Taming the rogue policeman Chidanand Rajghatta

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.