India's current foreign policy stance towards the Middle Eastern crisis seems to be a classic case of shooting oneself in the foot. The Indian Govt. has issued a statement recently, categorizing Israeli attacks on
Lebanon as"dis-proportionate" and "excessive".
India has also demanded an immediate end to hostilities.
India seems to have cast its vote firmly for
Iran and by extension, the Hezbollah, since
Iran firmly supports the Hezbollah. In other words, a nation which just had 300 of its people killed by a terrorist act (in the serial Mumbai bomb blasts), is supporting a terror outfit- indirectly, if not directly.
In doing so, India has disappointed Israel, a country which has supplied us arms and aerial equipment which were urgently needed during the Kargil crisis. India and Israel are natural partners in the war against Terror. Both nations have suffered the longest and the most, at the hands of this global scourge. The recent bomb blasts in Mumbai, and the subsequent links of the arrested terrorists with Indians working in the gulf, have once again shown the need for India to cultivate relationships, which will help it gain international intelligence, in its fight against terrorism. In this context it is pertinent to note that the Israeli intelligence agency- 'Mossad' is highly respected for its prowess the world over and can be of enormous help to us. The economic potential in the relationship is also immense, ranging from Defense, High tech manufacturing, Agriculture, Biotechnology to Software. India knows this and in the past few years had made significant progress in building bridges with Israel, starting with both establishing embassies in each others countries in 1992, during the Rao regime. Trade has bloomed and is expected to cross the $4Billion mark this year. Given this backdrop, the Israeli Govt. is therefore, probably scratching its head as to why India still chose to side with the Lebanese, Iranians and the Hezbollah?
India has always believed that its Energy security lay in appeasing the Arabs and this factor more than anything else has dictated our policy in the Middle-East. This was fine then- our self interest lay in that direction THEN.
NOW'S another story. The Arabs are no longer a united bloc themselves. Notice how Oil Rich countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan are silent about denouncing Israel? In case the mandarins in the Ministry of Foreign affairs have gone deaf, Saudi actually DENOUNCED the Hezbollah attacks against Israel. The Sunni Arab countries view the Hezbollah as a puppet of Shia Iran and an attempt by Iran to dictate the geo-political agenda in the Middle East.
Secondly, oil is no longer an Arab monopoly as it once was. Oil sources have become much diversified now, with countries such as Venezuela, Russia, and Nigeria increasingly gaining centre stage. Russia's oil supplies are estimated to be so huge that there is little doubt that it will become the next Saudi Arabia, in the days to come. The Arab countries still continue to hold sway over poil prices, but not like earlier- not by a long margin.
Why then has India still managed to do a self goal? Because the Govt's foreign policy agenda has been neatly usurped by narrow political considerations, which seek to play on communal vote banks, rather than an enlightened appraisal of India's interest.
The Communists in India, along with the Samajwadi party are hell bent on appeasing the Muslim vote bank. They seem to think that the Indian Muslims votes in an election scenario,would depend on whether India supports Lebanon in the conflict. Ask the average Muhammad in Lucknow and he probably hasn't even heard the name of Lebanon and is more concerned about his children’s education and his next meal ticket.
The Communists are also so completely blinded by their Anti-America blinds, that they would even refuse to perform the toilet , if they knew that the toilets are made in the U.S.A. The B.J.P is ambivalent. It has not declared its position publicly. Which is not a surprise, since the party is often at a loss these days, so engrossed is it, in battling its way through various controversies its leaders themselves create. The Congress understands the need to ally with Israel. But it is petrified of the possibility of loosing the Muslim vote bank to the Samajwadi party.
While our political parties play these games with our foreign policy, which was always considered holy ground, not be tread on with narrow political considerations earlier, the bureaucrats seem unable to drag themselves out of the old Anti-Israel rhetoric, that all Indian Govts. mouthed in the Cold war era. Either that or they are unable to stand up to their political masters and give them sound policy advice.
Its still not too late to mend fences. We need to do whats right for us. Is some one listening?
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 at 11:01 PM.
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