One of the most common criticisms of the annual Soft Power 30 study is the conspicuous absence of India in the rankings. Admittedly, India’s non-appearance in the top 30 countries does give one pause. So much so, it is worth exploring why this is the case, looking ahead to see when India might expect to break into the top 30, and understanding what changes the government might need to usher in to do so.

For those unfamiliar with The Soft Power 30, it is an annual study produced by Portland, a strategic communications consultancy, and the University of Southern California’s Centre on Public Diplomacy. The annual report is built around a composite index that assesses the soft power resources of the world’s leading countries through a combination of objective metrics and international polling data. The index – developed around Joseph Nye’s argument that the sources of soft power are based primarily on political values, culture, and foreign policy – is designed to give a comparative snap-shot of countries based on their soft power assets. It is not a measure of absolute influence, but more the potential for influence. Objective metrics are structured into six sub-indices: Culture, Digital, Education, Enterprise, Government, and Global Engagement. International polling data is drawn from nationally representative surveys of 11,000 people in 25 countries, covering every region of the world. Survey respondents rate countries based on a set of factors that are most likely to drive perceptions of a foreign country. These factors include foreign policy, culture, liveability, and technology exports, among others. While the study only publishes a list of top 30 countries, there are a total of 60 countries included in the study, of which India is of course one. The Soft Power 30 has been produced annually since 2015, but it draws on the earlier work of the Institute for Government Soft Power Index which was published in collaboration with Monocle Magazine from 2010 to 2014.1

The 2016 edition of The Soft Power 30 report identified India as ‘a country to watch’, arguing that an upward lift in its ranking (from 2015 to 2016) was likely the start of a trend that would see it break into the top 30 in the near future.2 Surprisingly, this prediction has failed to materialise. Not only has India not built on its earlier momentum, its overall ranking has actually fallen since 2016. So, what happened and how can India reverse the trend?

There are several factors at play driving what feels like an underperformance in the Soft Power 30 index for India. The first is that we need to recognise there is at least some element of Western bias to the concept of soft power, as developed by Joseph Nye.3 As conceived, and as borne out in some (but not all) of the Soft Power 30 metrics, developed-economy countries do enjoy an advantage. This, in turn, puts India at a relative disadvantage. The other aspect of the index to bear in mind is that it is a composite measure, aggregating data across a diverse range of soft power metrics to produce a single score for each country. Thus, an especially poor performance in several of The Soft Power 30 sub-indices drags down a country’s total score. But this does not mean that such a country will not have clear strengths and useful tools in its array of soft power assets.

Bearing those caveats in mind, a breakdown of India’s performance across The Soft Power 30 can provide insights into both the factors dragging down India’s overall ranking, as well as the country’s soft power strengths that can serve India’s foreign policy priorities if used effectively. India’s biggest challenge, in terms of soft power assets – as assessed by TheSoft Power 30 index – stem from the ‘harder’ elements of soft power. Said differently, it is systemic issues like corruption, poverty, inequality, gender inequality, and pollution that weigh on global perceptions of India, and thus its soft power. Often the most commonly covered topics on India in international media focus on these more negative stories. Subsequently, these issues have an outsized impact on international views of India, and not in a positive way. Table 1 below provides India’s relative ranking and scores for each of the objective data sub-indices.

Table 1: India’s scores and ranking for objective data

	Ranking	Score
Overall	41st	40.64
Digital	35th	54.51
Government	37th	51.76
Culture	38th	30.01
Enterprise	47th	37.50
Global Engagement	47th	24.79
Education	51st	37.84

 

Looking at India’s performance across the objective sub-indices, India’s strongest soft power assets are found in Digital, Culture, and Government. In the digital sub-index, Prime Minister Narendra Modi powers India’s extraordinary digital diplomacy reach, which is among the best in the world. Prime Minister Modi is second to only to US President Donald Trump for Facebook followers in other countries. This means India’s Government can reach a huge international audience directly through social media platforms. In the Culture sub-index, India benefits from 36 UNESCO world heritage sites, ranking 6th in the world; it is 13th for average tourist spend; 22nd for international tourist arrivals; and 23rd for entries into major international film festivals. India’s performance in the Government sub-index paints a mixed picture. India does well on some metrics that capture the vibrancy of being the world’s largest democracy. But it performs less well on measures that capture citizen outcomes and government effectiveness, such as the UN’s Human Development Index.

Turning to the international polling data we see a set of results that broadly reflect the objective data. India’s best performance in the polling, as shown in Table 2 below, is in Culture, where it ranks inside the top 30 at 23. It is encouraging to see India’s cultural assets cutting through to international audiences. Chief among India’s culturally-driven soft power assets are the richness of a millennia-spanning continuous civilization, the films of Bollywood, the global appeal of yoga, ubiquitous Indian cuisine, India’s huge (and often successful) global diaspora, and India’s cricketing prowess. Likewise, international public opinion gives India credit for its well-established digital and tech sector, with India’s ‘technology exports’ being ranked 34th out of a total of 60 countries.

Table 2: India’s rankings and scores for international polling data

	Rank	Score
Aggregated	43rd	42.87
Culture	23rd	7.03
Cuisine	35th	6.87
Tech	34th	6.43
Luxury goods	40th	6.53
Welcoming to tourists	42nd	6.93
Global affairs	42nd	6.08
Visit for work or study	47th	6.10

 

With a better understanding of India’s performance across the different components of The Soft Power 30 index, we can turn our focus to what might be done to improve India’s relative soft power assets and the capacity to better leverage them. On the systemic issues that weigh on India’s soft power identified above, the Government should be – and likely already is – aware that these domestic issues have implications for India’s influence abroad. They are complex challenges that will take time to address.

In the absence of immediate solutions, it would be wise to focus on what the Indian government can control in the more short term. One action that would immediately benefit India’s soft power is an expansion of its diplomatic network, as well as the number of international cultural missions of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. India would benefit significantly from more international platforms to engage global audiences and communicate not only what India has to offer the world in terms of its wider cultural offer, but also articulate its values, aspirations, and a clear vision for India’s positive role in the world.

Extrapolating from the international polling data on perceptions of India’s foreign policy – where it ranks 42nd out of 60 countries – there seems to be a lack of understanding around what India wants from the world, and what it stands to contribute. Again, a larger diplomatic network with expanded platforms for articulating India’s aspirations and vision would be a boon for Indian soft power. With greater understanding and more familiarity, international publics are likely to increase their trust in India and see it as a potential partner. In combining India’s excellent digital reach with a greater international diplomatic presence, India will be better able to explain itself and its aims to the world, as well as leverage new platforms to engage international audiences with its formidable cultural assets. Results would not come overnight, but if resources could be mobilised, the returns on investment for India’s influence abroad would be significant.

References:

1   McClory, J. (2010) The New Persuaders, London: Institute for Government, https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/sites/default/files/publications/The%20new%20persuaders_0.pdf

2   McClory, J. (2016) The Soft Power 30, London: Portland, https://softpower30.com/wp-content/ uploads/2018/07/The_Soft_Power_30_Report_2016-1.pdf

3   Nye, J., (2004) Soft Power: The means to success in world politics, New York, Public Affairs.

 

(Mr. Jonathan McClory is the creator and author of The Soft Power 30 andGeneral Manager for Asia at Portland.)

(This article is carried in the print edition of March-April 2019 issue of India Foundation Journal.)

 

The notion of soft power is associated with the work of Harvard political scientist, Joseph Nye and was defined by him simply as ‘the ability to attract people to our side without coercion’. The phrase was first used by Nye in an article published in 1990 in the US journal, Foreign Policy and expanded in his 2004 book Soft Power. Despite Nye’s focus being primarily on the United States, and the vagueness associated with the concept of soft power, the phrase has acquired global currency and is routinely used in policy and academic literature, as well as in elite journalism. The capacity of nations to make themselves attractive in a globalizing marketplace of ideas has become an important aspect of contemporary international relations, as has been the goal of communicating a favourable image of a country or countering negative portrayals in an era of digital global flows.

As the world’s fastest growing large economy and with a pluralist polity, India is increasingly viewed as a global economic and political power. Since 2013, India has been the world’s third largest economy behind China and the United States on the basis of purchasing-power parity, while, in overall GDP terms, its $2.6 trillion economy has become the sixth largest, surpassing France in 2018. Nevertheless, the country is still home to the world’s largest number of people living in extreme poverty.

Parallel to its rising economic power are the growing global awareness and appreciation of India’s soft power – its extensive and globalized diaspora, mass media, celebratory religiosity (Yoga and Ayurveda) and popular culture. India’s soft power has a civilizational dimension to it, the Indic civilization, dating back more than 5000 years, being one of the major cultural formations in the world, with wide-ranging influences from religion and philosophy, arts and architecture to language, literature, trade and travel. India is the point of origin of four of the world’s religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism – and, as the place where every major faith, with the exception of Shintoism and Confucianism, has coexisted for millennia, India offers a unique and syncretized religious discourse.

The dissemination of Hindu and Buddhist ideas across Asia is well documented: it is no coincidence that the official airline of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, is named Garuda, the Sanskrit name for the Hindu God Vishnu’s flying creature. The Indian contribution to Islamic thought (and via that to European) on mathematics, astronomy, and other physical and metaphysical sciences is widely recognized.

India’s soft power in historical terms was directed not towards the West but to Asia. India’s cultural influence across East and Southeast Asia during the early centuries of the Christian era was spread through the dispersion of Hinduism and Buddhism and thus the millennia-old relationship between India and the rest of Asia has a strong cultural and communication dimension. Buddhism was at the heart of this interaction, with the widest dissemination of ideas emanating from what constitutes India today, and remains a powerful link between the Indic and the Chinese civilizations. Narratives on Buddha’s life and teachings are still a cultural referent in much of Asia, while traces of Indic languages, cuisine, dance, and other art forms survive in parts of Southeast Asia, notably in Indonesia.

Two of the world’s other great religions – Christianity and Islam – also have long associations with India. Some of the earliest Christian communities were established in India: St. Thomas is supposed to be buried in Chennai and one of the world’s oldest mosques is also located in India – in Kerala, where Jewish communities have lived for millennia. Adding to this legacy is India’s long and continuing encounter with European modernity and its contribution to a distinctive worldview epitomized by leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence and tolerance – whose thoughts influenced such leaders as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. This rare combination of a civilization which has strong Hindu-Buddhist foundations, centuries of Islamic influence, and integration with Western institutions and ideas, gives India cultural resources to deal with the diverse, globalized and complex realities of the twenty-first century.

In Prime Minister Modi’s ‘faith-based’ diplomacy, promoting Buddhism is particularly pronounced. Emphasizing the millennium-old cultural and communication links with other Asian nations, especially China, the Indian government has propounded the idea of ‘sanskritievamsabhyata’ (culture and civilization) as a core principle for promoting India’s image globally. It is not without symbolic significance that the first foreign visit Modi made after being elected Prime Minister in 2014 was to Buddhist Bhutan. Since then, in his official visits to Asian nations such as Nepal, Japan, China, Mongolia and South Korea, he has repeatedly invoked Buddhism. With its focus on peace and non-violence, Buddhism is seen as a useful soft power tool for India, which has traditionally been a peace-loving nation. Another aspect of Modi’s faith-based diplomacy is the promotion of yoga as part of soft-power projection, in which his government has been active, as evidenced by the adoption of International Yoga Day by the United Nations on June 21.

With its history as the only major democracy that did not blindly follow the West during the Cold War years, pursuing an autonomous foreign policy, India also has the potential now to take up a more significant leadership role. Despite growing economic and strategic relations with Washington, it maintains close ties with other major and emerging powers. India’s presence at the Group of 77 developing nations and at the G-20 leading economies of the world has been effective in articulating a Southern perspective on global affairs. India is also a key member of the BRICS grouping of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as well as the Commonwealth. As the 2017 annual report of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) noted: ‘India’s diplomatic approach and engagement with the wider world is reflective of its confidence as a rising power capable of shaping the global discourses in the emerging multi-polar world’, a sentiment also reflected in a 2017 documentary, India Boundless – A Place in the Heart of the World, produced for the Public Diplomacy Division of the MEA.

How effective are India’s soft power initiatives? The intangible nature of soft power makes it hard, if not impossible, to measure. Has India’s civilizational communication with Asia given New Delhi a greater voice in the continent’s geopolitics? One major problem India faces is that it has not successfully communicated its soft power resources apart from its popular cinema. Indian news and current affairs continue to be largely domestically oriented and therefore absent in the global news arena.

As a result, the capacity to communicate India’s cultural attributes – classical or con-temporary – to a globalized audience is largely underdeveloped. Of the countries with ambitions for a global role, India is the only one whose national broadcaster (Doordarshan) is not available in the major capitals of the world. Although international news channels are still dominated by Anglo-American broadcasters, most major non-English speaking countries have entered the arena to ensure their views on the world are heard via their English-language 24/7 news networks, such as China (CGTN), Russia (RT), Qatar (Al Jazeera English), Iran (Press TV) and Turkey (TRT-News). However, the Indian viewpoint is notably missing in the global news sphere, at a time when news media are a key instrument of public diplomacy.

While India’s English-language private news networks, such as NDTV 24×7, CNN-News 18, India Today Television, Times Now and WION (World Is One News) are available globally, they have rarely ventured out of their diasporic constituencies.  For a nation with a developed model of journalism and one of the world’s largest English-language news markets, it is ironical that Indian journalism is losing interest in the wider world at a time when Indian industry is increasingly globalizing and international engagement with India is growing across the globe. Despite its penchant for managing media messages and Modi’s personal reputation as a formidable communicator, his government has done little to address this shortcoming in India’s external communication strategy.

(Prof. DayaKishanThussu is currently Disney Chair in Global Media and Distinguished Faculty Visiting Professor at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, Beijing. For many years he was Professor of International Communication at the University of Westminster in London. Among his many publications is Communicating India’s Soft Power: Buddha to Bollywood (Sage/India, 2016).)

(This article is carried in the print edition of March-April 2019 issue of India Foundation Journal.)

 

 

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Food is the visible manifestation of God. When we see food, we see the Divine in it. The physical, as well as metaphysical aspects of food cannot be ignored. Man is born of food, nourished by food and becomes food of other creations. Matter draws energy from food to become alive, gets nourished and then grows. Rasa – the juice of food, converts into rakta, the juice of life, to cajole the seed of tomorrow, to propagate life.

Food is an integral part of our cultural philosophy since it comprehensively reflects the essence and experience of life. Food in our culture is never merely a material substance of ingestion, not just a transactional commodity. Maybe that is why India has never been loud about its food and the knowledge behind this food evolved over centuries. Now, the time has come to aggressively promote knowledge — which I argue is the greatest soft power of any nation.

The Vedic science of gastronomy now referred to as the ‘anthropology of food and nutrition’ is still as relevant today as it was in the ancient and medieval times, and will continue to play a crucial role in the future as well. This knowledge which is universal will help gain a better understanding of gastronomy and recognizing a crucial place of the interdependence between food and wellness living. Given the importance of fire in the cooking process, AGNI or fire finds its place of pride in the first sloka of the Rig Veda. The verse means: “Oh Agni, you who gleam in the darkness, to you we come day by day, with devotion and bearing homage. So be of easy access to us, as a father to his son, abide with us for our wellbeing.”

Just as the oldest text of the human race – the Vedas – acknowledge the value of Agni in the wellbeing of mankind, we must understand its role in the evolution of man in the context of food since the Stone Age, and how it is responsible for our existence. With fire began cooking. The deeper connect between food and fire was discovered – as man realised that fire was required to digest food in its digestive form – Agni. Fire helps to cook food, improves ingestion, making food easily digestible, enhances absorption and makes metabolism more efficient. Man soon learnt that nutrients absorbed from the food provided for the energy needs of the body, helping improve the immune system, which in turn helped the organs function the right way. The development of the brain occurred in a complementary fashion.

Slowly, with time, man also began to understand that food not just nourishes the body, but also the mind, which in turn, leads to evolution – through developments of culture, language, knowledge. Wellness and sustainability – the twin objectives have always been driving the evolution of Indian cuisine. With these in mind, our food passed through various stages of evolution on the basis of continuous learning and observation from nature by saints, sages and wise men, who refined it through experimentation – over centuries! What they found was that eating is not to be considered in isolation as satiation of hunger. Rather, food is a source of nourishment for the body, mind and soul. They discovered the link between the five elements of nature, six seasons and the six tastes. Our ancestors have very well documented the essentials of cooking food:

1) One must have complete understanding of the characteristics of each food ingredient and the bearing on cooking and its impact on the body. The characteristics include seasonality, the taste of the naturally-occurring ingredient and its therapeutic effects on the body. All of these will assist you in making the correct choice and mixing of ingredients (which you may also call “pairing” or combinations).

2) One must be emotionally involved in the cooking process. You must touch and feel the ingredients. Just by touching the food ingredients, you can judge their quality from their texture, and observe their colour, and smell it. No wonder, the Indian philosophy relates to cooking as a spiritual process.

3) The process of cooking can be considered as a high level of meditation. It requires utmost concentration of the mind, and deep involvement of the one who cooks. And it is not easy to control the mind! Bringing the focus of the mind on the act of cooking and holding your concentration there to create sumptuous, soulful and tasty food which creates happiness and wellness of the diners – makes the cooking process nothing short of a highly spiritual activity.

4) The mind must be filled with good thoughts, and must be devoid of all negativity.

This is the understanding of food we have inherited through our culture, and it forms the basis of the immense wealth of knowledge of our cooking.

The first vertical of Indian gastronomic science (Ayurveda) is wellness. Food is the only source of serving the nutritional needs of the body. For over 5000 years, our gastronomy which is a vertical of Ayurveda has been practised to promote wellness. It has influenced our philosophy of gastronomy. It was true in the olden times as much as it is relevant at present – beginning to find its place in the diet trends of the day. It is considered to be a sacred system that unites natural elements of the body and is tethered to the nourishment of the mind and the soul.

The second vertical of Indian gastronomic science is Sustainability. For a life with peace, harmony and happiness, we need to ensure that our surroundings are healthy, clean and balanced. Taking care of the environment around us is just as important, or even more, than taking care of our individual health or our body, mind and soul. Simply because, our individual ‘balance’ is contributed by the ‘balance’ of the environment around us. It is as simple as this: Every time we contaminate our surroundings or the environment, we end up contaminating ourselves. It is usually taught in Ayurveda that whenever you throw something outside, assuming it to be a waste, rest assured it will always come back to you. If it is in the form of harmful fumes, we will breathe it back.

After travelling across the world’s nations and experiencing their cuisines, I can summarise my exploration as a culinarian thus: What we found and laid stress on for centuries has become the motto driving all the food concerns today – which is wellness and sustainability! It is being accepted that eating food in courses has no scientific basis. This neither aids in digestion, nor does it lead to satisfaction and happiness. The world is waking up to the exploration of tastes, and the impact of seasonality on the body. But, we have known it for aeons!

The knowledge of our gastronomy – Why eat seasonal? Why eat tasty food? When to eat? What to eat? How much to eat? What is the effect of food on the mind and the soul? This knowledge is already with us. I appeal to all the knowledgeable stakeholders – in the government (AYUSH), various agencies, scientists, ayurveda practitioners, nutritionists, and the most important ones who put food in our stomachs – the chefs – to make people aware of this food in a presentable manner that encourages them to appreciate it by stimulating salivation. This can happen through food that is good to look at, but it must be complemented by the well-balance of tastes as per season, which triggers the neuro-systems for the digestion process.

Some time back, I had an interaction with Paul Newnham – who is the Coordinator of the UN’s SDG2 Advisory Hub working towards Zero Hunger. We were at a place where poppy seeds were served in the form of a beverage. It led to a discussion on seasonal food where we spoke about the element of seasonality in food consumption which does not apply only to fresh produce. Even the seeds have a bearing on the body according to season. Now, poppy seeds are best-suited during the summer or grishmaritu. For winters or hemantaritu, one could rather consume alsi (flax seeds), or til (sesame seeds). This is the knowledge which we already have, and if this can be stated in a simple, understandable and accessible document for the average person, it will help fix most of our common day cooking misadventures. It will lead to the spread of good practices and produce wellness longevity from our routine food.

It is difficult to cook something well without understanding the philosophy of any cuisine. Indian gastronomy goes beyond rules to discover the underlying ’Gastro-semantics,’ which can be understood as a culture’s distinct capacity to signify, experience, systematize, philosophize and communicate with food and food practices, rendering it as a central subject of attention. Our food is deeply grounded with five elements, five senses, three strands, three humors, six tastes and nine feelings. The five elements are earth, water, air, fire and ether. The five senses are hearing, sight, touch, smell and taste. The three strands are benevolence, passion and indolence. The three humors are Pitta or bile, Vatta or wind and Kapha or mucus. The six tastes are sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. The nine feelings are love, joy, wonder, calmness, anger, courage, sadness, fear and disgust.

As per our Ayurvedic gastronomic science, food cannot be nutritious, even while it has the essential nutrients in it, unless it is a well-balanced experience of six tastes. This literally means, that “If food is not tasty, it is not nutritious!” The six tastes are each composed of two elements: Sweet is water and earth, sour is earth and fire, salty is water and fire, pungent is air and fire, bitter is air and ether and astringent is air and earth. Further, even the body types Pitta, Vatta and Kapha are also determined by these elements. Pitta is fire and water, Vatta is air and ether, and Kapha is fire and water. The interaction of the five elements of nature through food, whether in the tastes or humors, determines what kind of body one has and the life one leads. Further, it is the basic gunas – sattva, rajas and tamas that have permeated all matter to form their basic nature. Human personality, too, is a blend of these three gunas and the dominance of any of the tattva (matter) determines behaviour patterns.

Sattva is a benevolent, unobstructiveguna. Sattvic tattva enhances the longevity, mental power, health and the feeling of contentment. Rajas, reminiscent of royalty, is characterised by passion, valour, pride and possession. Known to be the manas or mind of the human cycle, the rajasic tattva in food triggers activity and the wish to conquer.

A verse from the Bhagavad Gita is simply interpreted as “You eat what you are and, you are what you eat.”

Food as a Soft Power

This wealth of knowledge of food must now be disseminated through the various agencies and practitioners to the culinary enthusiasts and the Chefs, so that food as wellness becomes the norm. Our science of gastronomy has a universal basis – the philosophy, principles, guidelines, fundamentals, applications – can be easily customised to prepare traditional wellness food anywhere across the world, using their unique geo-tropical ingredients and techniques.

My own experience by visiting and interacting with the professionals at various seminars, forums, workshops, demonstrations relating to food, I found in every country that people are very anxious to know the goodness behind the great food. Not just the recipe! But, what is the knowledge behind this food? What makes it so good? There is no doubt in my mind that Indian food science is the foremost culinary philosophy backed by our ancient gastronomic wisdom. It is scientifically validated through research by scientist Dr Ganesh Bagler of IIIT-Delhi who worked with data analysing 2,500 recipes of Indian food, and found that Indian cooking is all about using spices without overlapping their tastes.

It’s not just how much spice and in what form, but how intelligently they are incorporated into the dish. Spices used in our dishes are much more carefully selected to produce the least amount of “flavour and taste overlap.” Every spice and ingredient has a purpose and they all work together in harmony to produce the taste of the dish. People from the world over who are seeking hints to the wellness quotient of our food are coming here to learn cooking under the Ayurvedic gastronomic science. They want to visit our country and spend time to understand this practice as wellness is a global concern – and food lies at the heart of wellness.

An Ayurvedic doctor – Dr RamniwasPresar – recently shared with me that there is a growing number of foreigners seeking him out to learn cooking as per Ayurveda. Nothing prevents us from exploring this growing interest in our cuisine on a large scale and it is imperative to take this great knowledge to global platforms and various forums to disseminate it. This will serve the twin purpose of promoting the right route to wellness, as well as establishing the knowledge of our food as supreme.

In the world of food and wine, French cuisine has reigned for the last couple of centuries, setting the standards for professional cooking. We are all aware of how France took its food to this position through structuring of the kitchen, standardisation of their recipes, and innumerable documentation and publication of literature. Many other countries followed suit, such as Italy, Germany and others in the Mediterranean region. In the recent times, countries such as UAE, Singapore, Australia, and even USA, have worked towards presenting their traditional food to the world. Most of them have marketed it innovatively with great success, becoming sought-after tourist and food destinations. Now, many of these countries have no substantial legacy of food worth talking about, but they have consolidated their food from other influences in the region, branded it as their own cuisine, and “sold” it as their own food to the world.

What about us? We already have a repository of knowledge which we have inherited from our past, complemented by diversity of food. But we are yet to go to town with it. With careful planning, branding and selling of this cuisine, we can establish Indian food as the dominant cuisine of the world – with all the right assets – backed by science and knowledge. It is also something we owe to the world that is seeking the right answer after misguided and misrepresented takes on food.

And I strongly believe that if we recognise our food as a soft superpower, it will not only make our food popular, but also enhance our tourism experience with knowledge, contribute to revenue for the economy, and generate employment. As we somehow strayed from our understanding of seasonality of food following the international trends, this knowledge will put pressure on the Chefs to produce diverse seasonal foods that would in turn encourage farmers to adopt diverse agriculture as opposed to mono-cropping. This could critically help improve the agro-economy of the country.

Paraphrasing a quote from Turkey, “Once, we say that ‘we belong to the Indian nation‘ we will begin to show in our language, aesthetic, morals and law and even in theology and philosophy, the originality and personality which befit Indian culture, taste and consciousness.”

Gastro-diplomacy as a Soft Power tool to enhance nation brand

The soft power of food would also help us in diplomacy as Gastro-diplomacy or the practice of sharing a state’s cultural heritage through cuisine. Thailand has established its own gastronomy product abroad. It is called Thai Kitchen with over twenty standard recipes as part of the brand that sells Thai food-based culture to foreigners, thus attracting prospective visitors to visit Thailand. Politicians like Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, ushered in a whole new approach to the provision of food, as a part of what she terms “smart diplomacy”. Indeed, as Natalie Jones, a deputy chief of protocol in the US Government puts it: “Food is crucial because tough negotiations take place at the dining table.”

During my participation in San Sebastian Gastronomika, I met the Indian ambassador in Spain last year. In January this year, I called him ahead of my visit to Madrid. Food lives in the memories. The recall of food is very strong as opposed to many other cultural experiences as it involves ingestion of food in the body and a complete multi-sensory experience. A popular quotation says, “It is hard to sing praises of the Lord on an empty stomach.”  What must we do to harness it?  The Yoga brand. Yoga has to be complemented with the correct food.

Conclusion

Even celebrated author Mulk Raj Anand has famously quoted from the old manuscript KhemKuthal: “I will just record a few lndian considerations about food which might serve to show how, with their remarkable genius for systematising life and its functions, the Indians had raised cookery to a fine art.” The fine art of cooking and dining must include: Food on the basis of its nutritive quality; in respect of its flavor and taste as judged by the palate; and in regard to the delight it gives to the artistic faculty of man’s mind. This transforms the food into a fine dining experience.

What is Indian food? Food that draws upon the vast knowledge from our scriptures, is well-balanced of the six tastes, in sync with the season, includes the local flora and is based on the fundamentals of Indian gastronomy anchored on wellness and sustainability qualifies as Indian food. Indian food is not restricted to food cooked in India. Anywhere, any cuisine across the globe can qualify as Indian food if it fulfils the above criteria. In India, we can and must bank upon this well-established science of food.

(This article is a summary of the speech delivered by Mr. Manjit Singh Gill, Chef and President,
Indian Federation of Culinary Association on 18th December 2018 at the Conference on
Soft Power at New Delhi organised by India Foundation.)

(This article is carried in the print edition of March-April 2019 issue of India Foundation Journal.)

 

 

 

 

Introduction

The history of India is marked by many centuries where Indian arts crafts and design were highly sought after globally. With over 3,000 unique arts and crafts, the importance of the arts in Indian society as well as its popularity in the ancient world is a testament to the fine workmanship and aesthetics of the Indian craftsman. India has an ancient and unique art history, with every region excelling in an art form. Usually the expertise is passed down from family members creating communities of artisans, these crafts are all of local provenance and are still found in their original forms.

Indian craftsmanship is also a prime example of the syncretic culture in India, with aesthetic influences from various religions like Hinduism, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, Islamic as well as unique tribal aesthetics. The world has influenced Indian crafts and India has in return influenced world aesthetics. This ancient bond has not sustained itself for thousands of years merely by chance but simply by the commitment of the Indian craftsmen to their expertise. For the Indian craftsman his work has always been more than just a form of employment, there has always been a deep sacredness and spirituality accorded by the craftsman towards his products.

Unfortunately, with the advent of industrialization from the mid 18th to early 19th century, cheaper forms of crafts based on industrial labour replaced the craftsmanship of the karigar. This shift was a substantial setback to the Indian craftsmen and these special stories were forgotten. Today, many artisans struggle for survival and their unique crafts remain endangered. With the lack of product design, modern marketing techniques and political will various forms of Indian arts and crafts are becoming redundant, but the resilient Indian karigarcontinues to be the crucible of India’s culture.

In the international markets, there remains a strong appreciation for Indian artisanal goods. Earth friendly in nature, Indian crafts are the need of the hour and Indian karigars are infusing these crafts with modern design influences to suit new markets and sensibilities. Each of these crafts are unique to the cultures that have influenced them as well as the region, just as are the individual producers or the communities they represent. However, the karigarswill to adapt to modern markets, his resilience as well as the uniqueness of his craft has still not been enough to elevate the arts, crafts and design industry to its former glory. Therefore, it is important to comprehend the limitations faced by karigars trading internationally as well as in the local market. India from once being an influencer of arts and design on a global scale and having dominated the world market for centuries, today has to find solutions to optimise trade and influence of these crafts.

 

History of international trade and the subsequent decline

A global international trade outlook for India is not a new perspective. The complex but well organised system of international trade between ancient India and the rest of the world is fairly well documented. There were structures for trade and linkages to institutions, artists and patrons. These interactions and linkages all played a role in the Indianization of world culture and positioning India as an influential Soft Power globally.

The Indus valley civilization (3000 BCE -1700 BCE) had a rich craft tradition as well as a high degree of technical excellence in the art of pottery making, metal and terracotta, jewellery weaving etc. The craftsmen not only created all the local needed items but surplus items also.1 Indus Valley sites like Lothal were busy ports and these products were highly coveted in countries like Egypt and Mesopotamia.

During the Vedic age too (1500 BCE) the rise of religious literature also created a market for the use of religious objects like pots made of wood, clay and metal. The Vedas themselves spoke of artists, craftsman and products that had gained popularity.

The Mauryan Empire (322 BCE- 185 BCE) also has some surviving remnants of its Buddhist influence in the form of stupas that were patronized by Ashoka. These were prime example of the mature design sensibilities of the ancient age. In the far north-west of India (modern Afghanistan and Pakistan) Greco-Buddhist fusion art developed (1 CE – 500 CE) and by the Gupta period (320 CE – 550 CE) Indian art represented by all major religions of the time reached its peak. In the south of India as well the Chola, Chera, Pandya Tamil dynasties all patronized regional arts, crafts and design and were known for their sculptures and fresco paintings.

Trade of elegant and highly refined Indian textiles not just in India but internationally too can be gauged by the antiquity of Indian textile exports. The first century Greek source Periplus, mentions the Gujarati port of Barygaza, (Broach) as exporting a variety of textiles, dyes and ivory. Roman writer Pliny (CE 23-79) complained of the cost of luxury commodities imported to Europe from India. India known for its fine muslin and cotton (called “woven air” in roman literature) ivory, aromatics were in high demand world over amongst many other artisanal products”.2 Pliny stated “Not a year passed in which India did not take fifty million sesterces away from Rome”.3 “One of the Roman Senators, while decrying the import of fine cotton muslin of India to satisfy the variety of Roman women, said that in doing so the Empire’s coffers had been emptied”.4

Textiles from India were also in demand in Egypt, East Africa, and the Mediterranean between the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, and these regions became overseas markets for Indian exports.5 “There was export of printed fabric to China by the 4th century, 13th Century Chinese traveller Chau Ju- Kua commented on the variety of Indian textiles in Gujarat and their export to the Arab Countries, Marco Polo also mentioned the export of Indian textiles to South East Asia, Chou Ta-kuan, the Chinese observer of life at the Khmer capital of Angkor at the end of the thirteenth century, wrote that preference was given to the Indian weaving for its skill and delicacy. Prestige textiles like the Patola also had a great impact in some south Asian countries like Malaysia and Philippines where they were aspirational fashion limited only to the royal family members”.6

Goods exported from India was not only at the fore front of fashion but were prized for their unparalleled craftsmanship. These goods connected the world to Indian culture and influenced not just its aesthetics but also played a major role in the “indianization” of some civilizations. India had always been global soft power until the 18th Century.

The Colonial period in India also brought in its own western influence as well as European patrons. Indian calicoes and muslin became vital to the Portuguese, Dutch, British and Danish East India Companies. The Chintz became the axis of all textile trade. Later, even artists were influenced by the western style of painting like Raja Ravi Varma. Fusion of the European romanticized style with Indian influences evident in many art works of the era displaying The Tree of Life or Indian hunting scenes with elephants and tigers.

Unfortunately, this time of aesthetic collaboration and trade came to an abrupt halt. The Industrial Revolution in Europe made a significant difference to the development of India’s Arts and Crafts.  With new industries in England that produced textiles and goods faster and cheaper, the Indian cottage industry was left severely impacted. The British levied heavy taxes and duties on Indian imports making them far more expensive than the European counterparts. In 1721 the East India company was banned from importing Indian goods. In addition to this setback the disappearance of India’s royal houses that were some of the primary patrons of regional arts, crafts and design, left Indian karigarswithout patrons. This not only effected their creative focus but also left them without resources to experiment with new designs and techniques.

The artisanal value of these Indian goods also became less important to the buyer in contrast to industry manufactured goods. On the contrary the Indian markets were flooded with British made goods for the first time further damaging the Indian market.

The continued fall of sales of Indian goods as well as the lack of patrons, karigars that had historically passed their art down to the next generation started encouraging their families to take up alternate more profitable trades. Not only did the influence of India globally decline but also production of Indian arts and crafts in India slowed down.

Increasing relevance and the way forward

The story of Indian arts, crafts and design is as old as the land itself. The confluence of religion and culture in India’s sculptures, paintings, earthenware and textiles remain unparalleled. It is this very synchronicity that makes Indian crafts unique and invaluable. While India has at times shared its aesthetics with other parts of the world, she has at the same time incorporated foreign design and aesthetics from other countries into its crafts. For instance, Batik and Ikat textiles were created for Africa and South Asian countries. This was possible due to maritime trade of the time, the route that the Indian Ocean provided for traders, the amicable relationship shared with other cultures, and the deep understanding of the craftsman towards the ever changing demands of the market.

Today, once again global leaders are largely moving towards greater cooperation and collaboration. The days of colonial domination is a thing of the past even while leaving some scars that still need healing. However, the resilience of the Indian craftsman and his commitment and sacredness towards his craft has carried Indian arts, crafts and design into the 21st century. It is this essential nature of the proud Indian craftsman and his sacred processes of creating India’s arts crafts and design that touches the human heart and mind, and this is the essence of what should to be translated into the soft power of a nation.

The crafts sector is the only industry that keeps the importance of human interaction alive in an increasingly machine oriented world. It relies on human contact at every step and that is what has maintained its relevance and uniqueness in the modern world.

Cottage Industry in India had grown organi-cally since the birth of the Indian civilisation. The power it has yielded has impacted entire communi-ties. It not only has absorbed workers from both genders, women and men both have equal standing within this industry but it also has also provided a skill that can generate income.

With the importance of climate change and the need of the hour being Earth friendly products, the time for Indian arts, crafts and design to take centre stage has arrived. Most products in the markets today are not earth friendly. Indian artisanal products are completely biodegradable, recyclable and renewable. These products are also economically cost effective in the long run. The ethical approach to fulfilling consumer demands requires us to switch to artisanal products.

With the entry of global online stores there is immense possibility to aid the revival of Indian arts, crafts and design. It will not only encourage karigars to become more technologically savvy but also allow the very last karigar to access a global market. It will enable him to cater directly to the online customer eliminating the need of a middleman. However, there is also a necessity for the government to dispense information and not only online marketplace training directly to the karigar but also to ensure awareness to individual craftsman of standards, rules and regulations for export. Considering that employment generation by the handicrafts sector has been growing at about 6-7 per cent each year and has increased from less than 60 lakh in 2008-09 to over 70 lakh in 2011-12, it calls for developing a mechanism to enable rural and semi-urban entrepreneurs to take advantage of emerging market opportunities.7

It is equally important alongside the promo-tion of online trade to keep alive the ‘bazaar’. The Indian bazaar has always been the social, economic and cultural heart of India. This is where human interaction, ideas and cultural religious exchanges take place. Most importantly the touch and feel quality of Indian crafts come to life. The bazaar is an integral part of the Indian culture and its preservation a necessity in a technology driven world. The impact of arts, crafts and design in India does not just limit itself to preserving the trade but it also mobilizes culture.

Access to urban and commercial spaces, exhibitions and fairs curated to global standards, generating interest worldwide through associations and fostering community enterprises will all aid the global positioning of Indian arts, crafts and design.

Few heritage villages are already successful models representing the community spirit of the craftsman, and more are being created to draw in visitors to witness not just the creation of products but also the cultural milieu. For instance, the heritage village of Raghurajpur in Odisha attracts tourism where people come to stay with the karigars, some to learn their crafts and some to imbibe the culture. The village fosters the spirit of the karigar and tradition of Indian arts, crafts and design. The promotion of heritage villages like Raghurajpur also creates access for patrons and consumers both nationally and internationally to recognise the value of the Indiankarigar.

In a study titled “Infusing vibrancy into Indian handicraft sector” conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India (ASSOCHAM), it is stated that the share of handicraft exports in India’s total exports has significantly declined over the years. From about four percent in 2001- 02 it has fallen to just under one percent in 2011-12.8 The possibility of decline in handicraft exports may also be due to the fact that over 60% of the exports are to the West whereas other potential buyer regions like South East Asia and Africa have been overlooked. Therefore, unfortunately India’s share in the international handicraft market is not nearly as formidable as it should be.

There is an immediate need to upgrade the handicraft industry knowledge base. Most small craftsmen are not aware of standards, rules and regulations for export.

There is also a huge gap in understanding product design and modern needs. Age old techniques can be applied to creating modern products as per market requirement. There is also a necessity for the government to dispense information and online marketplace training directly to the artisan.

With the entry of global online stores there is immense possibility to revive dying arts and to encourage artisans to become more technologically savvy, enabling artisans to cater directly to the online customer. Besides, considering that employment generation by handicrafts sector has been growing at about 6-7 per cent each year, it calls for developing a mechanism to enable rural and semi-urban entrepreneurs to take advantage of emerging market opportunities.9

The economic focus of the artisan has to change from just subsistence to growth and success. The impact of art in India is not just limited to preserving the trade but also mobilizing culture. Through access to urban and commercial spaces, promotion of exhibitions and fairs curated to global standards, generating interest worldwide through associations and fostering community enterprises we may be able to promote and preserve the richness of Indian arts, crafts and design.

In the international market, there remains a deep appreciation for Indian artisanal goods and India has begun to realise the immense Soft Power potential of bringing back to the world its philosophical, spiritual, artistic, and aesthetic capabilities and is ready to share it with the world. The success of Indian arts, crafts and design is not the sole responsibility of the karigaror of the government. This is a collective responsibility and with the Indian artisan already reinventing himself his success does not seem distant.

References:

Bibliography

1. http://blog.bhavishyanet.org/2018/06/07/69/
2. http://jigyasa0.tripod.com/trade.html
3. http://jigyasa0.tripod.com/trade.html
4. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/187505/7/07_chapter%201.pdf
5. Shaffer, Lynda N. (2001), “Southernization”, Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History edited by Michael Adas, Temple University Press, ISBN 1-56639-832-0.)
6. http://jameelcentre.ashmolean.org/collection/7/10236/10333
7. https://www.businessstandard.com/search?type=news&q=exports
8. https://www.businessstandard.com/search?type=news&q=exports
9. http://assocham.org/newsdetail.php?id=5051
10. Kanika,B http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/vedic- period/trade-and-commerce-during-the-vedic-period-india-history/7060)
11. Dhamija, 1992; p.5Dhamija, J (1992), ‘Indian Folk Arts and Crafts’, National Book Trust, India, New Delhi.
12. Gadgil, DJR (1985), J’The Industrial Evolution of India in Recent Times’, 1860-1939 (Fifth Edition, Seventh Impression), Oxford University Press, New Delhi. )
13. Donkin, Robin A. (2003), Between East and West: The Moluccas and the Traffic in Spices Up to the Arrival of Europeans, Diane Publishing Company, ISBN 0-87169-248-1.

(Ms. Rami Desai is the Director of iSTRAT CA, a company that deals in research,
communication and data management and skill development. Views expressed are personal.)

(This article is carried in the print edition of March-April 2019 issue of India Foundation Journal.)

 

 

Though art and culture may outwardly seem to be independent, they are intimately interlinked and always go hand in hand. Common elements like cuisine, ornaments, dress, language, behaviour, music, dance, literature etc underlie the customs of every culture, each having its own uniqueness.Culture is reflective of the ethos of a particular society and determines its character.

Art is a product of culture, a defined creative approach to interpreting ideas, drawing images on canvas or in space, and creating concepts. It is a creative expression of deep thoughts and situations that trigger transcendent experiences presented orally, visually or interactively.Art can re-enchant the way humanity sees the world, especially in times of challenges and struggles. For instance, it can rekindle a sense of patriotism, stir people into right action, uplift their spirit and aspirations.

This intrinsic power of art and culture has a universal value that infuses all relations and relationships both at national and international level. When districts in states, states in a country, and countries in the globe come together, art and culture provide a vital fabric of expression and cooperation. It provides a beautiful medium to educate and enlighten the significance of the cultural ethics and ethos of different regions.

Influence of Cultural Linkages

Cultural linkages develop mutual respect and honour in international relations and a certain peace and joy in human relations. Beyond theboundaries and differences, theypromote a common ground to unite. For instance, India and Russia recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin blogging a special message in the Times of India on May 30, 2017 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Russia to mark the historic occasion.[i]

Influence of Indian culture on Russia predates economic and trade relations between India and the then USSR, to the 15th century, when AfanasiyNikitin, a merchant from the land of Tver in Russia, in his three-year stay (CE 1466 – CE 1472), documented every aspect of the Indian society in his book, A Journey Beyond the Three Seas.[ii] Since then, cultural exchanges between the two countries have followed a consistent trajectory. Nikitin’s book became a major motion picture in Russia in CE 1950, with the Russian actor Oleg Strizhenov playing Nikitin and co-featuring the Hindi actress, Nargis Dutt.[iii] In my international travels, I am yet to meet a Russian who has not hummed “Awara hoo” or “MerajoothahaiJapani…sar pe laal topirussi…” with such pride to display his love of Indian culture.

The setting up of the Mayuri Dance Company in the Russian Republic of Karelia stands as a testament to this influence. Vera Evgrafova, who has always had a love of Indian dance was deeply moved by the 1985 movie “Mayuri”, which featured the story of an Indian Bharatanatyam dancer named Sudha Chandran. With aspirations of being a Bharatanatyam dancer, Sudha Chandran begins her training in the dance as a young girl, but as a teenager, loses a leg in a car accident.  Sudha fights her struggles to regain her dignity and identity as a dancer.  Vera Evgrafova, was so inspired by this feature film, that she appropriated the name of the character (Mayuri) for her dance group that she formed with dancers who shared the love for Indian dances in 1987 Railway Workers Cultural Center in Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia. Winning the “Narodiny” award in 1995 by the Karelian Ministry of Culture, Vera secured a spot at the state-wide level.[iv]

There are many such inspiring stories of countries coming together for peace and cooperation where culture has been a major factor promoting the respective national interest and contributing to a more peaceful world order.

International Recognition to Indian Cities for its Art and Culture

Three cities in India – Chennai,Varanasi and Jaipur – have joined the prestigious UNESCO Creative Cities Network for its rich music and cultural tradition. This world organization has identified culture and creativity as integral and strategic factors for development at the local level and strengthen mutual respect and cooperation at the international level.

During the December – January “Margazhi” month of the Tamil Calendar, Chennai celebrates its rich Carnatic music and classical dance,predominantly Bharatanatyam, attracting host of artistes and art lovers from all over the globe. It is a beautiful coincidence that it is held in the Tamil month of Margazhi – a month traditionally dedicated to religious activities and spiritual disciplines. People wake up early morning, sing hymns and devotional songs on the deities, participate in processions and cook delicious delicacies!“Among the 12 months, I am Margazhi,” says Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita (verse 35, chapter 10).

For many in Chennai, “December season” as it has come to be known as, is like a pilgrimage. Around 3000 programs and performances take place in established and upcoming Sabhasor organisationsat over 300 venues in Chennai. Every Sabha reverberates with melody and rhythm in praise of the divine, through the composition of saints, sages and many great composers. In recent times, temples and ancient traditional houses also serve as venues for lectures, demonstrations and concerts.

I am a proud and happy Chennaite. Being a performer and a participant of this grand Dance-Music season, I have been enjoying this wondrous festival for decades now.The festival was launched  in 1927 as an adjunct to INC, and has now completed 92 glorious years!The schedule of at least the top 10 Sabhas, are published in The Hindu on December 1st supplement. There are apps now that track the schedule of sabhasandkutcheris(concerts) like MargazhiSangeetam, SaRiGaMa, Zeek and collection of favorite songs from Twang. Online websites like KutcheriBuzz are a great source of the season schedule too!

Performers save their best repertoire to showcase for the season, and the audience – their best ethnic attires! The ladies already plan a display of collection of their Kanchipuram silk sarees and jasmine flowers. The men join the show with their shawls,  Kurtas and veshtis!Margazhi is to Chennai as Ganges is to Varanasi. Perhaps no other city in the world has such a kind of festival.

“Varanasi was advocated as an ideal example of India’s intangible Cultural heritage as a combination of a temple city with its rich tradition in music. The Varanasi school of music or the Benaras gharana named after the city along with the semi classical genres like Hori, Chaiti, Tappa, Daadra are rich in musical heritage.The ghats, havelis and temples have housed the Benaras gharana and nurtured it backed with the Banaras Hindu University with its Music and Dance departments.The Government of Rajasthan nominated the Jaipur City under the Creative CitiesNetwork for its art & craft. 36 varieties of crafts were identified including the ones related to sculpture, pottery, textiles and jewellery making. Right from King Sawai Jai Singh II of Jaipur in 18th Century to his successors, the city has been nurtured as a centre of artistic excellence.”[v]As designated  members of UCCN (UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network), they reflect a hub for creativity and integrate culture into sustainable development plans.

Significance of Art and Culture in India

Indian culture is spiritual. It elevates and celebrates mankind, uplifts one to assimilate the four fundamental pursuits of mankind –(i) Dharma (righteous actions), (ii) Artha (securities like wealth, family, power and position), (iii) Kama (sensory, intellectual or emotional pleasures), and (iv) Moksha (enlightenment – gaining freedom from all limitations and sorrow). None of these pursuits are simple, because even though universal, the variety of human choices and the multiple layers of psychological complexities involved, give them a range of interpretations, perceptions and decisions.

The Vedic culture of India unfolds a universal vision that brings harmony in all these pursuits of mankind,with the environment. This harmony is easily attainable with the understanding that when the means or process of accomplishment of any pursuit is undertaken with commitment to right and ethical ways, harmony and fulfillment can be well orchestrated.

Art and Culture of India is Immortal

Do the expression of culture nurture and address all the needs of individuals? If they do not, that culture will not stand the test of time and would be outdated. The Puranas, Itihasaas, temple architecture, the folk lore, food, language, music, dance all seem to have an intrinsic strength to sustain, modify and adapt to the changing times without comprising on its integrity.Vedic culture seems to be relevant to all ages and at all times. Hence,in spite of many years of oppression, the culture today is still alive and celebrated!

For economic growth, technological, medical, industrial, and academic advancement is necessary but it cannot be used as a measure for inner growth or emotional maturity of a person.The struggling human heart always seeks fulfillment, wholeness, to be free from conflicts and pain. Vedic vision helps the individual resolve this fundamental struggle. Art and culture of India facilitates this resolution.

(Ms. Pavithra Srinivasan is a Bharatanatam Performer/Teacher and a Research Fellow at Centre for Soft Power, India Foundation, Chennai.)

[i]https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/russia-and-india-70-years-together/

[ii]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India–Russia_relations#Cooperation_in_the_cultural_sphere

[iii] Ibid

[iv]http://www.thediskcoordinator.com/mayuri.htm Also see, https://www.facebook.com/dancemayuri/

[v]https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/director-general-unesco-declares-varanasi-jaipur-under-creative-cities-network/articleshow/50143983.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

 

 

 

 

 

 

In January 2018, India hosted the leaders of all 10 ASEAN nations at the Republic Day Parade and set a historic milestone in the India-ASEAN partnership. India’s ties with South East Asia stretch back to more than two thousand years. The symbols of our shared cultural heritage and the Indian civilization are spread across the entire ASEAN region. Today, India-ASEAN partnership has gone beyond economic and cultural links, the formalization process of which started in 1992 Singapore Summit. Growing from dialogue partners to strategic partners, India has a growing economic, diplomatic and security partnership. There are 30 dialogue mechanisms between India and ASEAN, including an annual summit and seven ministerial dialogues.

India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy and a new frontier of global opportunities is an admirer of ASEAN’s own progress too and has always believed that ASEAN has a unique potential to contribute for the larger interests of the world beyond it. The ASEAN nations have an opportunity to become an integral partner in the New India’s transformation journey and to pursue higher aspirations together.

The developments of the last four years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Act East Policy’ suggest that ASEAN countries are ready to participate in India’s vision of ‘Collective Prosperity.’

Myanmar

Myanmar shares a geostrategic land and a maritime border with India which includes a 1,640-km-long border with India’s four northeastern states – Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. Prime Minister Modi calls Myanmar “a land bridge that connects India with Southeast Asia.” In 2016, during the visit of then President of Myanmar Htin Kyaw to India both countries signed some key agreements for the construction of 69 bridges on the Tamu-Kalewa section of the India-Myanmar-Thailand (IMT) highway and improvements on the Kalewa-Yargi section1. The IMT highway has the potential to transform the economic landscape of the entire region as it will connect the Moreh in India’s Manipur state to Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar.

In India’s physical connectivity vision for the ASEAN, the role of Myanmar is crucial. Some of the other key connectivity projects between India and Myanmar are: Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport Project, the Rhi-Tiddim Road Project, and Border Haats etc.The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project was launched to create a Multimodal transit transport system which involves connecting the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Rakhine State, Myanmar by sea (shipping route of 539 km). In Myanmar, it will then link Sittwe seaport to Paletwa via the Kaladan riverboat route (inland water transport route of 158 km), and then from Paletwa by road to Mizoram state in Northeast India2.  Also, the extension projects of IMT trilateral highway to Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam are being planned and consultations in this direction are going on.

India’s participation in Myanmar’s socio-economic development is significant and it is widely appreciated by the Myanmar government. Whether its infrastructure development, agriculture research or human resources capacity building assistance, India stands with Myanmar in their endeavors to stability and growth. In 2017, India committed to assisting in the Rakhine State Development programme and in December 2018, during the President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to Myanmar, we handed over the first 50 units of prefabricated houses built in Rakhine State. India’s assistance portfolio to Myanmar is at present worth over $1.73 billion.

The trade between both sides has doubled over the last decade. Some leading Indian oil and gas companies are in the process of opening their offices in Myanmar. In September 2017, Assam based Numaligarh Refinery signed an agreement3 with the Parami Energy Group of Myanmar for supplying petroleum products through Moreh-Tamu land border to Northern and Western Myanmar. In the month of December 2018, an Enterprise India show was held in Myanmar, in which a number of Indian SMEs also took part.

Vietnam

Defence and Security cooperation is a crucial pillar in the strategic partnership between India and Vietnam. In May 2015, Defence Ministers of the two countries signed a “Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Relations -2015-2020”. An agreement on cooperation between the Coast Guards of the two countries was also signed for mutual crime prevention efforts and the development of transnational cooperation. India’s National Security Advisor AjitDoval has affirmed that India would do all it can to assist Vietnam in defence and security domains, particularly in military technology, intelligence, personnel training and cyber security4. During PM Modi’s visit to Vietnam in September 2016, India and Vietnam formally upgraded their relationship to ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.’ The upgraded partnership is designed to provide a new direction to the bilateral cooperation. Both countries have signed another important agreement for Inter-Governmental Framework for the Exploration of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes. PM Modi announced a new line of credit US$500 million to Vietnam for the procurement of defence equipment5.

Vietnam wants to build up a strong deterrence against China’s rise and its aggressive moves in the South China Sea and India’s defence capabilities can provide good support to Vietnam’s defence needs. Indian Armed forces are cooperating with Vietnamese Armed Forces particularly the Navy, in the process of capacity building. India has already been providing assistance to Vietnam’s navy through training to operate the new Russian-built submarines.

In the last four years, a number of significant bilateral visits took place between the two countries including the recent visit of President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind to Vietnam. Apart from defense, other emerging areas of cooperation between India and Vietnam are: energy, agriculture, agro-processing, textile, biotech, pharmaceuticals, minerals, marine and wood products etc. The bilateral trade between India and Vietnam has increased about ten folds in ten years and last year it touched US$ 12.8 billion, which makes India one of the top trading partners of Vietnam.

Laos

In September 2016, PM Modi participated in the 11th East Asia and 14th India-ASEAN summit in Vientiane, Laos. On the sidelines of the summit, PM Modi held bilateral engagements too which included talks with Laotian Prime Minister ThonglounSisoulith. Both sides have agreed that the bilateral trade between India and Laos is lower than its real potential and there is a great scope for the promotion of new trade opportunities among the business fraternity of both sides. In November 2018, the 9th Joint Commission Meeting6 on Bilateral Cooperation between the Laos and India was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR, in which several avenues to enhance trade were discussed. India’s engagement in Laos is centered on agriculture, irrigation, power, education and human resources capacity development through trainings.

India is facilitating the implementation of irrigation projects in Xayaboury, Vientiane and Savannakhet provinces, through a $30.94 million Line of Credit and has approved $72.44 million of fund for setting up a university of agriculture and training centres in Champasack province of Laos. India has also extended Duty Free Tariff Preference Schemes7 to Lao PDR to encourage the exports of goods from Lao PDR to India.

Thailand

Thailand is one the key trading partners of India in ASEAN. The bilateral trade between India and Thailand is on an upward trajectory. In June 2016, during the visit of Prime Minister of Thailand to India8, the first India-Thailand Business Forum came up with recommendations to scale up business and investment opportunities between the two countries. Thai investment in manufacturing and infrastructure initiatives of India are quite significant. Apart from skill development, tourism, and film production there are some dedicated efforts going on to forge sister state/city relations between Assam and Chiang Mai as well as Surat and Surat Thani.

Cambodia

India and Cambodia share strong cultural and traditional links. Under ‘Act East Policy’ a satisfactory pace of development is going on to align this relation with the contemporary realities. India’s role in human resource development and capacity building initiatives in Cambodia is significant and now the focus is on moving towards infrastructural development, conservation and the preservation of historical monuments. During Prime Minister of Cambodia Samdech Hun Sen’s India visit in January 2018, the two countries signed four key agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation and to deal with mutual challenges of human trafficking9. India granted a $36.92 million line of credit to facilitate the development of Stung SvaHab water resource development project. PM Modi has also announced the setting up of a centre of excellence related to Information Technology in Cambodia to train Cambodian youths. India is actively involved in the social development of Cambodia through Quick Impact Projects under the Mekong Ganga Cooperation initiative. PM Modi has decided to increase the number of annual Quick Impact Projects from five to ten and established a project development fund of Rs. 500 crore to expand industry and business links10.

Malaysia

Malaysia is the third largest trading partner of India in ASEAN and a key investment partner in the region. The two-way commercial engagements between both countries are traditionally strong which further strengthened with the signing of a bilateral comprehensive economic cooperation agreement in 2011, revised double taxation avoidance agreement in 2012, and the MoU on Customs Cooperation signed in 2013. Some Malaysian companies are actively participating in the infrastructure projects in different states of India. And other than the Indian businesses, there is a strong presence of Indian community in Malaysia too which plays the role of a significant bridge between both nations.

In the last few years, the bilateral trade between India and Malaysia has increased more than two folds and reached close to $13 billion in 2017. There are growing synergies between the infrastructure companies of India and their Malaysian counterparts. In 2017 during the visit of former Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak, Indian and Malaysian infrastructure companies signed business deals of worth US$36 billion, of which projects of $32.13 billion will be implemented in Malaysia while $3.86 billion worth of projects are planned to be executed in India. According to Malaysia’s Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), as of 2017, Malaysian companies have completed 53 highway and road projects worth RM 9.3 billion (US$ 2.84 billion) in India11.

Transforming India offers tremendous opportunities for infra players of Malaysia, and for Indian construction companies, Malaysia is a crucial partner in the South East Asian market. According to some official stats, around 120 Indian companies, including 61 Indian joint ventures, 7 Indian Public Sector Undertakings, and 60 Indian IT companies are operating in or from Malaysia. The new areas of private sector cooperation between both sides are textiles, pharmaceuticals, glass containers, automobile associated industries, chemicals, biotechnology, healthcare, etc. In future through some active bilateral business forums such as Malaysia-India business council and India-Malaysia CEOs’ Forum, these commercial exchanges are expected to further accelerate.

Indonesia

Indonesia is one of India’s key neighbours in the region with which it shares a continuity of culture and civilization traditions. Today, both countries are focusing on enhancing bilateral trade exchanges too. The 2nd meeting of India-Indonesia CEO forum which was held in May 2018 yielded some concrete outcomes such as setting up of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) office in Jakarta. In March 2018, the first ever India-Indonesia Infrastructure Forum meeting was organized by the Indian embassy in Jakarta in which a high-level delegation of nearly 30 plus Indian CEOs from infrastructure sector were present and some 80 Indonesian infrastructure companies took part. In the month of November 2018, an India-Indonesia Business forum (IIBF) was also held at Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Following the state visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to India in December 2016 and the first-ever visit of PM Modi to Indonesia in May 2018, some successful bilateral ministerial-level defence and energy sector related exchanges also took place and the frequency of these exchanges suggest a mutual desire to enhance ties12. For many years both countries are an active partner in naval exercises/patrolling and now there is a shared desire to deepen these maritime engagements in the light of changing dynamics of Indo-Pacific region.

Singapore

Singapore is India’s leading economic partner and a key global strategic partner. Bilateral relations between India and Singapore have a strong cultural and commercial background and political relations are based on trust and appreciation for each other’s potential. The economic cooperation between both countries is vibrant and spanned across all priority sectors of two sides. A good number of Indian companies are operating in and from Singapore which makes it India’s crucial source as well as the destination of investment. To further leverage these warm ties India and Singapore have signed the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

Singapore is known as the Fintech hub of the world. By keeping the growing global trends of Fintech innovations in mind, PM Modi has established a joint working group of Fintech in which the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Financial Services department of Ministry of Finance, India and other relevant stakeholders of both sides will work together to promote knowledge exchange and cooperation between the Fintech firms. In May 2018, at the ‘Business Innovation and Community’ event in Singapore, PM Modi has launched India’s BHIM, RuPay and SBI app.

The Network for Electronic Transfers of Singapore (NETS) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) also signed an agreement to extend Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) to recognize SGQR (Singapore Quick Response Code) for payments in Singapore. And India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) based cross-border remittance app (SBI app) will facilitate the remittances by Indian workers13. The partnership between NETS and NPCI and the launch of Indian digital payment apps in Singapore are some remarkable moves toward internationalization and branding of Indian digital payment frameworks.

Singapore is a global centre of tech and innovation and it is the only country in ASEAN with which India’s exchanges are designed around the changing needs of our time. After Fintech, Smart Cities is another futuristic area where this partnership is going well. Singapore government’s Centre for Liveable Cities in partnership with the Town and Country Planning Organization of India has launched a programme to train 100 Indian officials in Singapore for effective planning and execution of India’s Smart Cities Mission. During PM Modi’s recent Singapore visit at the “India and Singapore: Stepping into Future” business event, some 13 agreements related to investment promotion, start-ups, FinTech, artificial intelligence, data analytics, and water management etc. were signed. The Indian government’s India-Singapore Entrepreneurship Bridge (InSpreneur) initiative held two editions in 2018 and now Start-up Singapore has announced the Singapore-India Incubation Programme which aims to provide exposure and support for emerging start-ups keen to explore both markets.

Philippines

On 27th Jan 2019, a Philippine church got bombed by terrorists, in which more than 20 civilians were killed and many got brutally injured. Dealing with the ever-growing threats of radical Islamic terrorism is one of the mutual challenges for India and all ASEAN nations. On several occasions, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited South East Asian nations to join hands in the fight against terrorism. The Defence and Security cooperation are the focal points of discussion in India-Philippines dialogues. The frequency of bilateral exchanges between both nations, which started with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Philippines to attend ASEAN and EAS Summits in the month of November 2017, has substantially increased. In terms of trade, India is exploring opportunities for investments in Philippine markets in the sector of pharmaceutical, information technology, energy, and transportation, which in turn will lead to generation of thousands of local jobs. The India-Philippines bilateral trade stands at nearly $2 billion in 2016-17, while India’s exports amounted to $1.487 billion and imports to $494 million.

For more than five decades Indian companies and Filipino joint ventures are thriving in the Philippines such as India’s Aditya Birla Group through its Indo Phil Textile Mills and the Ispat Group which owns and operate Philippines’s largest plant with an investment of $254 million. Recently GMR group Ltd joined hands with a local company Megawide for airport maintenance and upgrading related projects. Other Indian automobile giants such as Tata Motors and Mahindra, and IT/ITES companies like Wipro, TCS, L&T Infotech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra etc. are active in the Philippines markets. The Indian Pharma majors like Dabur Pharma, Lupin Ltd., Torrent Pharma, Zydus Cadila, and Claris Lifesciences have also set up a liaison office to promote their products in the Philippines market. And Kalpataru and Kamani Engineering Corporation are engaged in the transmission line projects in the Mindanao regions of the Philippines. A couple of Joint Working Groups have also been set up to explore two-way trade and investment opportunities14.

Brunei

The bilateral trade between India and Brunei has more than doubled over the last decade and stood at $504 billion in 2016-17. In the last four years, some efforts have been made to explore mutually beneficial trade opportunities through regular exchanges. In September 2016, Indian Chamber of commerce, Kolkata organized a ‘Buyer Seller Meet and Exhibition’ in Brunei, in which Indian companies from diverse sectors including heavy engineering, electronics, education, textiles, and handicrafts participated15. Apart from defence and security, energy is one of the most dominant themes of our bilateral exchanges with Brunei. In the month of November 2016, the Indian government has organized a high-level delegation meeting comprising of the foreign, trade, energy, and finance ministers of Brunei with the business leaders and their Indian ministerial counterparts in India, which yielded some positive outcomes.

In his op-ed piece “ASEAN-India: Shared Values, Common Destiny” which was published simultaneously on 26th January 2018 in all the leading dailies of the ASEAN member nations, Prime Minister Modi has said: “Indians have always looked East to see the nurturing sunrise and the light of opportunities. Now, as before, the East, or the Indo-Pacific Region, will be indispensable to India’s future and our common destiny.”

In the past, in an environment of turbulence and hostility, some responsible regional players of South East Asia laid the foundation of ASEAN, and united 10 countries for a common vision of economic growth and security. Today ASEAN can again play a defining role for a stable, prosperous and peaceful future of the region and the world.

References:

1       India- Myanmar Joint Statement during the visit of the President of Myanmar to India (29 August 2016)

       https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/27343/India+Myanmar+Joint+Statement+ during+the+visit+of+the+President+of+Myanmar+to+India+29+August+2016

2     Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project-Status Note, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

       http://mdoner.gov.in/infrastructure/kaladan-multi-modal-transit-transport-project-inland

3     Numaligarh Refinery becomes Myanmar’s sixth fuel retailer, published at The Hindu Business Line, on 10 January

       2018 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/numaligarh-refinery-becomes-myanmars-sixth-fuel-retailer/article9842395.ece

4     Achievement: India-Vietnam Defence and Security Cooperation by Brig Vinod Anand, published at VIF on May 12, 2017

       https://www.vifindia.org/article/2017/may/12/achievements-india-vietnam-defence-and-security-cooperation

5     India offers $500 million defense credit as Vietnam seeks arms boost by Ho Binh Minh published at REUTERS on September 3, 2016

       https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vietnam-india/india-offers-500-million-defense-credit-as-vietnam-seeks-arms-boost-idUSKCN11905U.

6     Agreed Minutes of the Ninth Joint Commission Meeting on Bilateral Cooperation between India and Lao PDR (November 23, 2018)

       https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl30627Agreed_Minutes_of_the_Ninth_Joint_ Commission_Meeting_on_Bilateral_Cooperation_between_India_and_Lao_ PDR_November_23_2018

7     Preferential Market Access: India’s Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme for LDCs published on December 28, 2016

       https://www.un.org/ldcportal/preferential-market-access-indias-duty-free-tariff-preference-scheme-for-ldcs/

8     India-Thailand Joint Statement during the visit of Prime Minister of Thailand to India

       https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/26923/IndiaThailand+Joint+Statement+during+the+ visit+of+Prime+Minister+of+Thailand+to+India

9     India-Cambodia Joint Statement during State Visit of Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia to India (January 27, 2018)

       https://mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/29394/IndiaCambodia_Joint_Statement_during_State_ Visit_of_Prime_Minister_of_the_Kingdom_of_Cambodia_to_India_January_27_2018

10  Press Statement by PM Modi with PM of Cambodia Hun Sen published on January 27, 2018

       https://www.narendramodi.in/press-statement-by-pm-modi-with-pm-of-cambodia-hun-sen-538675

11  Joint Statement of the India – Malaysia CEO’s Forum, New Delhi (March 31, 2017) published on April 01, 2017

       https://mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/28294/Joint+Statement+of+the+India++Malaysia+ CEOs+Forum+New+Delhi+March+31+2017

12 India-Indonesia Joint Statement during visit of Prime Minister to Indonesia (May 30, 2018)

       https://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/29932/IndiaIndonesia+Joint+Statement+during+ visit+of+Prime+Minister+to+Indonesia+May+30+2018

13 India-Singapore Joint Statement during visit of Prime Minister to Singapore (June 01, 2018)

       https://mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/29942/IndiaSingapore+Joint+Statement+during+ visit+of+Prime+Minister+to+Singapore+June+01+2018

14  India-Philippines Bilateral Brief, Embassy of India, Manila, Philippines

       http://www.eoimanila.gov.in/page/bilateral-political-and-cultural-relations/

15  INDIA-BRUNEI BILATERAL BRIEF, High Commission of India, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam

       http://www.hcindiabrunei.gov.in/page/india-brunei-bilateral/

(Ms. Devsena Mishra is a promoter of advanced technologies, startup ecosystem and the
Indian government’s business and technology related initiatives like Digital India, Make in India,
Smart Cities, and Startup India. Views expressed are personal.)

(This article is carried in the print edition of January-February 2019 issue of India Foundation Journal.)

 

 

World community’s moral support to India for her air strike on terrorist camps across the LoC is the manifestation of bilateral and multilateral commitment of world powers to fight the menace of terrorism. It was neither aggression nor an offensive action; it was simply a preventive venture because the Jaish had more nefarious designs up its sleeve owing to the support it was receiving from the Generals of Pakistan army.

TheUS had conceded that India had the right to self-defence in the backdrop of Pulwama killings. It was a green signal.  Even PM Imran Khan wondered why India had delayed the retaliatory action. After all, he had repeatedly told the US that Pakistan was facing the challenge from terrorists.  He had recently said that he expected PM Modi to give peace a chance. Modi did not fail him and has given him an excellent chance by destroying Jaish terrorist camps not only in PoK but also 50 km away deep into Pakistan territory of Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It will be reminded that Punjab CM Capt. Amrinder Singh had conveyed to Imran Khan that if he had problems in destroying terrorist camps, India would do it for him.  India has kept her promise and now it is Imran Khan who has to settle the score with his Army Generals.

The chance for him is to tell the Pakistani Generals that the world opinion, including that of China and the UN Security Council, is against allowing Pak territory to be used by the terrorists for hostile activity against a neighbouring county.  The IAF strike is bound to create fissures not only between the civilian government and the army and intelligence establishments of Pakistan but also within the civil society. The slogans of shame in the Pakistan national assembly were aimed at the defence establishment and not the PM and his government. Any retaliatory action by Pakistan will be certainly devoid of support from the civil society.

Pakistani civil society has already mounted criticism against the army for falsely manipulating Jhadav case in which the ICJ has put Pakistan to shame. Sections of Pakistani media had launched a severe criticism of Pakistan for feeding the civil society with utter falsehood about the case in which an India citizen kidnapped somewhere in Iran-Afghanistan region was paraded as a RAW agent. Pakistani civil society and sections of media have openly said that the Pakistani public and the world were fed with fabricated stories about this case.

What is of more importance to us is to assess the fallout of the air strike on Kashmir politics. It has dealt a very hard blow to pro-Pakistani and pro-Azadi elements including the entire Kashmiri mainstream political spectrum. They have to understand that when it concerns the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Indian State, then the might of the state comes into force. Sheikh Abdullah had to be isolated for nearly 12 long years. Because the deceptive and ambivalent Kashmir political leadership has been pampered for last so many decades by the Congress regimes, the day has come for Kashmiris to realize that they have to live in a realistic world. The Pulwama attack and now the IAF strike has exposed all so-called mainstream political stalwarts in Kashmir. Some of them are thinking which other flags they should carry on their shoulders after setting aside the Indian tricolour. Till yesterday their eyes were fixed on Pakistani flag and since this morning they have shifted the goalpost and are now looking for Chinese flag. This could be the best opportunity for New Delhi to announce abrogation of 35 A that has been clandestinely incorporated into the Constituting, But the government gives due respect to the Apex Court of the country.

Chinese exhortation to both India and Pakistan has a deeper meaning than what one may presume. It tells Pakistan to just survive so that she is able to return the mountain-high debts she owes to Beijing.

The deceptive Kashmir political leadership has found thatthe wind has been taken out of its sails. In utter frustration, one of them posed the question of whether Balakot, the terrorist site that has been razed to the ground is on the Indian side or Pakistani side. This shows how ill-informed this leader is about the geography of the area. For his information, the Balakot that had been made the main headquarter of the Jaish suicide bombers is part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 50 kilometres inside Pakistan territory in PK.

Army has already been given full powers to deal with terrorism in Kashmir Valley. Within just a few days, a large number of Kashmiri second rung leaders have silently expressed their support to any proactive measure by the government to eliminate insurgency. Conditions are highly favourable for the imposition of military rule in three infested districts of South Kashmir. The interned Jaish-e-Mohammedactivists are pulling strings to offer apologies and commitments to disassociate from JeM. In faithful pursuit of their traits of character, most of the hitherto pro-separatist groups will change their narrative and begin to sing eulogies of those who are going to eradicate the menace of militancy from Kashmir. It is a matter of time.

Realizing the political fallout of the IAF strike on domestic politics, the Congress President has come out in support of the strike. |Not only he, even the diehard critic of Modi government but Owaisi has also expressed his firm support to the action taken against terrorists based in the neighbouring country. Impetuous Farooq Abdullah cannot remain stuck to the fence. The entire political scenario in Kashmiris on the brink of going through a sea change. Like wounded jackals, the valley separatist leaders will retire to their hovels so that nobody sees them licking their wounds. Kashmir stands liberated from the skunk into which it had been dragged. Nobody has any objection to the Wahhabization and Salafization of Kashmirian Muslim society, Indian nation the least. The emancipated members among the OIC, realizing that Kashmiris were headed towards self-destruction, are seeking an assurance from Indian foreign minister that she would do all she can to pull them back from the brink of the abyss.

(Prof. K.N. Pandita is the former Director of the Centre of Central Asian Studies, Kashmir University, Srinagar. Views expressed are personal.)

 

Nothing could be more farcical than the missive Pakistani foreign minister has sent to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez on Monday last(18^th February 2019) seeking his help to “reduce the tensions between the two countries”. Raising alarm over the threat of India attacking Pakistan, the foreign minister has, in his letter, alerted the UN Secretary-General that the security situation was fast declining in the region. He says that he writes with a sense of urgency. Interestingly, the foreign minister has underlined that the Pulwama suicide attack was “ostensibly and even by Indian accounts carried out by a Kashmiri resident.”  He goes on to argue that India has heightened tension to fulfil its domestic political agenda.

Handing out a veiled threat, the minister has, in his letter, alleged that India has hinted at abandoning the Indus Water Treaty, which would be a “grievous error”. He has urged the UN to step in and defuse the tension and that India should institute an open and credible investigation in the terror attack. He supplicates for UN intervention to prompt India for talks on Kashmir. And finally, he has requested the Secretary-General to circulate the copies of his letter among the members of the UN.

Before we try to dissect the contents of this bizarre letter, let us inform our readers what has been the reaction of the UN agencies on Pulwama suicide attack that has taken the lives of 44 CRP personnel and wounded others.

In a PTI despatch carried by the DNA of 22 February it is reported that on Thursday, the 15-member UN Security Council including China, condemned in the “strongest terms” the “heinous and cowardly” terror attack perpetrated by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed in Pulwama and stressed on the need to hold organisers and financiers of such “reprehensible acts” accountable and bring them to justice. The press statement, issued by the most powerful UN body, names the Pakistan-based terror group headed by Masood Azhar. The press statement said,” “The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in over 40 Indian paramilitary forces dead and dozens wounded on February 14, 2019, for which Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility.” It further said, “The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice, and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Government of India and all other relevant authorities in this regard,

This categorical statement of the Security Council has come a day after the letter of the Pakistani foreign minister was delivered to the UN Secretary General. The condemnation by the UNSC comes just a day after Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi met top UN leaders, including with Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez and the Security Council President Anatolio Ndong Mba, briefing them about  what she claimed “escalating tensions in the region in the wake of the Pulwama attack.”

Let us revert to the letter of Pakistani foreign minister and expose his frustration and an attempt of hiding behind a plethora of falsehood. What need has India for providing a proof of involvement of Pakistan in the attack when Jaish-e-Muhammad, the UN designated organization publicly claimed that it was behind the attack. Neither the Pakistan government nor any Pakistani intelligence agency repudiated the claim of Jaish. And the Jaish, based in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, is fondly patronized by the ISI and Pakistan army. Secondly, India produced a plethora of evidence in the Mumbai attack and Pakistan evaded action. It even disowned Kasab and declined to accept his dead body after he was executed.

As far as the creation of tension, this is precisely what India has been saying and proving that suicide bombers and infiltrators are sent from across the border to disrupt peace in Kashmir. The tension in the region is the handiwork of Pakistani jihadis raised as the front-line strike force against India. And there is not only the Jaish but so many known and unknown terrorist groups who change their nomenclature as the situation demands. What is Salahu’d Din the chief of United Jihad Front doing in Rawalpindi? What has Pakistan to say about the intercepted conversation between him and late Burhan Wani?

Four times resolutions were moved in the Security Council to designate the Jaish chief Azhar as the international terrorist. Every time China opposed it. Why is it so? The answer is that China encourages anti-India adventurism of Pakistani jihadi organizations while it imposes all conceivable restrictions of Uighur Islamists in its eastern province of Xinjiang. China has already extracted a commitment from Pakistan that its terrorist organizations will not admit Uighur rebels in its training camps for training in terrorism. Following that commitment, China imposed most reprehensible restrictions on the Uighur Sunni population of Xinjiang in performing their religious duties and Pakistani fanatics remain tongue-tied.  Obviously, China promotes terrorism abroad while maintaining a strict vigil against it at home.

Pakistani foreign minister has talked about India intending to walk away from Indus Water Treaty. In the first place, India has never said anything of that sort and knowing that Nehru had shown unwarranted generosity to Pakistan in that treaty, India did not oppose it in any way all these years. Not only that, Pakistan dragged India to the International Court and World Bank several times alleging Indiahad violated the Indus Treaty, India just took recourse to the legalities of the case and never hinted at revanchist stance. Therefore Pakistan’s allegations are nothing more than a figment of imagination.

However, it will be reminded that Pakistan broke the commitment made to the UN by signing the Security Council 1948 Resolution on Kashmir. Pakistan broke the commitment made in Shimla Agreement that it will solve Kashmir issue through bilateral talks and shun violence. Against this, Pakistan raised Kashmir issue again andagain at the UN and other world fora. Not only that, frustrated on its failure to grab Kashmir, it sponsored a proxy war in 1990 in Kashmir of which Pulwama suicide attack is a part. The point is that if Pakistan feels she has a right to break commitments with international ramifications, she will have to concede the same rights to India in the case of Indus Water Treaty, which in no way is of scriptural sanctity not to be rescinded.

And finally, as regards the alleged threat India is posing to Pakistan in the words of her foreign minister, the fact is that Pakistan is indeed faced with dire threat certainly and unquestionably not from India but from its own people against whom it has adopted discriminatory treatment and most repressive and oppressive policies. Pakistan, to be precise, the Pakistani Punjabis are face to face with the threat from the Baloch, the Sindhis, thePashtoons, the Kashmiris of PoK and the entire people of Gilgit and Baltistan. India and the entire world stand for democratic and secular values for all communities especially the minorities in any part of the world.

The comity of nations is geared to meeting the threats to the world society posed by the powerhouse of terrorism in Pakistan. Very soon, France is going to table a resolution in the Security Council asking to declare Mas’ud Azhar as an international terrorist. This will be a befitting reply of the Security Council and the world community to the letter which the Pakistani foreign minister dispatched to the UN Secretary General in an act of bravado.

(Prof. K.N. Pandita is the former Director of the Centre of Central Asian Studies, Kashmir University, Srinagar.)