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Date:18-12-17

What drives Indian foreign policy?

Today’s imperatives of nationalism and humanism are the fulcrum of Modi’s vision

MJ Akbar

Foreign policy is the international expression of a nation’s most urgent aspirations. Aspiration is dynamic, evolving with a country’s sense of itself and its place in the world. In the first half of the 20^th century, Indians abandoned servitude, found a leader in Mahatma Gandhi who gave voice to this new spirit, and by winning freedom in 1947 ended Europe’s colonial project. Gandhi and India shifted the most powerful tide in history.In the second half of the century, India met and defeated external forces hell-bent on sabotaging the country’s unity, but faltered on the economic front, thanks to the drag of pseudo-socialism. The 21^st century is already a different place. India has corrected its economic compass, consolidated its economic and political strength, and is ready to claim a legitimate place in the forefront of the 21^st century.Foreign policy is, of necessity, a crucial part of the route map to this new horizon. In Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has a leader ready to shape this transformation and lay the foundations of New India’s rising role in world affairs. At the heart of Modi’s foreign policy is a humanitarian vision inspired by a fundamental tenet of Indian philosophy, that the world is one family. This conviction fits perfectly with the republican ethos of our times.

Empires have been replaced by nation states, inspired by the nationalism of people rather than of elites. Nationalism and humanism are thereby two sides of the same republican coin, and they constitute the fulcrum of Modi’s vision. Nations are no longer “big” or “small”; they are sovereign and equal, with the same rights and, indeed, the same obligations.The practical sinews of the Modi foreign policy are a belief in shared prosperity, security, comprehensive defeat of terrorism, expanded global engagement and promotion of development projects that help improve the quality of life of the people.

The PM defined his objectives with his very first foray into foreign policy, in May 2014, with his dramatic outreach to the immediate neighbourhood. Since then he has lifted relationships that had become brittle or stagnant with bilateral visits, project partnerships and a determined effort to settle endemic problems like the boundary dispute with Bangladesh.The humanitarian core was never more evident than in Modi’s instant response to the earthquake in Nepal, with massive aid. On another scale, the same commitment to people has made India the biggest investor in human welfare in war-torn Afghanistan. India now has development projects in an astonishing 31 out of 34 Afghan provinces. In Africa, India has committed a fund of $10 billion for people-centric projects. The International Solar Alliance, with India and France in the lead, adds another $2 billion to the humanitarian kitty.

Modi has identified terrorism as the greatest threat to peace. With persistent diplomatic drive he has raised awareness of this unmitigated menace to the point where even nations who were once reluctant to condemn terrorism for political reasons are now ready to include mention of terrorist groups and their sponsors in the text of bilateral and multilateral statements.The frustration with Pakistan arises primarily from Islamabad’s relentless support for cross-border terrorism, which in turn makes peace and mutually beneficial economic growth a non-starter.

If the first fundamental right of every human being is the right to life, then terrorism becomes the very antithesis of human rights. Modi has described terrorism as an existentialist threat for two sound reasons. Terrorists challenge the very concept of the nation state, and seek to reorder the world along the geography of faith. They believe in faith-supremacy, not faith-equality, and want to displace nations with faith-based concepts like a Caliphate. A regressive concept like faith-supremacy includes gender oppression, cultural hegemony and ever-widening ravines of extremism.The most telling evidence of near-unanimous international support for Modi’s mobilisation against terrorism came in the wake of surgical strikes across the LoC. Privately, some countries wondered why this had not been done before.

Intensive diplomacy has delivered in substantive ways. A significant example is the expansion of relations with UAE. Modi was the first Indian PM to visit UAE in 35 years, a gap which is neither explicable nor excusable. This correction has helped make UAE an important strategic partner and a major investor in India. Even perennial critics of the PM were silenced when Saudi Arabia gave Modi its highest civilian award.Equally impressive is the manner in which India has maintained relations across binaries. Better relations with UAE and Saudi Arabia have not come at the cost of traditional relations with Iran. The commissioning of the Chabahar port, developed by Iran and India, close to the Chinese-Pak port of Gwadar, tells its own story.

There is healthy respect for India’s ability to protect its legitimate interests. The standoff with China’s PLA at Doklam became an opportunity for India to assert cool leadership, display a military resolve that surprised onlookers, and assert a vital tenet of foreign policy. As external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj explained eloquently during a debate in Parliament during the Doklam impasse, diplomacy was the only means of resolution.Both India and China believe that there is far more to be gained by goodwill than by acrimony; we have not permitted differences to become disputes and disputes to escalate into conflict. One of Modi’s early visits abroad, in his capacity as Gujarat CM, was to China in November 2011. As might be expected he raised issues relating to Arunachal Pradesh, PoK, terrorist camps and investment in Gujarat. But at the top of his agenda was also the prolonged detention of 22 Indians in a Chinese jail. They were released a little later. Under Modi, the human factor remains at the heart of foreign policy.

Date:18-12-17

Giving while living: India’s new rich lose the stingy tag

Gurcharan Das

Two events in the 1960s had a deep influence on my life. When I was 17, I got an undergraduate scholarship to Harvard. I was able to go only because an anonymous American family gave money for the scholarship — I never knew the family and would never know them. When I was abroad, I felt ashamed because newspapers called India a “basket case”.A ship from America laden with grain used to arrive at an Indian port ‘every ten minutes’ during the drought years. Soon, however, the situation changed spectacularly. Norman Borlaug, an American scientist, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, helped discover a miracle, hybrid variety of wheat, which created a ‘green revolution’ in India, making it agriculturally surplus in many crops.What unites these two events is the great tradition of American private philanthropy. On an individual level, it made my liberal education possible. On a national scale, Rockefeller’s philanthropy led to a scientific breakthrough and brought prosperity to India. My purpose in recounting these two tales is to report that something similar is happening today in India — a quiet, philanthropic revolution is under way.

According to the respected annual Bain-Dasra India Philanthropy Report, private individual donations in the past five years have grown faster than either foreign donations or corporate donations via CSR or government welfare funding. They rose six fold from Rs 6,000 crore in 2011 to Rs 36,000 crore in 2016. Government was still the largest contributor at Rs 150,000 crore in 2016 but if this trend continues, private philanthropy could play a major role in improving education, health and alleviating poverty in the future.This news is surprising and destroys a few myths. Wealth accumulation is a recent phenomenon — only after 1991, did Indians begin to accumulate serious wealth, after the ‘license raj’ went away with its 97% tax rate. Philanthropy usually begins after a few generations of family wealth. Typically, the first generation makes the money and flaunts it, as Laxmi Mittal did with his daughter’s famous wedding in France. The second generation doesn’t want money; it wants power, which explains why the Kennedys and Rockefellers joined politics. Born into money and power, the third generation seeks respectability and dedicates itself to philanthropy and art.

Thomas Mann, the Nobel Prize-winning German writer, makes this point in Buddenbrooks, my favourite novel about a business family. In his saga of three generations, the scruffy, astute patriarch makes the family fortune; his son becomes a senator; but his aesthetic, physically weak grandson devotes himself to music. But every rule has its exceptions. Even during the American ‘robber baron era’ in the late 19th and early 20th century, Andrew Carnegie, the steel king, gave away 90% of his fortune mostly to create public libraries in American cities.

The dramatic change today is that most entrepreneurs are giving away money during their lifetime. Just as the money-making cycle has shortened in the knowledge economy, so has philanthropy. Inspired by Chuck Feeney, Bill Gates famously broke the three generation cycle to give away his money in his lifetime. Warren Buffet followed suit. And they are role models today for the young rich. Gates is inspiring young entrepreneurs around the world with his ‘giving pledge’ to give away half their wealth in their lifetime. He has inspired Azim Premji, the Nilekanis, Shiv Nadar, Sunil Mittal, Ashish Dhawan, and many generous others.

They are not only writing cheques, but bringing the same passion to philanthropy as they did to their business. In Dhawan’s case it has meant creating a world-class liberal arts university, Ashoka, with several like-minded founders. If you get into Ashoka, like Harvard, you are guaranteed a scholarship from an anonymous donor. The Nadars are creating a world-class museum.

The Bain report has broken another myth propagated by the Indian Left — that Indian businessmen are callous and stingy. The Panchatantra has a wonderful story which suggests that the spirit of giving always prevailed in India. An older merchant is advising a younger one that a successful life requires four skills. First, he says, you must learn to make money. Next, you must learn to conserve it. Third, you must know how spend it — don’t be mean or extravagant. Finally, learn to give it away — and that too is a skill. With India ranking 130th on the Human Development Index, the wealthy have their work cut out, although obviously they can never replace the government’s role.

Date:18-12-17

Ockhi takes a toll

Cyclone warning systems let down the fishermen of Kerala and Tamil Nadu

TOI Editorials

Hundreds of fishermen from India’s southern tip – mostly from Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala – are still missing since Cyclone Ockhi ravaged the Arabian Sea coast over two weeks ago. For local fishing families Ockhi has been a tragedy of massive proportions that has also exposed how much India’s disaster management systems are still lacking. Cyclone warnings from the Indian Meteorological Department came too late. Its earlier warnings of a “deep depression” went unheeded by state disaster management officials.

Rescue operations also saw delays. Fishing community leaders allege that ships and helicopters pressed into service were inadequate in number and ill-equipped. With the death toll approaching 100, affected communities vented their ire against state officials who in turn blamed central agencies. The rarity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea in contrast to their frequency in the Bay of Bengal appears to have caught everyone off-guard. During Cyclone Phailin in 2013 and Cyclone Hudhud in 2014, IMD had given advance notice of the cyclone path, enabling local administration to mount large-scale evacuation measures. But during the 2013 Uttarakhand floods and the 2014 Srinagar floods, though it had warned of “very heavy rainfall” state governments complained that the forecast was too vague to take hefty measures.With extreme weather events increasing in frequency there is a crying need for much better coordination between IMD and state disaster management officials. Cyclone Ockhi has reportedly prompted Kerala to improve offshore communication facilities for deep-sea fishermen using ISRO satellite systems. In coastal states where fishing is a primary source of livelihood for lakhs of people, such investments also make economic sense. For now the ravaged communities must also be supplied relief and rehabilitation on an urgent basis.

Date:18-12-17

बिगड़ने लगा मौसम का संतुलन, बढ़ गई हैं प्राकृतिक आपदाएं

ब्रेड प्लुमर और नाजा पोपोविच 

ग्लोबल वार्मिंग के बढ़ते असर के संकेत किस तरह मिलेंगे? कौन-कौन से देश इससे प्रभावित होंगे। ऐसे कई सवाल पिछले वर्षों में उठते रहे हैं। जलवायु वैज्ञानिकों ने अपने शोध के निष्कर्ष हाल ही में बताए हैं। वे कहते हैं कि दुनियाभर के मौसम का संतुलन बिगड़ने लगा है। इसके अतिरिक्त नई प्राकृतिक आपदाएं ऐसी हैं, जिनका सीधा संबंध ग्लोबल वार्मिंग से है।पृथ्वी के मौसम में मौजूदा परिवर्तन को वैज्ञानिकों ने ‘एक्स्ट्रीम वेदर’ कहा है। उसमें वर्ष 2016 को अब तक के दर्ज इतिहास में सबसे गर्म वर्ष कहा गया है। एशिया और आर्कटिक में रिकॉर्ड गर्मी बढ़ी है और ब्राजील एवं दक्षिण अफ्रीकी देशों का बड़ा हिस्सा रिकॉर्ड सूखे की चपेट में आया है। जलवायु वैज्ञानिकों ने पिछले वर्ष की प्राकृतिक आपदाओं का अध्ययन किया। उन्होंने पता लगाया कि किसे ग्लोबल वार्मिंग का असर कहा जा सकता है और किसे नहीं। दुनियाभर के शोधकर्ताओं ने पाया कि 27 प्राकृतिक आपदाएं एक्स्ट्रीम वेदर के अंतर्गत आती हैं। यह प्रयास जलवायु परिवर्तन पर गहराई से अध्ययन करने के लिए है, जिससे पता चले कि बढ़ती गर्मी और बदलते मौसम का आपस में क्या कनेक्शन है।तापमान बढ़ने की स्थिति में वैज्ञानिक आमतौर पर वास्तविक दुनिया के डेटा का अध्ययन करते हैं। अध्ययन के अन्य तरीकों को शामिल करके वैज्ञानिकों ने प्राकृतिक घटनाओं और बदलते मौसम को चिन्हित किया है। पहली घटना दुनियाभर में बढ़ते तापमान की है। पिछले वर्ष पृथ्वी का तापमान सर्वाधिक था। उसका मुख्य कारण अल नीनो था, जिससे जमीन के तापमान में वृद्धि होती है। दो अलग-अलग शोध में पाया गया कि एशिया और आर्कटिक में वर्ष 2016 में रिकॉर्ड गर्मी बढ़ी। बिना मानवीय गतिविधियों के यह संभव नहीं है। दूसरी घटना पिछले दो वर्ष में प्रशांत महासागर के पानी का तापमान अधिक बढ़ा है, उसके कारण ग्रेट बैरियर रीफ में कोरल को अधिक नुकसान पहुंचा। अगर यह और बढ़ा तो कोरल का बड़ा हिस्सा खत्म हो जाएगा। इससे समुद्र के अंदर का इकोसिस्टम बिगड़ जाएगा। तीसरी बड़ी घटना सूखे की है। दक्षिण अफ्रीकी देशों में सूखा बढ़ने के कारण लाखों लोगों के लिए खाद्यान्न संकट उत्पन्न हो गया। चाइनीज एकेडमी ऑफ साइंसेस के प्रोफेसर शिन्ग युआन कहते हैं, इस बार के सूखे ने 60 वर्षों में विपरीत हालात पैदा किए हैं। चौथी बड़ी घटना उत्तरी अमेरिका में आग की है। पश्चिम कनाडा और अमेरिका में 89 लाख हैक्टेयर क्षेत्र में फैले जंगल आग की भेंट चढ़ गए। अल्बर्टा राज्य में ही में भारी संख्या में लोग पलायन कर गए और 2400 घर आग की भेंट चढ़ गए। पांचवीं बड़ी घटना अलास्का जैसे सर्द राज्य से जुड़े समुद्र में गरमाहट बढ़ना है। वहां उसे ‘द ब्लॉब’ कहते हैं। पानी में गर्माहट बढ़ने के कारण उस क्षेत्र में जहरीले शैवाल बढ़ने लगे हैं। हजारों सी-बर्ड की जान चली गई और प्रशासन को मत्स्य पालन बंद करना पड़ा है। © The New York Times

Date:18-12-17

गलत राह पर ई-वे

संपादकीय

वस्तु एवं सेवा कर (जीएसटी) प्रणाली के गत 1 जुलाई को लागू होते समय सक्षमता बढ़ाने और कर आतंकवाद एवं इंस्पेक्टर राज कम करने का वादा किया गया था। प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने जीएसटी की शुरुआत के समय इसे ‘बढिय़ा एवं सरल कर’ बताते हुए कहा था कि इससे कारोबार खासा आसान हो जाएगा। देश भर में सामान एक स्थान से दूसरे स्थान ले जाने वाले ट्रकों को सीमाओं पर होने वाली नियमित जांच से  आजादी मिलना कारोबारी सहजता एवं सक्षमता का एक प्रमुख अवयव साबित होने वाला था। मोदी ने कहा था कि जीएसटी का क्रियान्वयन और राज्यों की सीमा पर बने चेक पोस्ट खत्म होने से वस्तुओं की आवाजाही में लगने वाला समय 30 फीसदी तक कम हो गया है जिससे हजारों करोड़ रुपये की बचत हुई है। हालांकि जीएसटी के प्रस्तावित प्रावधानों में से एक ई-वे बिल की शुरुआत भी थी जो कर अधिकारियों को वस्तुओं की आवाजाही पर इलेक्ट्रॉनिक निगरानी की मंजूरी देता। लेकिन कारोबारी जगत इसका विरोध करता रहा है।