Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his diplomatic summitry in Tehran. Indo-Iran relations was put on a new track; this became clearer when President Ashraf Ghani came to the party and gave the exercise a further lift by converting it into a Trilateral partnership. Trade, investment, industrial cooperation, sharing anti-terror intelligence and much else gave it a unique traction that could beat a path to Central Asia, the Caspian region and beyond. It was diplomacy with a Twenty-first century sweep. A fortnight later, Mr Modi inaugurated a dam built in Heart (in western Afghanistan) by Indian engineers with Indian finance. The Chabahar project had taken its major step forward. Next was the Indian Prime Minister’s trip to Doha and a promise from the Emir of Qatar to join with India in rooting out covert financial support for jihadi terrorism, thence to Switzerland where the Swiss government endorsed India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and ferret out Indian black money accounts in Swiss banks.
The climax to Mr odi’s odyssey was his much awaited visit to America where held talks with President Obama on a whole range of issues, from climate change, trade, investment anti-terrorist cooperation and regional security. However, it was the Prime Minister’s address to the joint Houses of Congress that was the tour de force of his journey. Several years ago Mr Modi told TV anchor Rajdeep Sardesai that he would make a speech in English one day that would be superior to anything that Sardesai had given. With consummate stagecraft, Mr Modi decided the place and the hour to make good his promise. He delivered his speech extempore; he pressed the right buttons throughout and he had his enthralled audience rising time and again to applaud his words.
The calibration and pitch was brilliantly synchronized as were the sentiments he expressed. India and the United States were partners on a great journey of mutual endeavour in science, technology, innovation, climate change and emphasized in particular continuing scourge of global terrorism. America has not always been on the same page, indulging certain terrorists and their handlers, Pakistan, for instance, while condemning others. He referred to the three million Indian diaspora in the United States: thriving, prosperous, well educated who were the bridge builders between the two nations:: ‘Today, they are among your best CEOs, academics, astronauts, scientists, economists ,doctors, even spelling bee champions, said the Prime Minister to sustained applause.’ Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the aisle clapped furiously.
Mr Modi’s speech, solemn when required, was enlivened by flashes of wit and humour, which resonated well with his audience in the chamber as well as television audiences across the country and beyond in different corners of the world. His message was sincere and lucid. There was much that India and America had achieved as partners and this could be scaled up in the years to come.. But being partners did not include Indian membership of American-led military alliances. Much of this constituted the subtext of his address and was well understood to be the case. India’s membership of the NSG has obstacles to surmount, but membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) should have a smoother ride. India’s participation in a mutually supportive arrangement on military logistics is assured. This underlies a broad strategic convergence on developments in the Asia Pacific, particularly with challenges arising from China’s rise.
Contemporary and future might well aver that this day and hour was when Narendra Modi strode out on an international stage as a statesman of global stature. There is much to rejoice in his remarkable achievement. People in India watched his performance as avidly on their screens as Americans. It was indeed high drama worthy of the occasion.
From Washington, Mr Modi flew to Mexico to reinforce India’s footprint jn Latin America. India has shared aspirations and experiences with the peoples of this continent. Mexico expressed support for Indian membership of the NSG, but the best is yet to come.
Indo-British healthcare partnerships way to future
Indo-British talks over the past year could witness the flow of more than a billion pounds sterling (Rs 10,000 crore) of private investment in India’s healthcare sector, Under the Indo-British partnership eleven British health institutions are to be set up and provide training to doctors, nurses and allied medical staff. But a stringent UK visa regime could be an impediment to this scheme.
Malcolm Grant, Chairman of the National Health Service (NHS) England, who recently led a delegation of 23 British companies and NHS units looking to provide services in India hoped contentious visa issue wouldn’t get in the way of doctors coming to the UK. According to studies, 25 per cent of NHS doctors were from India and so were 7 per cent of the consultants. Malcolm Grant was of the view that migration of qualified staff was vital to the functioning of the Britain’s health service.
He said, ‘There are a lot of partnerships going on between India and the UK. It is part of our history. What we are trying to do is to work alongside the Indian government and the State governments for what is a common vision – providing universal healthcare on an affordable basis. This requires investments in hospitals; this is where the Indo-UK institutes will be focusing their attention, and also in primary health. A part of the proposal will be a number of polyclinics, which will have a hub-and-spoke model and will reach out to remote communities, particularly through telemedicine to be able to give early and and more convenient access to healthcare.
‘We’ve been increasingly interested to help people out of hospitals because admission to hospitals is an admission to failure. We are also doing work on data analytics, electronic records, diabetes care, and lots of partnerships on the clinical and surgical front…It was very encouraging. A number of [Indian State authorities] have come the point where they are acquiring land. I came away with the impression that this had started to take grip.’
Education among India’s Muslim youth surges
The 5-19 year Muslim population in India has exceeded the national average, although from a lower base. It has risen 44 per cent 2001 and 2011, while the national average expansion level was 30 per cent. During this decade education among Muslim girls rose 54 per cent, making the mean 68 per cent to the national average of 72 per cent. The highest education rates in 2011 were Jains at 88 per cent, Christians 80 per cent, Buddhists 79 per cent, Sikhs 77 per cent and Hindus 73 per cent. The census being a decennial exercise, the next tranche of statistics will be due in 2021.
Mass education in West Bengal has increased exponentially, particularly among girls, all part of the development that put Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congresds v(TMC) government back in power with an increased majority in the recent State Assembly polls. (More on this next week)
What follows is a grass roots sample of this process. Inside a library in a modest Kolkata building, sits a 16-year-old Muslim girl, Shabnam, engrossed in the mathematics text book. Her regular visits to the library – Gyan Azhar – instills in her a hope that she can become a teacher one day.
Three years ago, Shabnam quit school as her father fell ill and later died of diabetes and her widowed mother was unable to afford the school fees. Instead of sitting at home doing house work, Shabnamg turned to the Gyan Azhar Library for help, as many others in the city’s Tiljala slum had done and still do. These deprived children were able to continue their education there. Shabnam is planning to take her exams next year to pursue her dream of pursuing a career in teaching.
Gyan Azgar Library for Girls made a modest start in 2008 with just two pupils. ‘Now we have 600 members and close to 1,000 text books.,‘ says Mohammed Shaftkat Alam, Joint Secretary, of Tiljala Shed, a non-governmental organization which set up the Gyan Azhar L:ibrary. Its six computers with internet connections are an added attraction. The Indian Association for Women’s Development, has sponsored the library. Corporate houses, individuals and book sellers donate books. Most of the text books are in Bengali, Hindi and Urdu, as the slum has a sizeable Hindi and Urdu-speaking population. The slum is home to 30,000 families, the majority of whom are Muslims. Because of the library people are returning to schools. Where there’s a will, there’s always a way.
