India and the world

India and the world

The universal symbol of love, the Taj Mahal, has for centuries been India's showpiece. It attracted tourists worldwide. In the year 2000 this splendid work of white marble attracted the world's two most powerful tourists: US President Bill Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The fact that an American president came to this country after more than two decades goes to prove the new significance that the world's lone superpower attaches to this country today. While a keen desire to work out a new `strategic partnership' with India in the post-Cold war era may have been what prompted President Clinton's to visit this country, the economic profile of the country in its post-liberalisation phase certainly gained in the process. A faster growing India, discarding its antiquated trade laws since 1991, seemed an attractive destination for capital worldwide. The Clinton and Vajpayee visits to each other's country also showcased the entrepreneurial energies of the million strong NRI population, a section ofwhich had helped created the Silicon Valley success story. This, in turn, brought a third high-profile visitor to India this year: Microsoft CEO Bill Gates

Unfortunately, the political leaders of this country do not realise the significance of its new economic profile. They simply do not understand that economics in the 21st century will be the new language of diplomacy. They lack the long-term vision required to transform this semi-industrial country into an economic powerhouse. With their myopic visions they simply see India as a South Asian power, a country which can only compete with Pakistan or some other country of the neighbourhood. It is precisely this `boys in the hood' attitude that is evident in almost every speech made by the top leadership. For instance, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's speech during his United Nations Millennium Summit in New York in September was no different in this respect. The vision required of a prime minister of the world's largest democracy was missing, with the focus remaining firmly on Pakistani perfidy.

On this limited front as a member of the South Asia club, however, India has of late made some headway. Right after the nuclear explosions by both India and Pakistan and the Kargil military engagement, the relationship between the two neighbours was at its lowest ebb. But with Prime Minister Vajpayee's declaration of the "unilateral ceasefire" in Jammu and Kashmir and some positive official response from Islamabad, an atmosphere conducive to peace seems to be building up on the intractable issue of Kashmir. Although diplomatic relations with China has also witnessed some improvement in the last year, ties with the other smaller nations of South Asia has not shown vast improvement. If the recent violence rocking the Himalayan kingdom is anything to go by, relations between India and Nepal have touched a nadir. Of course, it is one thing for India to improve diplomatic relationships in its neighbourhood and quite another to project itself as an attractive destination for long-term investments. The formerrequires crafty diplomacy, the latter requires vision and the capacity to turn around things.