By electing the son of a Pakistani Muslim bus driver to be their new Mayor, the people of London have honoured their city’s claim to be the greatest in the world and, as Londoners, have justified their right to be its citizenry. Sadiq Khan’s victory speech was truly worthy of the occasion; as worthy is he to hold his great office and have the opportunity to discharge the responsibilities he will now shoulder. From his humble origins growing up in an inner city council estate, his early education at an inner city secondary school before going onto the London School of Economics and, thereafter, beginning a distinguished career at the bar and in government, Sadiq Kha’s rise is the stuff of legend
As remarkable is the decisive support he has received across all ethnicities and religious communities.. That he is the first Muslim to be a mayor of a western city at a time religious discord and terrorism is threatening the peace of our world, adds lustre to London’s electorate and is a unique jewel in London’s glorious crown of history and tradition.
More than any place on earth, London is the truest global village there is, encompassing almost every spoken and written tongue. Its institutions of learning across all disciplines has long been the envy of rival cities; its libraries, museums, theatres, cinemas, fashion parades, and much else, have no equal. London was the heart of a once mighty empire, but more than that, it has been the seedbed of constitutional governance and the rule of law. London has been the teacher of humankind. He who’s tired of London is tired of life Dr Samuel Johnson’s memorable remark. A warm welcome, Mayor Sadiq Khan!
Afghan-Pakistan-China conundrum
Prime Minister Modi’s government is searching for a coherent Afghan-Pakistan policy that also takes in Pakistan’s ‘all weather friend,’ China: the longer the search, the greater the desperation. Standard clichés and pieties have fulfilled their shelf life: for Pakistan more cricket, greater trade etc, for China an ancient civilization, Buddhism, cooperative space in Asia and similar kerfuffle. Nothing so far has yielded the desired results. There is, instead, confusion worse confounded, compounded. American double talk and deceit have added to the witches’ brew.. Consider Richard Olson’s decision to exclude India from the earlier talks in Kabul, where the invitees were t Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States, China and the Taliban. In case you didn’t know, Olson is the Obama administration’s principal negotiator on the region, just as the late Richard Holbrooke once was. Holbrooke, remember, sought to include in his brief a resolution of the Kashmir problem. Talk of mischief making!
Afghanistan, meanwhile, has proved intractable over time. The Kabul talks brokered by Olson ended a whimpering fiasco. The Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who bent over backwards to accommodate Pakistan and the US, appears to have learnt through the intensified Taliban bombings in Kabul and other places, that Pakistan’s attempts to weaken and destabilize his country for reasons of ‘strategic depth’ remains high policy in Islamabad. President Ghani has now turned to India for arms, which it is in India’s best national interest to supply. That said, it might be a worthwhile hedge for India to open, if possible, back channel communication with the Taliban. However reprehensible their activities on the ground, they are driven by a primordial sense of nationalism which perceives all foreigners in their country as hostile. This surely is a chink of light worth exploring. Failure would be no disgrace since it the demarche is not expected to be a political or theatrical success.
As for China, some frank talking about Beijing in the public space would be no bad thing. India should air in the her awareness of China’s critical and covert support to Islamabad’s nuclear weapon and missile programme including the actual delivery of tested Chinese models, its continuing opposition to Indian membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and much else. India made a hash of inviting a Uighur nationalist and two Chinese human rights activists to the country, then revoking the decisions, presumably under Beijing’s pressure. Make no mistake, Indian credibility has taken a hit.
India must be prepared for the long haul, the sort displayed by wolf packs stalking their prey in the dark, cold night of a Siberian forest. The darting movements of a squirrel searching for nuts are no recipe for success. What is needed is calibrated statecraft: the target identified, the pursuit patiently and ruthlessly conducted.
The Indian Government’s cock-up over the ill-advised move to purchase 36 Rafel warplanes from France is attracting serious criticism from quarters Prime Minister Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar can ill-afford to ignore, or sweep under the carpet with sweet assurances.
Parliament’s Defence Committee headed by Major General (retired) B.K. Khanduri, a BJP MP, was critical of the government’s decision to buy the aircraft and also the dilatory negotiating process. The Committee took the government to task for not appointing a Chief of Defence Staff, which the Naresh Chandra recommended as a national priority way back in 2001. In April 2015, Minister Parrikar informed the media that papers had been forwarded to the relevant cabinet committee for approval. Thereafter silence. India has a paltry fleet of seven submarines in operational mode at any given time. There doesn’t seem to be a prospect of change anytime soon. There is drift and, seemingly, little prospect of change anytime soon. The country is looking for deeds, having tired of words that usually signify nothing of significance.
India’s women directors are exemplars
Some of the most formidable deities in the Hindu pantheon are female: one thinks of Durga, Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati, to go no further. In real life Indira Gandhi, in 1971, slew the Chinese dragon, brought down the Pakistani demon Yahya Khan and wrong footed the villainous duo of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger. The evil that men (or women) do lives after them,/ the good is oft interred with their bones, wrote the incomparable William Shakespeare. So it has been with Mrs Gandhi and her Emergency rule, which is the butt of political pygmies, prone to forget that she revoked it, expressed regret and stepped down from office when defeated at the polls.
Historical canvas is where one learns to value context and appreciate achievement. India’s women have emerged from the shadows over the past decades and done things that would have been inconceivable to their forbears. Their role in the life of the nation looms ever larger, yet is often taken for granted and ignored. They are present in politics, the media, software services, science and defence laboratories and the armed forces, with best surely still to come. What has recently attracted greater public attention is the presence of outstanding women in business, in board rooms with the world as their oyster. They count among corporate executives, bankers, lawyers and teachers aty schools and universities.
Among the busiest women directors are former Indian Institute of Management professor Indira Parikh; HDFC Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad, and former ICICI Securities Managing Director and CEO Ramni Narula. Each of these remarkable women sits the boards of listed companies. Former Director and General Manager of General Insurance Corporation Bhagyan Ramani, former State Bank of India Deputy Managing Director Bharati Rao are names worthy of recall. Similarly, former Chairperson and Managing Director of Indian Bank, Ranjana Kumar, was also the first woman to head a public sector bank; former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India Kishori Udeshi, former McKinsey partner Ireena Vittal; and former PepsiCo India Executive Director Vibha Paul Rishi are those have accepted board positions in five separate public sector companies.
Several women directors whose services are just as much in demand, have accepted fewer positions as they are concurrently corporate bankers. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon, sits on the boards of software giant Infosys, United Breweries, Narayana Hrudalayalaya Ltd. The roll call of honour goes on. This is the face of the new emergent India, whose movers and shakers these women are undoubtedly proud to be. Their heirs are likely to shake and awe the world.
