Can the
President of the United States be faulted for pushing the interests
of the United States? Barack Obama was doing his duty when he asked
Manmohan Singh to speed up economic reforms and let American
investment into areas like retail. India can respond any which way.
But Congressmen rushing to the “defence” of Manmohan Singh is not
a response. It is yet another demonstration of the culture of
crawling when asked to bend.
The record
shows that India has often promoted America's interests rather than
India's. This is because, unlike in China or even Pakistan,
politicians and bureaucrats in India can be easily hooked with the
bait of a free trip to America. A job in the World Bank is
irresistible. There are also leaders, like Manmohan Singh, who
genuinely believe that it is in India's interest to be in the good
books of America. Remember the only issue he pushed with
determination in all his years as Prime Minister was the nuclear
cooperation bill which was more to America's advantage than to
India's.
Sure, India
and the US are active democracies and therefore natural allies.
Healthy cooperation will be beneficial to both. But this needs to be
built on a basis of equality and mutual respect. If America frisks
India's ambassador to the country at an airport, if it repeatedly
treats A.P.J.Abdul Kalam as though he were a terrorist in disguise,
if it turns hostile to Indian IT companies with discriminatory visa
and tax regimes, and if India takes it all lying down, then it is
not a healthy relationship. It is a relationship that will fill
ordinary Indians with hostility towards America.
American
corporations are not among the world's most ethical. One factor
behind the Occupy Wall Street movement is the “looting” of
shareholders' money by corporate tycoons. But can they be faulted if
Indians accept favours from them and do their bidding at India's
cost? A mountain of literature is available on the activities of
America's seed companies in India. In the most controversial issue of
them all, the genetically engineered brinjal, Monsanto managed to
get the necessary approvals from the Genetic Engineering Approval
Committee in Delhi. The story behind the story was that the GEAC as
well as field research teams were infiltrated by Monsanto so that
“the data placed before the GEAC was provided by the applicant
company”. Greedy Indians are to be blamed if even our brinjal goes
into the hands of “the world's most hated company” as The
Guardian described Monsanto.
The American
establishment had always placed emphasis on taking over India's agri
business, no doubt inspired by the sheer size of a billion-people
market. This was in fact the topic most ardently pushed by President
Obama when he visited India in 2010. Some 200 American business
leaders accompanied their President. They promoted a series of
initiatives such as the India-US Agriculture Dialogue and revived the
Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture Research, a project
formalised by George Bush in 2006 but went dormant after unwanted
American farm techniques proved counterproductive.
In all these
initiatives, the emphasis is on America increasing its exports to
India and enlarging its trade surplus. What are India's needs and how
are they served? Indian officialdom, from Sharad Pawar to
agricultural university researchers, often give the impression that
they are on America's side. Thus drugs banned in America can be sold
over the counter in India. Clinical trials prohibited in America can
be conducted on the poor in India. Pesticides like endosulfan, the
production of which is stopped in America, still have supporters
among India's power-wielders.
With
Manmohan Singh in charge of the Finance Ministry, US corporate sector
found a golden opportunity to pressure India into toeing the American
line. Obama seized the opportunity and picked PTI for his interview
– clearly a focussed message to India directly. A smart move by an
alert leader in the interests of his country.
Where are
the alert leaders who will make smart moves in the interests of
India?