Author: Balbir K Punj
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: July 22, 2000
In a mood saturated with
self-flagellation, it is not surprising that the country has missed the
significance of the India-European Union summit held in Lisbon, Portugal,
recently.
Apart from several political
initiatives India wrested at Lisbon, the event also underlined the fact
that the country has emerged as an important player in the global arena,
and the world at large has accepted this reality, howsoever, reluctantly.
Till now the EU has been
holding regular meetings at the highest level with only five countries,
which are outside its own fold of 15 nations. Obviously the choice
of countries for top level discussions is dictated by their geo-economic
importance in the world and their relevance to the EU as a whole and to
the member-countries individually as well. These were Japan and China
in Asia, apart from the US, Russia and Canada. It's for the first
time that India was invited to the event. And New Delhi has been
decided as a venue for the next summit. Going by the speeches made
at Lisbon, and the text of the joint declaration issued at the end of the
parleys, it is obvious that India has been able to convincingly put across
its views on several crucial political issues.
Contrast it with the
atmosphere, which was sought to be created in the country and abroad in
the wake of Pokhran two year back. The pack of secular intellectuals
led by the Left and their cohorts in the media had termed the BJP-led Government
as xenophobic and had predicted India s isolation in the world community
following nuclear explosions. The prophets of doom had painted the
town red with the premise that the peaceful world community would now quarantine
India, a country governed by an irresponsible warmonger BJP-led Government.
In line with this ill-informed
and motivated criticism at home, the EU declaration, issued two years ago
began on this harsh note: The European Union reiterates its condemnation
of the nuclear tests carried out by India and Pakistan. These tests
pose a grave threat to international peace and security, and seriously
damage global efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
and to bring about nuclear disarmament. This statement was preceded
and followed by sanctions on India by the US and several other developed
countries, much to the satisfaction of professional doomsters at home.
Not only this.
At that point of time, India and Pakistan were treated at par and both
the countries were seen as posing a grave threat to international peace
and security. Obviously, in the last two years, following Pokhran,
India s profile has changed for the better and this is reflected in EU
s appreciation of India s stand on various issues. Along with the
rest of the world, the EU has also become aware of the danger that Pakistan
poses to the global peace through export of terrorism and by maintaining
nurseries that breed jihadis to spread mayhem in the non-Islamic world.
Through the joint declaration, which was made at the conclusion of the
summit at Lisbon, the EU has joined hands with India, against both terrorism
and drug trade.
The declaration said:
We share the conviction that terrorism remains a major threat to regional
and international peace and security, and constitutes a serious violation
of the rights of innocent individuals and of the integrity of states.
We reaffirm our unreserved condemnation of terrorism in all its forms,
wherever it occurs and whatever its motives and origin. We will strengthen
our cooperation in preventing and combating terrorism. We will bolster
joint efforts to counter terrorism and meet all other challenges arising
from it both in the regional and international context. We agree
therefore to strive for a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
On the drug menace, the
declaration added: We note with deep concern the increase in drug trafficking
as a global problem, which constitutes a major threat to health and reinforces
international crime and terrorism. We agree on the need to strengthen
co-operation to combat drug trafficking and drug abuse.
Though Pakistan is not
named, there are no prizes for guessing which country the joint declaration
had in mind while talking about the twin problems of terrorism and drug.
The fact that both these activities are managed by ISI in the region is
now an open secret.
India also held on to
its ground on the crucial issue of the need for a new round of WTO multilateral
trade negotiations with a broader agenda. The developed countries
(both the US and the EU) have been striving for including in WTO agenda
the social issues of labour and environment. In their words, they
want the agenda to be enlarged not as a matter of protection, but as a
matter of social justice and sustainability.
Shorn of hype and niceties,
the developed countries are indeed asking for only protection in the name
of social issues. The truth is that they are dishonest about the
concept of free trade and are reluctant to practice what they preach in
sphere of new international economic order. They plead for free global
trade, but want to rob the developing countries of the advantage of cheap
labour by bringing in extraneous issues. The developed countries
desperately crave for free access to the Third World markets while seeking
to protect their own economies in the name of social issues. The
EU had reiterated its position in unambiguous words when it had held summit
talks with the US in May end and with Canada on June 26 just two days prior
to India-EU summit. The EC wanted India to endorse this line at the
summit. To convass for India s support, Mr Pascal Lamy, the Trade
Commissioner of EC, spent almost a week (2-8 March, 2000) calling on the
top brass in New Delhi. But, obviously, his labour seems to have
gone waste.
The joint declaration
did not endorse the EC (and developed countries ) stand on the issue.
Instead it recognised that there were differences on the subject.
The EU-India interaction
at the top level has also to be seen in the changing global scenario following
the collapse of the Soviet Union. From a bi-polar world, we have
moved to a multi-polar one. Hopefully this dialogue will set pace
for increased trade between the two sides and correct the imbalance in
their economic ties. While EU is India s largest trading partner
accounting for about 25 per cent of our global trade, India, in contrast,
is only the 17th largest trading partner of EU accounting for a market
share of mere 1.5 per cent.
Several Indian goods
face market access problem and Non-Tariff Barriers in EU market.
EU has also instituted a large number of Anti-Dumping and Anti-Subsidy
investigations against products of Indian origin in the sectors of textiles,
steel and pharmaceuticals. India, along with China and South Korea,
is one of the highly targeted country for such EC actions. Presently,
eight products are under Anti-Dumping Definitive Duties (AD) and five products
are under Definitive Anti-Subsidy Duties (AS). Besides, six cases
of AD/AS investigations are on against Indian products. It is estimated
that Indian exports worth US$ 350 million are affected by such AD/AS investigation
actions.
During the current summit
India was able to wrest some concessions in textiles and sugar. But
they were meagre. A host of trade issues are still to be sorted out.
But then there is room for optimism, for strong economic ties normally
follow smart political initiatives.
(The writer, a well known
journalist, is a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha.)
