US President-elect Donald Trump has truly set the cat among the pigeons with his appointment of former ExxonMobil Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson as his administration’s Secretary of State. The company happens to be a giant of giants in the global energy market. When a CEO operates on this scale, the question whether he has sufficient political experience becomes invidious. The sheer scale of Exxon Mobil’s operations requires that its top men rub shoulders with the leading political leaders across continents. They do not require tutoring by the paladins of various American think tanks many of whose parasitic activities are funded by government tax breaks. Their policy recommendations, not surprisingly, chime with whichever administration hires their services. Mr Tillerson,, furthermore, enjoys a cordial relationship with Igor Sochin, head of Russia’s energy giant Rosneft.
Mr Tillerson’s acquaintance with Vladimir Putin and the Order of Friendship he received from the Russian President in 2012 – the highest Russian award for a foreigner - brought a fit of the vapours on Senator John McCain, who snarled that President Putin was ‘a thug and a killer’ - an apt description, methinks, of the ignoble Senator who was shot down in his plane bombing and murdering innocent Vietnamese during America’s infamous war with Vietnam many moons ago. What is interesting is that the good and the great of the Republican Party, including James Baker, a former Secretary of State in the Senior Bush administration, Robert Gates, a former head of the CIA and a Defence Secretary, Dick Cheyne, a former Defence Secretary in the George W.Bush administration and numerous other notables, have endorsed Mr Tillerson’s appointment, hence the approval of the Senate looks more than likely. President-elect Trump’s reset button on US relations with Russia is clearly work in progress, and will be welcomed by all those who cherish a peaceful and stable world order.
Those with a vested interest in a hostile relationship between the two Great Powers, such as the present French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Aryault, the great Dane former Nato chief Rasmussen and his Viking successor, the Norwegian Stoltenberg and European Union subalterns in fealty to Barack Obama, feel aggrieved that their voices will no longer carry the weight of yore. However, if they so wish they should have few problems maintaining a style to which they have grown accustomed.
The door to Russia appears to be a Japanese priority, too. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has visited Moscow twice, and made a beeline to meet with Donald Trump, shortly after the announcement of his election victory. Japan and Russia are likely to work with redoubled energy on a peace treaty, formally ending their state of war, the best part of a century after the Second World War.
Where does this leave India? Enormously relieved would surely be the short answer. Indo-US relations may gain greater traction with the Trump administration less inclined to obey Beijing’s diktat on Taiwan and less indulgent towards China’s truculence in the South China Sea and in its neighborhood on land.
‘Better US-Russia ties are to India’s benefit. India has been worried about the strategic nightmare of a formal alliance between Russia and China, given how important Russia is to India on military and on energy supplies,’ said Nandan Unnikrishnan, Russia expert at the Observer Foundation in New Delhi. ‘Any easing of tension between the US and Russia will also make things easier for India.’ (See page 12 for the India-China standoff on the Dalai Lama)
On cue, perhaps, India accorded a warm welcome to Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his wife H.J. Iriana, offering support to Indonesia’s position that all countries to the territorial disputes in the South China Sea should show restraint and respect the convention establishing international legal order of the sea and oceans. Both leaders said they were committed to upgrade defence cooperation between their respective countries.
China’s threat of conflict with the United States, if the Trump administration were to revisit the accepted America’s standard ‘one China’ policy in relation to Taiwan, should give pause to the country’s leadership. Igniting a military conflict with the US is surely not in China’s best interest anymore than it was in Imperial Japan’s interest, when it foolishly bombed the America’s Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbour, in Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. Recall, if you will, what the consequences were for the aggressor of this egregious folly.
UK’s new rules to Benefit Tata Steel
Trade unions and industry alike have welcomed the British government’s decision to change its procurement rules for steel in major public projects in a bid to boost the steel sector’s prospects. It follows that this should benefit Tata Steel, which is a significant player in the UK. The British steel industry has been adversely affected by cheap Chinese steel dumped here and in Europe. The British government will henceforward extend procurement guidance to projects worth under 10 million pounds, and those launched by health and local authorities across the country.
Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, explained: ‘This will require projects below this threshold to consider the social and economic impact of the steel used. I don’t want contracts going abroad if the best value for money bid is a British bid with all the social and economic benefits that it brings. By updating our procurement approach on these major infrastructure projects we are creating a level playing field for the UK steel industry.’
As a postscript, one turns to the recent presence in India of Alok Sharma, Britain’s Minister for Asia and the Pacific. Mr Sharma reaffirmed his government’s commitment to strengthen bilateral ties with India. ‘We think that the relationship is more important than ever,’ he told a meeting of the India-UK Business Council in New Delhi, in answer to a remark that the UK’s visa policy could affect commercial ties, he pointed to ‘Our bilateral trade is at 16 billion pounds and there is huge potential to do even better.’
He said that as the UK was still a member of the European Union, formal talks with India on taking economic relations would have to be deferred, but preliminary soundings had been made on the possible trajectory once serious negotiations commenced. On the question of Indian students wishing to pursue higher studies in the UK, the minister assured his audience that, ‘There is no cap on the number of international students in recognized institutions in the UK. We continue to welcome students from India. We approved 89 per cent of the Indian student visas and the Home Secretary will be consulting widely to ensure it is mutually beneficial.’
MPs disgrace themselves and Indian democracy
The winter session of Parliament was a ‘washout’ – a word usually applied to an abandoned cricket match because of rain or poor light. That such a term was used by the media to describe the situation in Parliament over an entire session lasting weeks represents the present sickness in India’s public life. Parliament is where elected legislators are paid from the public purse to debate and discuss issues of national concern. Instead, it has now been reduced to a circus of brawling hooligans, with a weak and incompetent Speaker adjourning the House day after day.
L.K.Advani, the BJP elder statesman, now touching a venerable 90 years, lamented whether it was worth his while attending any more. President Pranab Mukherjee, once an able parliamentarian himself, has repeatedly called MPs to respect an institution that symbolizes the essence of democracy, but to no avail. The Opposition benches, led by the Congress party and the Trinamool Congress have shamed themselves and brought disgrace to the politics of the nation.
In a democracy, the Opposition presents itself to the public as a government in waiting. But would who, pray, would want a clown and a thundering nuisance, such as Rahul Gandhi, ever to be prime minister, and Trinamool Congress riff-raff to be ministers?
That it was the BJP in opposition which was primarily responsible for making such a mockery of Parliament is no excuse whatsoever for other parties to emulate such deplorable behavior. It is small wonder why Indian politicians in general command such little public esteem. They are often seen as the dregs of society, without scruple or conscience. Enough said.
