgiving, as the leaders of the UPA government experienced in the recently concluded national elections.
With the United States as the leading economy, struggling with massive debts and in need of new markets, India and the US are keenly poised to take advantage of the opportunity that exists today for both the countries. To let that opportunity go by will prove to be the undoing of the promises made to the people of both countries.
President Obama called former PM Manmohan Singh a "wise" and "decent" man. I am sure he will be very wisely selecting the most appropriate words to define and describe Mr. Modi when the two meet in Washington, DC, Come September, pun intended! India and the US have enjoyed a bitter sweet romantic relationship with lots of promises and also suffered a relationship mired with exuberance and disappointments. Both the countries share an equal amount of frustration , unhappiness, hope and possibility and are now poised to transcend the relationship to a deservingly high levels.
Despite massive possibilities, the potential has never reached levels that was expected. Therefore it may perhaps be useful to examine the potential and possibilities, and also what is missing, to take this association and relationship to a trusting and sustainable levels. Both leaders owe this to their people, who elected them in the first place and who they are supposed to protect and defend at all times as their primary responsibility. It is equally important to note that despite differences at the Government and official levels, at the people to people levels both countries have enormous respect for each other. Both India and the US are champions of diversity and are home to virtually all faiths and religions of the world. Both are authentic melting pots!
I was once asked in a PBS TV program conversation as to what India could teach the US. I said there is hardly anything for India to teach but there is a lot to share and learn from each other. India and the US are world’s two premier democracies , in size, tradition and demography with truly diverse populations and both are a genuine melting pot and champion of diversity. Both the countries have an enormous opportunity to build on these elements and must try to fill in the gaps in disagreements with all sincerity! Mere word play and offering praise for each other’s history , traditions and possibilities will no longer be sufficient to mollify the feelings. People of India will be keenly watching and observing the outcomes of this summit with reference to specific actions put in place.
In fairness to both leaders, they have already risen above the moment of crisis and have shown exemplary attitude, maturity and fortitude to seize the moment. Mr. Modi did not allow the personal insult, of denial of visa, to visit US and Mr. Obama overcame this moment to invite him for a full discussion with Mr. Modi at the White House after the UN meet in New York, instead of meeting him on the “sidelines” of the UN General Assembly. For both, the national self-interest is the guiding principle to get to know each other to further an actionable relationship. While the mandarins of Indian Foreign Service and various economic ministries, on the one hand, and the US State Department and business interests, on the other, will be working overtime to fashion a good PR spectacle, both the leaders will be well advised to get to know each other better than just serving verbal platitudes.
In the light of the above, let us here look at only a few aspects of the opportunity that merits a serious consideration.
One, both countries need each other for revival of the two economies. India needs US technology, manufacturing processes and defense cooperation to bolster its economy and security concerns. The US needs the Indian market and its potential to create a sustainable economic future for itself. While Mr. Modi won the elections on the promise of “Growth and Governance” as his clarion call to the people of India, Mr. Obama is working overtime to remove income inequality and improve social justice to his people. Both the leaders are tweaking the capitalist process in their own way. India is heading towards encouraging a true free enterprise economy for better growth, higher incomes, new employment opportunities for the youth of India and unfettered opportunity, the US is attempting to provide its people more social justice. There is so much to learn and share with each other and get over the avoidable mistakes in the process.
Secondly, the United States must recognize and acknowledge the fact that India and Indians are perhaps the closest friends it can have. This is true despite the American frustration and gripe about India’s flawed and pompous non-alignment policy. Indian concern and reservations about the US policy is directly related to the American penchant for sleeping with its enemies! Both India and the US are direct victims of the shenanigans of its so-called friend and India’s neighbor, Pakistan. People of India and the US have been targeted victims and lost hundreds of lives and both have invested time and wasted resources in Pakistan to no avail or any tangible outcomes. Pakistan is a political curse for India and an economic drain and loss of precious American lives on both the countries. We need to jointly address that concern. If the US wants to improve the bilateral economic ties taking it from current 100 billion US dollars to a goal of 500 Billion US Dollars, the US will have to look at the security concerns of India with more seriousness than it does today. If the US-India business have to reach that great target, the US will have to invest in creating an environment of peace and being responsible to protect and defend its own allies and investments.
India faces an existential threat from the marauding and barbaric hordes of Islamic terrorism and so does the USA. Everyone and his pet knows that Pakistan is the training ground for major terrorist acts where they all return to after committing their murderous acts. The American people are bewildered by the fact that it almost appears as if we Americans fund Pakistan to kill American lives. We the people of America need to know and ask of our leaders why Pakistan has such Anaconda like grip on the US.
Finally, for the Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, this is the golden opportunity to define himself and set the narrative to the western media and news barons! So far, he has had to suffer the indignity of being defined by the self-appointed and self-anointed “India experts” to the extent that one prominent, award winning Indian journalist called him a man with “a dark side of Hindu nationalism”, as if a “white or fair side of Hindu nationalism” would have been acceptable as a lesser evil! The narrative of India and Indians has to be restated as the world’s IT hub, educated man power, eager and anxious to grow , accepting diversity as way of life , willing to adapt and accommodate all faiths and religions. He must tell the world, who doubt India’s credibility as a secular nation, that India had, in the last ten years, a Sikh as the Prime Minister, a muslim and a woman occupied the office of the President of the country and the then ruling party (now the largest opposition party) had/has the Roman catholic Italian woman as its leader. No country in the world can claim or boast of acceptance of such diversity and the opportunities everyone enjoys in India. The world needs to know and learn from the Indian way of life, despite all its inadequacies as we know about. India is ready for the enhanced role in global affairs, be it economic and politics or both and she must claim it. This meeting between the US President, Barrack Obama, and the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, has epochal significance for both the countries and the time to embrace change has arrived. They cannot allow or blame an angry duck across the street from taking the big step forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment