I AM INDIA. I WALK ALONE My shadows the only one that walks besides me My shallow hearts the only thing thats beating Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me Til then I WALK ALONE ………..sang Green Day. Walk alone exhorted Gurudev Tagore decades ago. 67 years of independence and victimisation in much international skulduggery forced me to see the virtue of going solo. I am India. I walk alone. I put the dollars on the table and I call the shots. For no matter how many think tanks the world can put together; the leading lights of the world seldom get their key foreign policies right. They havent got it right with me. And you dont need a think tank to arrive at this conclusion. A common man with common sense can do the job easily quickly. It is indeed Chaos A.D. in planet Earth - home to 6,826 recognised think tanks per the 2013 GLOBAL GO TO THINK TANK INDEX REPORT. Imagine the quantum of analysis they produce. That, in reality, is directly proportional to the extent of policy paralysis leading governments around the world are besieged with. Flood the government departments with advisories and analyses is the think tank mantra. There is a race to win after all. The race of being the best in business, the best advisory service, the best analyst, the best expert and to be the best in many categories the common man doesnt give a damn to. Intellectual masturbation makes serious business proposition: great at a domestic level and fantastic at global. Thousands of think tanks in tandem with governments around the world have made this planet a boiling cauldron of darkness, chaos and conflict ala the witches in the play Macbeth. In the very first act of the play; they announced - Fair is foul, and foul is fair Hover through the fog and filthy air The witches were ahead of their times. They laid the ground rules of the 21st century international diplomacy. While Macbeth was genuinely morally confused and incapable of discriminating between the good and the bad; 21st century governments, diplomats and think tanks are not. They are like Macbeth by design and by intent. The only motive is self preservation. Makes sense especially if you are a global leading light. It is different for low lights like Pakistan, currently, a stooge to China, the United States and Saudi Arabia. Being a stooge is in the Pakistani DNA and a key time tested survival strategy. I – the largest democracy – am on my way to becoming a leading light in the global arena and I Walk Alone for it is this approach that serves my purpose the best. For administering global control; it helps if one has few stooges in strategic locations. In the form of Pakistan; the United States has a good one in South East Asia. Of course, stooges are high maintenance and if the stooge also happens to be a freak like Pakistan; then the master has to work twice as hard to maintain grip. That this strategy is deeply flawed has not been recognised by the collective of American think tanks and governments over the years. 9/11, recovery of Osama Bin Laden, Pentagon reports, 26/11, recognition as global terror hub, bounties on its citizens, frozen bank accounts and many other dubious distinctions of Pakistan have failed to wake the US up. My concerns have been ignored and the stooge baiting continues unabated. A diplomat like Robin Raphael was allowed to run amuck and military aid under the garb of Coalition Support Fund continues. Pakistan runs Zarb-E-Azb and sends terrorists to India simultaneously. It is a dichotomy the US refuses to notice. After hugging Raheel Sharif for a week; the US is still smug with the Zarb-E-Azb bonhomie and oblivious to the terror attack in Kashmir. It needs me only as a counter measure against China. This is the best India approach the combined intellect of coveted American think tanks and the US government could develop. In their assessment this is about as much strategic depth the India – US relationship has. The failed MMRCA deal made the US sore. The US envoy to India headed home soon after. His boss – the US President – wanted him to secure commercial deals from me and ensure no interference in AfPak issues. I didnt care. I am the one putting the money on the table. I am the one calling the shots. I am not Pakistan either. My business in Afghanistan is my business. They forgot they restricted the usage of INS Jalashwa (erstwhile Austin-class Landing Platform Dock USS Trenton) during war. Pray…why did I buy a navy warship if I cannot use it for offence? This is the way the US deals with supposedly a key 21st century partner. Knocking F-16 and F-18 out of the MMRCA competition seemed fair especially when there were better players to choose from. Anti tank missile Javelin was also knocked off in favour of the Israeli Spike. They dont respect my decision to purchase what I need and find suitable as a nation. The Russian President came and the US was sore once again. Department of State spokesperson, Jen Psaki, could not withhold the expression of irritation. Am I a US state? Will the US decide my guest list? The answer is an unequivocal No. The US expects me to be submissive to gain its trust. They are not looking at any subject from my perspective. How can a fair policy ever take shape from such one dimensional thinking? The combined intellect of American think tanks notwithstanding! They messed up the Middle East. They are messed up in their South East Asia approach. Actually the intent is not to get it right. Its that witchy mindset at work. And that is why the US doesnt want to sort Pakistan. In its wisdom – supplemented and augmented by its highbrow think tanks - a messy and notorious Pakistan is a great leverage in engaging me. This perceived strategic edge drives the US to ignore the anti US venom spewed in Pakistan daily. It is a minor irritant vis-à-vis the benefits of a kowtowing Islamabad and its hordes of uniformed radicals. Over the years; popularity charts of American Presidents have been seen to nosedive after a few years in the White House because the common American is fed up of the states errant policies and the aftermath. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Middle East, Egypt, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq are all hot spots of American policy gone awry. I harbour similar feelings. Detention of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in spite of immunity, unwarranted frisking of then Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam, application of undue pressure on Indian policy making and expectation of alignment with broad US policies, one-upmanship in defence deals are all glaring examples of American high – handedness. Such tactics work well with Pakistan. US policy makers scattered across Capitol Hill and the White House are yet to appreciate the merit in using different strokes for different folks. The bare fact is that the India – US relationship dynamics are far from pleasant. They disapprove my tête-à-tête with the Russian President while they make merry with the Pakistan Army Chief oblivious of my concerns. That is the extent of waywardness of the US state policy towards India. Not that the Russians are going to be allowed a free run either. No doubt we have been genuine buddies for decades yet in some way the Russians have similar expectations from me. I cannot hug anyone else. The arm twisting in the Gorshkov sale made a mockery of our so called time tested relationship. The merit driven rejection of Mig-35 from the MMRCA competition was not accepted sportingly. One-upmanship in defence deals is a lesson the Russians have learnt from the Americans. ToT clauses are victim to this new Russian approach leading to delay in execution of crucial projects at my end. They backed out from providing ToT for the SMERCH MBRL system. The FGFA project is going nowhere. The MTA deadlock continues. President Putins 23 hour visit did not provide the desired momentum because the need for speed is greater at my end. Russia can continue to snooze. Therefore, 23 hours were deemed enough for recharging the India – Russia partnership battery. And 23% is the extent the battery recharged. Hopes of new projects are shallow indicators of the resurrection of the India – Russia partnership when the existing crucial ones are hanging fire. These are good lessons for I do not need to walk the tightrope between the two poles of Russians and Americans anymore. Times have changed. I am a powerhouse with far greater clout than the Russians in global diplomacy. That I think independently and hence, did not support the NATO led sanctions against the Russians for their misadventures in Ukraine wasnt of much significance in the assessment of President Putin and his team at the Kremlin. Maybe a counter punch to France in the form of dropping the ongoing Rafale negotiations for not honouring the Mistral deal with Russia would have pleased President Putin more. I was being weighed down with unfair Russian and American expectations. Now I am having none of it. I have the market and I have the dollars. I have the people to deliver. I have a charismatic leader. I have the vision and I have the skills to execute. Only my interests will decide my next steps. I am not looking for cross border friendships. They dont work and they are not honest. I am for business and I am for cordial ties befitting two responsible sovereign states. I am for collaborations and I will continue to shop strategic assets. From that standpoint I am a client deserving client like treatment. Whether the vendor is American, Russian, French, German does not matter. The vendor will be subjected to treatment befitting a vendor. That I am in the drivers seat is evident from the extreme competition witnessed in any contract that I have put out. Many assembly lines and jobs depend on my decisions. No one is bothered about India. I am not bothered about anyone. My contract is for those who align with my expectations. My focus is on Make in India. I am India. I walk alone.
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 12:00:25 +0000
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