HVK Archives: How to win Americans and influence Washington
How to win Americans and influence Washington - The Indian Express
Chidanand Rajghatta
()
18 July 1997
Title: Taming the rogue policeman - How to win Americans and influence
Washington
Author: Chidanand Rajghatta
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: July 18, 1997
Several developments with grave security implications for India have
unfolded in the last fortnight. Pakistan claims to have successfully tested
a Hatf-3 missile with a range of 800 kms. American intelligence reports
have again indicated that Chinese medium range missiles can target
installations and cities across most of India. The Islamabad-Beijing
dalliance in nuclear technology and ballistic missiles continues.
Elsewhere, there are indications that the Indo-Russian defence-fest is
drawing to a close with Moscow preferring hard cash to treaties or sentiment.
Meanwhile, the United States blithely continues to ignore proliferation
infractions by China and Pakistan despite damning evidence repeatedly
unearthed by its own intelligence agencies. Enslaved by a $ 40 billion
trade surplus China has built up, the world's most powerful democracy will
only whimper and paw the ground as Beijing cracks the economic whip. One
has only to go into that famed American mall to see China's commercial
might. Every conceivable kind of goods, from household articles to
electronic gadgetry, is "Made in China." Taken in by the dazzling
attractions of frontier science and technology, the United States has
forfeited its manufacturing base in several areas.
Despite being exposed by China as a toothless wonder, Uncle Sam till plays
the world's thanedar with the same characteristics of a local cop:
supplicating before those who have the goods on him, and bellicose to those
he perceives as meek. No matter what the transgression, China cannot be
touched. And because punishing Pakistan will expose China, Islamabad too
gets away free. Missile build-up, nuclear misdemeanor, supercomputer
infringement, human rights abuses all get the wink, and only an occasional
nudge.
As if this perfidious exercise is not provocative enough, New Delhi is cast
in the role of a whipping boy. Following the latest American upbraiding,
institutions like BARC and BEL now cannot buy a screwdriver without
attracting scrutiny. Unable to talk India into line on crucial multilateral
treaties, Washington is also using countries like Japan, Germany, Britain
and Russia to turn the heat on New Delhi. It is galling to be the world's
largest democracy and yet be treated like a renegade nation. India's
isolation is accentuated by the weakening of forums like NAM.
None of this calls for panic. Hysteria would be the worst possible reaction
under the circumstances. The Indian state and its industrial, scientific
and defence establishment is resilient enough to beat the bum rap. But a
calm calculus of reason should guide us out of the complacency, inactivity
and inattention that could overtake us at a time when internal political
developments sap so much of our energy. This is the time to be smart, not
sassy. The Yadavs and Gowdas can fight till Kingdom Come or kingdom go, but
India should be able to rise above all that.
There is no point in hyperventilating against Pakistan and China over their
aggravating postures. Each nation takes decisions in its own self
interest. The country we need to engage squarely is the US. Like it or
not, it is the sole superpower in the world. More pertinent, it is the
fount of frontier science and cutting edge technology. We need both, not
only for protecting our frontiers, but also in our fight against poverty,
ignorance and backwardness.
The Indian political class is notoriously shy of talking to the US. Fifty
years into freedom, our leaders - and indeed many of our leader writers -
make a living from America bashing. Electoral maidans and Parliament still
ring out with anti-American rhetoric, often misplaced and worse,
ill-informed. Every small pronouncement by some minor American functionary
or a stray news-item in a Washington newspaper is amplified to instil
mistrust in Indian minds. It has something to do with our colonial past
which equates white skin with imperialism and exploitation.
Fair enough. That has been our experience. But it should not prevent us
from engaging the Americans constantly. Hypersensitivity and paranoia will
not help our cause. It betrays boorishness, insecurity, and lack of
confidence. One Indian diplomat, who is often caught in the firing line
from New Delhi, has a sporting metaphor to describe India's diplomatic
dissonance. The Americans like shuttle diplomacy - direct parleys. At
times, they even settle for ping-pong diplomacy, where the ball bounces
once on the table before it is sent back, sometimes with some spin on it.
But New Delhi specialises in squash diplomacy. Here the ball is never hit
straight. It is sounded of the electoral board, bounces of the
parliamentary wall, and comes up suddenly at unexpected angles. The
Americans find this bewildering. Worse, they find the accompanying
multi-party cacophony perplexing.
Indians need to talk. Talk straight and talk privately to the Americans.
Messages coming from tub-thumping public speeches by politicians and
background briefings by babus are confusing. Besides, our multi-party
system breeds an irritating kind of one-upmanship. Political parties are
constantly upstaging one another. Leaders demand resignations and judicial
inquiries at the drop of a hat. If Gujral as much as shifts an inch from
our articulated position on CTBT, his head will be on the block. Foreign
policy cannot be conducted under such rigid confines. Political parties
need to forge a compact on issues. Indians need to relearn the art of
making deals.
It is not just political parties and leaders who don't talk to one another
about important national issues. Even bureaucrats and ministries don't. An
example: the Ministry of Civil Aviation is shortly going to order some 30
civilian aircraft, each worth some $ 160 million. Arch rivals, Boeing of US
and Airbus of France, are bidding for this. The contract means profits and
jobs. Politicians, legislators and businessman in both US and France are
salivating about the contract. It is a deal which India can use as a
diplomatic chip. But the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Ministry of
External Affairs don't discuss this. There are many such contracts being
handed out by various Indian ministries all the time but there is no
coordination between them and the MEA. There is no institutional mechanism
in India to capitalise on this.
India's approach to protecting its national interest should be two-fold.
One is to achieve a disciplined and consistent economic growth. There is no
better currency in international diplomacy than an annual 10 per cent
growth, as China has shown so effectively. To flog an old Americanism,
money talks. The parallel approach is plain talk. It is preposterous that
two of the world's largest democracies talk so little. How about extending
the Gujral Doctrine beyond the confines of the sub-continent? Where it
concerns the United States, there is too much rhetoric coming out of New
Delhi and too little attempt at a dialogue.
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