HVK Archives: A world beyond domestic problems
A world beyond domestic problems - The Observer
Inder Malhotra
()
23 July 1997
Title: A world beyond domestic problems
Author: Inder Malhotra
Publication: The Observer
Date: July 23, 1997
It is understandable that the country's attention remains focused on the
political circus being enacted by. the likes of Laloo Yadav, his inveterate
critics who want him out, the CBI which blows hot and cold in the same
breath, and the leaders of the 'core' groups of the ruling United Front who
still don't know what, if anything, they decided during their marathon
meeting last Thursday. But this tomfoolery has gone on for too long, and
even if its prolongation cannot be prevented, it is time that some
attention is paid to the bigger problem of national security, crucial
international relations and wider national interests.
No Indian should try to delude himself or herself that the current
shenanigans will have no great impact on vital areas of security and
diplomacy. Already many countries, even though friendly towards India,
have put their feelings about it on hold. Those inimical to us are bound
to raise the opportunity to pursue their own ends. The number of those in
the outside world, who realise that despite the present disarray India's
potential is great and its fundamental system basically sound, is limited.
Others, including intending investors, have decided to wait and watch.
As if this was not enough, Inder Kumar Gujral has had to cancel his visit
to Kualalumpur to take part in the meeting of the Asean Regional Forum
(ARF) about the only international body at which Asian security and related
problems can be discussed with all the major world powers present. P
Chidambaram who will represent the Prime Minister at this gathering is
doubtless a very competent and articulate negotiator. But his hosts and
those present will draw their own conclusions from Gujral's inability to
arrive personally.
Even more remarkable, though inadequately noticed, is the indefinite
postponement of the sojourn in Russia of the defence minister, Mulayam
Singh Yadav, who is distracted less by the developments in Delhi and more
by his no-holds-barred war against Mayawati in UP. Mulayam's visit was
deferred literally at the last minute. An ominous question that is being
raised in informed circles is whether the initiative for postponement came
from New Delhi or Moscow. What lends an edge to this query is that Yadav
was due to sign a number of agreements for the acquisition of arms and
military technology.
It is to Gujral's credit, however, that even in the midst of his myriad
domestic woes about which he has publicly pleaded helplessness - he has not
only taken note of world developments but also done something which has
never before been attempted by any Prime Minister. He talked of the need
for "deterrence" by India and, in several of his pronouncements, took a
holistic, not compartmentalised, view of Indian security and supreme
interests. This is welcome, but not enough. Gujral's cabinet colleagues
need to be educated in what is at stake. More importantly, what the Prime
Minister has said in speeches and interviews needs to be incorporated in a
resolution to be passed by both houses of Parliament. Only in this way can
be defeated the designs of those who continue to believe that they can
pressurise India, particularly on nuclear and missile issues.
It is in this context that a series of recent international events become
of great relevance as well as deep concern to this country. These also
underscore that time and tide wait for no one which means that total
absorption in political soap opera can prove disastrous.
At first, the - United States targeted several Indian companies including
Bharat Electronics, the Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, Godrej Boyce and so
on for selective sanctions. Why? Because they were 'guilty' of
participating in their own country's space and missile programme.
Immediately thereafter, Pakistan test-fired its Hatf-III missile. Either
built with Chinese help or, more likely, simply provided by China, this
missile is said to have a range of 800 km which means that it can reach
Delhi. Mercifully, there hasn't been in India the kind of panicky reaction
that our Pakistani friends might have expected. It is the reaction in
America, however, which is the most significant.
For, while Islamabad crows about its Hatf-III test-firing, there is
thundering silence on the part of the Clinton administration. There is a
total absence of any comment on the subject also in the free, brave and
beautiful US media. What a contrast this is to the long lectures given to
this country by the spokesman of the US state department and leader-writers
of major American newspapers on the basis of a manufactured Washington Post
report that this country had "deployed" Prithvi, the short-range ballistic
missile, close to the "Pakistan border."
While saying nothing about Pakistani Hatf (or, for that matter, the Chinese
supply to Pakistan of M-11 missiles which, according to Americans, are
"still in their crates and stored at the airbase of Sargodha"), The
Washington Times published a long report, pointing out that every major
Indian city is covered by the missiles China has deployed. This is
something very well-known - But evidently, its publication at the present
point of time had a specific purpose.
On top of all this has come the Harkin-Warner amendment which loosens
further the US sanctions on Pakistan, mandatorily imposed in 1990 because
of Pakistan's clandestine nuclear programme, fully aided and abetted by
America and China.
Why is the US doing it? The answer is simple, and was bluntly given by
General Ralston, the second man in the American military establishment who
was here. America's principal interest at present is in energy. Its main
source today is the Gulf. Tomorrow, it will be Central Asia whose
hydrocarbon wealth is mind-boggling. In pursuit of this objective Pakistan
is useful because of its geography and especially because of its
relationship with the Taliban.
This, of course, is not an. A former chief of the Pakistani ISI, General
Hamid Gul, has been even more outspoken. Pakistan, he says, has once again
become 'important' in American strategy because of the American objective
of 'containing' Iran and 'exploiting' Central Asian oil and gas. This
wealth can be brought to the sea only via Afghanistan and Pakistan because
the US does not want to deal with Iran and cannot use the Turkish route
because of the problem of the Kurds on route.
This country's official spokesman reacted fast to the quick and rather
stealthy enactment of the Harkin-Warner enactment by the US Senate. He
surely expressed Indian concern, wondered whether this development could
not adversely affect the India-Pakistan dialogues, and so on.
However, the most notable part of the official statement was that for the
first time, it referred explicitly to China's long-standing and continuing
support to Pakistan's nuclear and missile programme. Up to now all official
Indian pronouncements have mentioned the subject only implicitly.
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