The much touted Opposition alignment, more misalliance than alliance, appears to be splitting at the seams, with certain party heads – the TMC’s Mamata Benerjee, the Communist Party of India’s D.Raja, Telugu Desam’s Chandrababu Naidu and former Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav sought the solace of plenitude in a five star Bangalore hotel, where the inebriating possibility of taking on both the BJP and Congress was discussed. India’s silly season transcends time itself.
IPL viewers surge
Star India, the official broadcaster of cricket’s Indian Premier League, states that a total of 202 million viewers logged on to its video streaming platform Hotstar to watch the T20 2018 tournament. Millions of spectators turned up at stadia across the country and millions more watched the spectacle on TV at home and abroad, or on giant screens free of charge at selected locations, from week to week.. The management and efficiency of the exercise was astounding, doubly so in nation noted for its chaos and lack of civic discipline. The fabled Indian Rope Trick comes readily to mind. (Mint May 29).
Walmart-Flipkart game-changer
Business, technology and related things keep India ticking over. The US mega-firm Walmart’s 16 billion dollar investment in India’s e-commerce company promises to be a game-changer, creating jobs, efficient agriculture supply chains, and increase the volume of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through a cascading effect on industry. The deal underscores the American business community’s new approach to the possibilities of the Indian market through long-term sustainable business partnerships. Walmart’s investment will underwrite the ‘Make in India’ campaign by adding billions in revenue for Indian manufacturers, stimulating individual income growth for farmers and reducing food waste by $1.2 billion annually within the next decade. (Mint May 29)
It bespeaks imagination, intelligence and insight, qualities sadly lacking in America’s political class and administration. While the former succeeds, often brilliantly, the latter fails time and again in foolhardy ventures.
US ultimatum to India
The Trump Administration and the US Congress have delivered what amounts to an ultimatum to India: abort the deal to purchase the Russian missile system under the new sanctions regime Washington seeks to apply against Moscow. Not to do so would imperil India’s intended acquisitions of certain US weapon systems. This is tantamount to an attack on Indian sovereignty, reducing India to a coolie state of the American Empire. ‘Talk softy and use a big stick,’ was the advice President Theodore Roosevelt in the early 20th century. The Trump Administration has gone one better: it uses big talk with the big stick (Times of India May 29).
India-Russia economic partnership
The first Indo-Russian Strategic Economic Dialogue – an offshoot of Prime Minister Modi’s informal summit with President Putin at Sochi – is to be held in St Petersburg in July to take the strategic economic partnership between their two countries to the next level. The Indian team in the dialogue, to be led by Niti Aayog CEO Rajiv Kumar, will seek to put in place a mechanism to draw resource-rich Russian regions and Indian states [provinces].
Russian Far East
Russia’s Far Eastern provinces are searching for partnerships with their Indian counterparts involving trade and investments. Private sector companies on both sides outside defence, are taking part in these exchanges. In an effort to raise bilateral trade to $30 billion by 2025, Russia urged Indian startup companies to become catalysts in a closer business relationship. India and Russia are pledged to remove bureaucratic impediments for ease of doing business . Two-way commercial increased 21.5 per cent in 2017, and is poised to deepen going forward. Small and medium-sized companies will play a critical part in the exercise. Delhi, said Russian officials, has moved a significant step forward in joining the free trade with the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. This will complement India’s membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Indian government will help Russian companies in ‘Invest in India.’ Russian LNG supplies will arrive in India from June this year and strengthen energy ties enabling India to move to a natural gas-based economy. (Economic Times May 25).
Refusal to accept Iran sanctions
India’s Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj, has issued a statement refusing to accept any sanctions against Iran that lack the imprimatur of the United Nations. She met Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javed Zarif in New Delhi and expressed India’s unequivocal support for the US-EU-Russia nuclear deal with Tehran, which former US president Barack Obama signed up to and the Trump Administration now repudiates. Other Indian ministers met with their Iranian counterparts on ways to work round proposed US sanctions (Times of India May 29).
Improved connectivity with Arunachal Pradesh
When Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visited a remote corner of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Tibet, she discovered to her chagrin that the inhabitants of Kibithoo would tune into Chinese radio broadcasts as those from India were barely audible. She promised to rectify the situation on her return to the capital by authorizing new fibre cables to be put in place, but what were the local officials doing all this time. It took a central government minister to put things right- not a desirable state of affairs, sure.
Pankaj Saran, Deputy NSA
Pankaj Saran, the present Indian Ambassador to Russia, has been appointed Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) on his retirement from the diplomatic service in November. He will be contracted to serve a two-year term as deputy NSA. His Russian connection may have played a role in this critical appointment (Hindu May 30).
Karnataka ministry still incomplete
Following the brouhaha following the Janata United (Secular) and the Congress Party pledging a long-time union of kindred souls, there widespread expectation that the promised coalition government would be up and running in the time to shout H.D. Kumaraswamy, the Chief Minister’s name. He and his Congress deputy are in place, but squabbling over the loaves and fishes of office between the coalition partners has hobbled the administration. What price the promised Opposition Unity? (Hindu May 30).
Mukherjee -RSS Dialogue
Former Indian president Pranab Mukherjee’s decision to address RSS faithful has caused consternation in the ranks of the present Congress dispensation. Mr Mukherjee is arguably the experienced Indian politician of his generation, joining Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet as an unknown in 1967 and leaving government as head of state a few years short 50 years. He held the great offices of state, finance minister, home minister, defence minister and external affairs minister. He said wasn’t equipped to be prime minister because of his lack of fluency in Hindi. Dr Manmohan Singh, the prime minister under whom Mr Mukherjee had served, said his erstwhile colleague was better qualified than he to be prime minister.
Respected MP
Mr Mukherjee was a respected opposition Member of Parliament, friendly, accessible, a powerful advocate of his cause and acclaimed by all sides of the political divide. His Congress roots were deep and unquestioned. He warned against the political polarization that has so sullied the country’s public life and brought its politicians into disrepute. As a staunch admirer of Jawaharlal Nehru, whom he recently hailed as India’s greatest prime minister, addressing the RSS faithful won’t alter his views one little bit. Indeed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself paid a warm tribute to Nehru’s memory on anniversary of his death on May 27. The living Nehru invited the RSS to participate in India’s Independence Day parade in August 1963. Indira Gandhi was equally open in her approaches to the organization. It is the height of impertinence for Congress leaders now to tell Mr Mukherjee who he should speak to and who he should avoid. (Times of India, Hindu, May 30, 31).
Monsoon arrives, rural revival, economic boost
The monsoon arrived in Kerala three days ahead of schedule, promising abundant rains across most of India, according to India’s Meteorological Department forecasts. Parallel to this are optimistic reports of a revival of the rural economy. Forecasting company Nielson’s expectation of high fourth quarter growth [January-March] was fulfilled with official data revealing that the economy had grown 7.7 per cent, the highest growth in seven quarters. A rise in food sales will augment farmers’ incomes, said the Nielson report. (Times of India May 30, 31).
Xiaomi’s ‘Made in India’ Television sets
Chinese company Xiaomi is planning to manufacture television sets in India in a joint venture with Taiwanese company Fox-conn for the manufacture of TV sets in India from July-August ahead of the Diwali festive season when consumer sales usually reach their peak. (Economic Times May 31).
Modi in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
Amid global diplomatic turbulence, Prime Minister Modi is spreading his wings abroad. Mr Modi turned eastward to Indonesia, the largest and most populous country in Southeast Asia. From Indonesia, the PM next port of call was Malaysia, where he met with the 92 year-old Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammed, who made a triumphant return to power from retirement, following the defeat of Razzak government in country’s recent general election. Both leaders pledged to strengthen bilateral ties as a priority in the light of the uncertainties of global politics and their impact on the region. The Indian Prime Minister ended his tour in Singapore with a keenly awaited speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue and a private conversation with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, in which India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also participated. (Times of India, Hindu May 31, June 12,3) See Comment Page.
