The people of Britain have spoken: they have voted decisively for the Conservative Party led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson over Labour led by Jeremy Corbyn. The victory was massive: 364 seats in the House of Commons to Labour’s 203 seats. The SNP did exceptionally well in Scotland winning 48 seats, keeping alive their hopes of a second referendum on Scottish independence. The Lib Dems with 12 seats are no longer a significant force..
What was most remarkable was the scale of scale of Labour’s defeat in its working class heartland; seats that had been solidly Labour for a century and more voted Conservative. It was the worst Labour performance since 1935 when, under Clement Attlee’s interim leadership the party won a mere 153 parliamentary seats. In 1945, in the aftermath of the Second World War, Labour decimated the Conservatives led by Winston Churchill in the first post war general election and presided over the closure of the country’ Indian Empire , heralding a new chapter in the Indo-British relationship.
Fast forward, despite Labour losing heavily in 1983 under Michael Foot, and subsequently under Neil Kinnock, the party retained the traditional allegiance of the country’s working class. Tony Blair won three general elections for Labour on the trot thereafter, before the Labour tide began to ebb.
Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, Labour hit the rocks, had clearly lost touch with the broad mass of the British people. Its Brexit policy was incoherent, when public opinion was decisively in favour of leaving the European Union. Shock and dismay were writ large on the faces of Labour leaders and supporters. Something had gone wrong, badly wrong. They well understood that the work of regeneration had to start with the least possible delay, if the future was to be regained at some point.
The Corbyn era has ended. Jeremy Corbyn announced that he was stepping down as leader and the process of electing his successor would begin shortly.
The Boris Johnson era has opened. Seen in many quarters, including in his own party as a somewhat quirky, zany figure, has clearly belied this image. He was clearly more serious, having been elected mayor of London twice. His statements, thus far, indicate that he will move to the political centre. Democratic politics is about the centre, pronounced R.A. Butler, wisest of Tory politicians of his generation.
Mr Johnson shows every indication of being a ‘One Nation’ Tory. He is committed to preserving and strengthening the country’s Crown Jewel, namely, the widely treasured Health Service. He has, likewise, promised to address issues of poor housing in Britain’s inner cities, make immigration policy fit for 21st century purpose by encouraging skilled individuals to enter the UK and make real contributions in a variety of fields, from heath, education, science and technology.
Mr Johnson will sure give priority to the maintenance of a close trading, political, cultural and strategic relationship with Europe. He will, he said, reenergise Britain’s partnership with the long neglected Commonwealth. Australia and New Zealand are prosperous democracies, India, glitches and all, is the world’s fastest growing large economy; Singapore is now an international banking and investment centre; India is a market of 1.3 billion people, among them consumer hungry and thrusting entrepreneurs.
Above all, India and Britain have unique historic ties of culture, education, language, law, science and two world wars, where they fought under a common flag and the bond of a thriving Indian diaspora in Britain. Jadunath Sarkar, greatest of Indian historians, wrote that Britain had played a primary role in the making of modern India.
Prime Minister Modi tweeted his congratulations to Prime Minister Johnson, saying that he very much looked forward to their next meeting in New Delhi with intent to define a new architecture of closer relations in every field of common endeavour. Fifteen MPs of Indian descent have been elected to Parliament, the majority Conservative. This unique moment is one of deep pride and satisfaction for India and Britain alike. The best surely, is yet to come.
India-Japan 2+2 dialogue takes off
Talks between the Indian and Japanese Defence and Foreign Ministers took off in New Delhi between India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Japanese counterpart, Taro Kono. The Japanese delegation on their arrival in the IKndian capital were welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, initiated this inter-ministerial dialogue as a valuable adjunct to their own annual bilateral summits, with an eye to deepening the policy engagement between their respective nations.
The elephant - or should it be dragon - in the room was China. China’s rise is creating waves of anxiety in the Indo-Pacific regional arc. Beijing’s display of its heft in the South China Sea against littoral states, it would appear, is to make them cower preparatory to submission to diktat. Beijing’s claims to uninhabited Japanese islands situated in Japanese waters could arguably be a manifestation of broader, more ambitious strategic goals in the Pacific and Indian Oceans and their maritime extensions. Whatever the reasons, Beijing’s muscular presence and exclusivist maritime claims have signalled Great Power intent to assert its sphere of influence, that it will brook no interference there.
Coupled with this, are Beijing’s territorial claims to India’s Arunachal Pradesh, arising from its irredentist presence in Tibet, and the legal pretence that Taiwan is a Chinese province. Is Singapore, with its Han Chinese population, next? The permutations are endless, but no less alarming for China’s neighbourhood, when arbitrary Chinese ‘core interests’ are claimed to be at stake. It is the seeming epiphany of a Confucian Middle Kingdom and its tributary states; eternal and universal.
The laws of motion dictate that every action is likely to result in a reaction of proportionate weight. In face of China’s challenge to regional peace and stability, India and Japan have come together in common purpose to thwart China’s expansionism by defining a regional security architecture which includes Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and at a further remove, possibly Australia as well.
Talks between Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Mogo takes this bilateral conversation to a broader level of engagement. The future well-being of the region is at stake. Firmness not weakness is the assured route to development, collective security and self-preservation.
Indian defence management in disarray
There has been no major defence project take-off in the last six years. An Indian Army request for high calibre killer assault rifles has taken 15 years to fructify. Scandalous! What credibility will there be for Indian assurances for its partners in South East or elsewhere, when the country’s defence management is found wanting in elementary efficiency in dealing with the country’s military requirements in a perilously uncertain world.
The Indian Army is working with stop-gap US and Israeli advanced standard killer assault rifles, before the bulk arrival of the world’s most lethal Kalashnikovs from Russia. Years of futility were spent in the indigenous assault rifles – much like inventing the wheel – when straight purchase would have saved time and money. It requires sound, expert judgment to know when to promote an indigenous product and when to buy one already in use.
In India’s bureaucratic workplace a decision is like squeezing blood out of a stone. The problem, maybe, is a trifle more complex. It is for scientists and engineers to design weapons systems. This they usually do very well. Thereafter, mass production is reliant on effective platforms of plant, infrastructure and coordinated planning, where the deficits are glaringly self-evident
However, that is not the full story. India’s defence industry started from near scratch in August 1947. What has been achieved in the seven decades since has been creditable, bringing together scientists, engineers, designers, repair staff.
During these decades of seedtime, whole generations of scientists, engineers, designers, have created a fully fledged defence industry based largely on the platforms established the country’s fledgling heavy industry established in the early years of Independence.
Tanks, heavy long-range guns, artillery, varying ranges of Agni missiles, fighter aircraft, battleships, submarines, cutting edge electronic warfare systems have given India formidable military capability. Much has been done but more needs to be done in face of emergent multiple challenges. Forward planning, prompt solutions to problems and quicker decision-making are the need of the hour.
