[Suresh Chandra Mohanty]
The unprecedented and hitherto unaccustomed to diplomatic assertiveness in multiple forums by India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has triggered nationwide jubilation and euphoria. Even so, ranging from being subject of human rights violations, freedom of expression, purchase of Russian oil and condemnation of invasion of Ukraine, the Western world never lets an opportunity to deprecate India.
Of late, however, there has been greater, albeit grudging and restrained, appreciation (or so it seems) of India’s resolutely independent and autonomous foreign policy enunciation across the diplomatic community. The president of Mexico even suggested a three-member global peace commission to include Pope Fransis, the UN secretary-general and PM Modi to promote world truce. However, over the subsequent weeks and months, real politic has taken over diplomatic niceties in obfuscation.
It is evident that India ought to chart its own independent course to address its economic, military and security concerns in its national interest. To realise its full comprehensive national power, India has to remain internally cohesive and strong by leveraging its core strategic advantage of a young, dynamic and innovative population.
The US national security strategy of October 2022 delineates China as its most consequential strategic competitor and India as a key partner in synergy with its recent economic and diplomatic overtures. However, it would be naïve to expect the US to compromise its strategic interests to accommodate India’s. The $ 450 mn military aid to Pakistan, delay in over 800 days in grant of visa, continued rant on the HR violations, inability to rein in referendum for Khalistan, and refusal to issue a red corner notice against Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, the founder of the pro-Khalistan outfit SFJ, who is facing 22 cases, appear to selectively express some American annoyance at not towing the line, especially against Russia.
Even Canada and the UK have dithered in reigning in separatist forces inimical to India as regards Khalistan operating from their soil. The WHO spared no time in linking the death of 66 children in Gambia to cough syrup sourced from India without giving any further evidence, while taking its own time to declare Covid-19 as a global pandemic and expeditious approval of Chinese Covid-19 vaccines with questionable efficacy. Despite being the fifth largest economy, India is still characterised by many in the West as impoverished snake charmers.
Take the case of India’s 107th ranking in the Global Hunger Index-2022, jointly published by a Germany- and Dublin-based peer reviewed annual report that takes into account three out of four indicators of health of children, including stunting, wasting and mortality (though data may have been selectively sourced from the National Health Survey). It is an irony that India is the second largest producer of wheat in the world and, as per the Soutik Biswas report in BBC in April 2022, India exported rice to 150 countries and wheat to 68 countries, most of which are placed above it in the hunger index.
Similarly, despite a vibrant free press, unconstrained judiciary and decades of free and fair elections, a prejudiced western media/think tanks consider India as a flawed democracy, electoral autocracy, or only partially free. It is a different matter that, while in June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned abortion rights, the Indian Supreme Court on 17 October ruled right to abortion up to 24 weeks extending to even single women. There is even a growing trend of select disciplines in sports, eg, shooting, wrestling and boxing, where India excels, being excluded from multinational sporting events.
An economically, diplomatically and militarily strong and self-reliant India will be a potential challenge and perceived as an unwanted competitor by many in the comity of nations. Others would only support it to the extent it is beneficial to their economic and security interests. To assume its rightful place, India would have to be internally strong despite its diversity and cultural pluralism which often gets exploited by inimical elements to the detriment of its internal cohesion.
Nation states are largely united by either religion or language. India’s diversity in religion and language is incomparable and true secularism is its only choice. Religious polarisation, differences on the basis of caste and language, are sure recipe for fragmentation. These inherent fault lines tend to get exploited by inimical foreign elements and electoral politics through the ill-informed and sub-optimally educated electorate, tempted by freebies and deeply religious inclinations.
The bane of Indian society is its electoral politics, whether it is hate speech or religious and caste divides. Cutting across party affiliations, leaders appease godmen of different hues, even when convicted for heinous crimes. Refusal to diversify crops from rice and wheat into oil seeds, cereals and fertilisers, extension of reservations for affluent communities and SC/ST status or permission to wear hijab in educational institutions have greater linkages to petty politics rather than welfare of the people. If restoration of the old pension scheme is an electoral manifesto, why the Agnipath scheme, whose main aim is to arrest the burgeoning defence pension bill? There is an urgent requirement to amend the Representations of People’s Act to streamline use of money power (in cash, liquor, and drugs), prevention of inflammatory speeches to instigate hate among communities, rule on defection consequent to elections with some changing multiple parties to remain in power and horse trading through monetary inducements. Political parties, even when third or fourth in the number of seats secured, becoming kingmakers and making fragile government structures when no party gets a simple majority. The high percentage of elected representatives with a criminal background (over 40 percent) or with pending heinous cases against them is a poor reflection of our polity. There are even instances of known separatists winning bye elections and openly professing their vengeance against the Indian state. Political parties indulge in promising and even adopting the culture of freebies despite the states being severely under debt to the tune of lakhs of crores of rupees.
Even strategic interests of the nation are compromised by rival political parties by colluding with foreign powers. Take the case of questioning a number of militant casualties in the Balakote air strike and hobnobbing with Chinese embassy officials during the Doklam standoff. Electoral reforms are therefore imperative to cleanse the system if good governance is expected.
Some of our citizens have the habit of making profit using unfair means even in crisis situations. Take the example of black marketing of oxygen cylinders during the pandemic, adulteration of food, medicines, vegetables and milk, and hoarding of essential commodities, especially during crop failures. Wheat and rice from multiple other states were clandestinely sold in Punjab and Haryana for profiteering out of the MSP. This mindset must change, not only through stringent laws against unfair practices, but also value education. Unfair business practices are rampant, often with clandestine collusion with government servants. India is one of the most unequal countries in the world with the top 10 percent holding 57 percent of the national income, as per the World Inequality Report-2022. This needs to be addressed expeditiously.
The International Monetary Fund highlighted that India is the only bright spark among the otherwise gloomy economic forecast over the next decade. However, if India has to become a 5 trillion economy by 2027 and 10 trillion by 2030, a strong military and diplomatic power to assume its rightful place, being the largest democracy with one sixth of the population of the world, it ought to ameliorate its internal contradictions in the domain of religion, caste, language, unbridled corruption and electoral politics. As a nation we tend to rally around only during a crisis; be it an India-Pak cricket match or clashes along the LAC/LoC.
To make our country great, it ought to be an Indian endeavor with each one among the 1.38 billion putting his/her shoulder to the wheel (including those of our fellow citizens settled or working abroad). As the US president mentioned in his preface to the security strategy: we can be strong abroad only if we are strong at home. Hence, let’s take the pledge to make this country great through our individual commitment. (Maj Gen Suresh Kumar Mohanty is security adviser to the GoAP.)
