Global politics: Some confusion, some clarity
There is poetic justice that September 2018 marked the tenth anniversary of the International financial crisis ignited by the collapse of the New York investment bank, Lehman Brothers, setting off a chain reaction that derailed Western economies and jolted those of India and China and South East Asia. Asia recovered more quickly from the crisis than the West, and learned a few critical lessons in the process. Diversify your markets, increase the range of your products, and be better prepared for the next convulsion.
With the zany US President Donald Trump increasingly prone to tergiversations, it would be rash to speculate the possible pitfalls that await us. President Trump, a compulsive twitterer, is inclined to shoot first and leave the rest in the lap of the gods. Threats and sanctions are his métier. He has lately threatened to withdraw the US from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and impose a range of crippling tariffs on Chinese imports, with China promising to retaliate in kind.
The P:resident’s Rottweiler, National Security Advisor John Bolton has spoken of dire consequences to the International Criminal Court at the Hague should it accept and pass sentences on US soldiers found guilty of torture in Afghanistan, charge Israeli forces of human rights violations against Palestinian Arabs, or make similar accusations, against any of America’s other allies. There were grave instances of proven covert US torture of Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad and in Poland, Romania and Guantanamo.
The implication of Bolton’s statement refracts an apartheid vision of global order. The lesser breeds without the law are to inhabit designated Bantustans, while the master race inherits the earth. The International Court, for its part, dismissed the bluster with the utmost contempt. The natives are clearly rebellious. Hallelujah!
Moving on to related matters of moment, the Russian Economic Summit in Vladivostok evoked a massive regional response. President Xi Jinping of China, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, Indian Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, a deft hand on the subject, among others, were present, together with hordes of businessmen from across Eurasia in search of Siberia’s natural resources and Russia’s gigantic Far Eastern market. They are big game hunters out for copious big bucks.
Within the a day or two, Russia and China had signed 73 mega-development projects worth $100 billion or more. China needs Russian oil and gas, Russia could well do with large scale Chinese investments. Similar considerations apply to Japan. President Putin offered Premier Abe an unconditional peace treaty to bring formal closure to the Second World War between their countries, their territorial problems to be sorted later. The ball is in Japan’s court.
The backdrop to the occasion was the massive military exercise across six time zones, from the Ural Mountains to the farthest reaches of the Eurasian landmass. China and Mongolia were participants in the drill with appreciably smaller contingents. [The numbers involved appeared in an earlier edition of Asian Voice] NATO and the US (despites its 800 military bases worldwide) well understand the score of any untoward adventures.
The Indian presence, although lower key, carried a message of its own. President Putin will be arriving in New Delhi in October for the annual Indo-Russian summit with Prime Minister Modi. His External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was warmly welcomed in Moscow by her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. The Indian Minister then proceeded to discuss way and means of taking the the bilateral relationship forward with newly appointed Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, who has special responsibility on Indian defence issues. Both sides are in for the long haul. The economic development of Siberia and the Russia’s far eastern expanse is of particular interest to India.
In a parallel move, Indian foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale travelled to Kabul for trilateral talks with Afghan and Iranian ministers and officials..Security issues were high on the agendas but meshed in with these was the strategic development of the Iranian port of Chabahar by India as a railway hub for western Afghanistan’s access to the sea, and also as an Indian hub for the transport of goods and services to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, the terminus of the Persian Gulf, and thence through a rail network to Armenia, Kazakhstan, Astrakhan, Moscow and Belarus. Mutual trust has been an enduring feature of the India, Russia relationship.
UK minister’s reassuring words on India
Britain’s Minister for International Trade, Graham Stuart, was in New Delhi recently for a Global Mobility summit. On its sidelines, he shared a few thoughts on his country’s relationship with India with a local reporter. Minister Stuart handled the first question on why his government had allowed a Khalistani demonstration in London, against the wishes of the Indian government with conspicuous aplomb: free speech, declared, was permissible if peaceful. Islamist peer Lord Ahmed is in constant fever over Khalistan and Kashmir. It matters not a whit.
Terrorism in any shape or form on Indian soil, on the other hand, is met, will be met, with an iron fist, for as long as it is necessary. That has been made abundantly clear by India at the United Nations General Assembly and other international forums.
Graham Stuart denied perceived British indulgence towards Indian fugitives from justice such as Vijay Mallya, living the life of Riley, or others of similar ilk. The Minister denied any such indulgence, claiming that Indo-British relations were just fine. ‘The number of Indian students to the UK last year grew 32 per cent to 15,400. There is no cap on the number of Indian students coming to the IUK,’ he said - encouraging news without a doubt.
Indian cricket in indecent exposure
The ills of Indian cricket were brutally exposed in the Test series in England, which the home side won convincingly 4-1. Like the curate’s egg, the Indian performance was good in parts. The results could have gone the other way, but they didn’t. If they had, the ills would have been guaranteed a longer life span. Beating Sri Lanka or Afghanistan was all very well, but proof of genuine pedigree comes with victories over heavyweights England, Australia and South Africa. Only the Australian tour remains to salvage lost hopes. India’s pace bowling and slip catching were praiseworthy, assets for the future.
Odd selections overall, skewed selections on the day, coupled with dismal batting by peddled stars - occasional glow worms at best - led to the abyss. Virat Kohli was the brilliant exception, the standout batsman of the series on either side. His captaincy, alas, was less exalted. The ritual bombast of head coach Ravi Shastri was pure music hall absurdity. Truth is that India’s batting was unfit for purpose, devoid of the quality and commitment at this level of the game.. The enduring embrace of mediocrity has long been the curse of Indian selection. Youthful talents in the wings await the pleasure of veterans unwilling to exit the stage when their day is clearly done. Experience, murmur the gurus – as if this were an inherited gift, rather than an acquired byproduct of the playing field. Little purpose is served pointing fingers at individuals, since they were selected by avowed experts; they didn’t walk into the team of their own accord. The treatment of batsman Karun Nayar – selected for the tour and not given a game – was utterly disgraceful.
The Fifth and final Test at the Oval was both an inspiring and a saddening spectacle for Indian supporters: inspiring because of the dazzling stroke play of K.L Rahul and the panache and precocity of 20 year-old left hander Risabh Pant: saddening, because it brought home the pain of what might have been; of the plethora of avoidable errors – some truly gross - on and off the field that cost India dear. Mindsets, shot selection and much else of managerial speak were left to stew in the disappointment of collective defeat. England fully deserved their victory, for which they were largely indebted to 20-year-old Test debutant Sam Curran, superlative with both bat and ball; to the fantastic, record breaking James Anderson and the gentlemanly, ever popular Alastair Cook, who made his last bow, having adorned cricket grounds the world over for around 165 Test matches.
