Relationships and institutions require periodic renewals for fresh strength and vigor to cope with fresh challenges going forward. The India-UK relationship and the Commonwealth fall within this ambit for both sides. It was noticed in London that no Indian prime minister had attended a Commonwealth summit for the eight years, hence the moment was ripe for a new beginning. Prince Charles travelled to New Delhi to deliver an invitation in person from the Queen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a gesture which moved the premier as an honour for both India and himse
Britain, too, is at the crossroads: the British people having made their sovereign decision to exit the European Union, yet wishing, wisely, to retain the closest ties with the Continent determined by geography, history, tradition, faith and culture. India and Britain are uniquely equipped to play a creative role in the transformation of the Commonwealth from potential to reality. Why so? Because, for a start, the Commonwealth, with 53 nation states large and small, straddles every continent with a combined population of around 2.5 billion people, features a range of diverse ethnicities, thriving markets, skilled and semi-skilled labour and abundant capital While most of its members belong to the category of developing third world, others such as the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand belong to the advanced developed segment. English is their common language.
India inhabits both worlds. It is a space power capable of making moon shots and has a vast industrial base; however, these exist cheek by jowl with debilitating social backwardness, stark gender inequality and much else. India is undergoing a transition on a grand scale and its pains of labour are frequently acute. Amid this, telephony has provided millions of people with market access as never before in the country’s history. The rural and urban markets are converging and the outcome could be spectacular.
India is the third-largest invest in the UK after the US and China, while the UK is the largest investor in India of the G20 states. Paul Krugman, the distinguished American economist noted a unique feature of Indian growth: that it was driven by the service and not the manufacturing sector. The Indian IT is an ubiquitous presence across the UK, Europe, the United States and South America; its industrial footprint is expanding growth of manufacturing, as essential and indispensable job creator. Apart from bilateral trade and investment, India and the UK can join forces in the African market in which each side is an experienced player. Prime Ministers Modi and Theresa May addressed Indian British CEOs on issues that affected businesses in their respective countries. Intellectual Property Rights, easier tax regimes, free trade agreements are central to the continuing Indo-British engagement.
An edit-page article in the Times of India by British Conservative party politician Tom Tugenhat and Indian businessman Jitesh Gadhia on the Commonwealth contains critical references to Jawaharlal Nehru, describing him as a ‘sceptic of the Common wealth.’ This is inaccurate. India’s first BJP prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, speaking at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as leader of the opposition, told a distinguished audience that, while the younger generation of Indian politicians, like himself, advocated the severance of India’s Commonwealth ties, Nehru favoured India’s association, acknowledging generously in retrospect that, ‘I was wrong and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was right.’ His contemporary, Congress party Narasimha Rao, prime minister in the early 1990s made a similar pronouncement, also in London.
Nehru retained India’s membership of the Commonwealth ‘as a touch of healing.’ For Sir Stafford Cripps, a senior figure in the Attlee government, India’s decision was a moment of fulfilment. Writing to Nehru, he said: ‘I am very happy and I do believe you have done something really big in world history. It is good that we have been given this chance to work together – not always seeing eye to eye – but always working heart to heart.’
In reply to Nehru’s letter of 8 April 1955 to Winston Churchill, following his departure from office as Britain’s prime minister, Churchill wrote thus [30 June 1955]: ‘I was most touched by what you said. One of the most agreeable memories of my last years in office is our association…I always admired your ardent wish for peace and the absence of bitterness in your consideration of the antagonisms that had in the past divided us.’
It may also surprise readers to learn, that Dr Henry Kissinger, a former US Secretary of State, in his latest book, Global Order, writes: ‘Emerging into a world of established powers and the Cold War, independent India subtly elevated freedom of manoeuvre from a bargaining tactic to an ethical principle…The essence of this strategy was that it allowed India to draw support from both Cold War camps – securing the military aid from and diplomatic cooperation of the Soviet bloc, even while courting the US intellectual establishment. However irritating to Cold War America, it was a wise decision for an emerging nation. With a then-nascent military establishment and underdeveloped economy, India would have been a respected but secondary ally. As a free agent, it could exercise a much wider-reaching influence. India has natural ties to the nations of the Anglosphere. Yet it it will continue to honor the legacy of Nehru preserving freedom of manoeuvre …India’s own strategic analysis will not permit a vacuum in Afghanistan or the hegemony in Asia of another power.’
Stuff and nonsense on the US relationship
BJP ideologue Ram Madhav’s edit-page article in the Times of India on what he would like the Indo-US relationship to be was pure comic strip. His pretentious title ‘Look Beyond Transactionalism’ [the last word mumbo-jumbo] reveals a blinkered mindset under which its touted critique of Western civilization is restricted to prescribed dress codes for Indian women, moral policing, railing at Valentine Day cards etc. Under such oracular demonstrations of ‘ancient’ Indian culture is lodged the craven desire to please Uncle Sam and win a a coveted green card to make the experience memorable.
Shared values is Ram Madhav’s pitch for a privileged strategic relationship between the two countries. The price for India’s leaders at Independence was too high: obedience to US diktat. Washington turned to Pakistan instead. A US State Department paper around 1949 advocated the setting up of a Pakistan-led Islamic bloc to contain India. The Nixon administration’s support for the Pakistani military dictator Yahya Khan and the Pakistani genocide in East Pakistan [now Bangladesh] in tandem with Maoist China is history, from which Mr Madhav appears to have learned nothing.
The two Koreas are coming together to ensure peace and stability on the peninsula the face of the Trump administration’s favoured brinkmanship and possible military conflict. Japan and China have opened a dialogue as a possible hedge against Washington’s tariff wars. As for democratic values, Mr Madhav might do well to ponder the following passage by Smedley D. Butler, the most decorated US marine commander of his generation. ‘I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street….I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. …Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. We Americans operated across three continents.’
Revealed at the weekend was the Trump administration’s threat to impose economic sanctions against India if New Delhi didn’t suspend its defence ties with Russia and switch to the US for weaponry (Hindu April 21). Wake-up call for Ram Madhav
Teaching English trough Artificial Intelligence
Chennai-born Indian American Venkat Srinivasan, who prefers to describe himself as a ‘social entrepreneur’ has used Artificial Intelligence [AI] to develop software as an aid in the teaching of English in one million schools across eight Indian States, covering an estimated 15 million children.
The US Agency for International Funding and Mr Srinivasan’s company English Helper have funded the project with support from social corporate finances. Mr Srinivasan, a Chartered Accountant-turned AI-enthusiast says his companies were designed for impact and not profit. EnglishHelper machine reads reds existing textbooks and develops them into more effective teaching material. ‘AI will work seamlessly in an existing school,’ explained Mr Srinivasan.
