Democracy in India has taken firm roots, and earlier misgivings about coalition governments at the Centre have proved largely unjustified, as recent experience has shown. However, in one respect, Indian democracy, with and without coalition politics, has not served the interests of Indian society adequately. In mature democracies, even when there are deep divisions on crucial issues of national interest, opposing parties drop their differences to coalesce around what is perceived as common national interest. One wonders when Indian politics would reach such a stage of maturity.

An important sector in which national interest has to override partisanship is in the field of strategic decisions and directions in the energy sector. This is particularly important today, because India is faced with escalating scarcity of energy resources. Strategic choices, therefore, have to be made with a vision extending at least half a century into the future, uncertain as that might appear. It was in view of projected fuel scarcity that the former Iranian deputy foreign minister, Ali Shams Ardekani, and I proposed the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline in 1989. This was undoubtedly a complex proposition, particularly in view of the tensions between Pakistan and India. However, considerable analysis was carried out identifying means by which anxieties could be addressed and uncertainties minimised. Yet, adequate political consensus for taking the plunge on this important project proved elusive. While this project is being pursued seriously at present, the pricing outlook has changed radically in the intervening period and the cost for setting up the pipeline has almost doubled. During the mid ’90s, and till about three years ago, it would have been possible for India to get an agreement from Iran for gas at very low cost far into the future. However, that outlook, and other political dimensions of the deal, have now changed substantially, and based on recent negotiations the price of gas would come close to the equivalent price of imported coal with further uncertainties likely to stall the finalisation of a three-way contract.

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