Wen-Jia-Bao, Chinese Premier, arrives in India tomorrow to pay a three day visit. The visit assumes significance in the context of changing power equations especially in the fast changing global scenario on various fronts. It is somewhat interesting to note that 2010 has given new dimensions to India’s relations with prominent nations in the backdrop of visits already paid by David Cameroon, British Prime Minister, Barack Obama, US President, Nicholas Sarkozy, French President and the scheduled visits of Wen and Dmitry Medvedev, Russian President on Dec 21. Wen’s three-day visit to India is followed by three-day visit to Pakistan, India’s traditional rival and neighbouring country which incidentally is all-weather friend of China.
While one or two nations got away with what they wanted, more given than what was taken from them, some other nations like France gave us 50 percent of the credit and took away the other half to the mutual satisfaction of both. In the present world scenario, economy assumes the prestigious position and each nation burying all other differences moves ahead with promotion of relations touching upon various aspects ranging from trade, industry, infrastructure, space, science and technology, strategic relations, investments in various sectors, enters into pacts on a wider scale. Free-Market economy and globalization play a prominent role in forcing nations forget about all other differences, in other words while holding on to different ideologies. More than ideals and ideologies, pragmatism is here to stay at least for a brief period. All nations aim high especially at a moment the European community consisting 27 nations and US are reeling under economic recession forcing the EU nations to initiate austerity measures amidst large-scale protests, rallies and strikes by their people especially millions and millions of employees.
Wen-Jia-Bao arrives in India not alone, he is accompanied by four hundred men, businessmen as well as industrial tycoons. Nowadays, when a leader of a nation flies abroad, his entourage naturally includes hundreds and hundreds of industrial and business tycoons besides media personalities to give their leader’s visit a wider coverage and the leader as well as the business-industry honchos undertake wide ranging talks with their counter-parts discuss, debate, deliberate upon various trade and industrial issues and enters into agreements. His visit would help him and his team to pave for undertaking visits to India’s IT hub at Bengaluru and other centres , our nation’s economic nerve centre Mumbai and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) headquarters at Sriharikota.
Thus while a big part of the engagements is centered on economic relations, improvement in bilateral relations and other external affairs relating to various nations come as a natural corollary, then terrorist menace, which has turned out to be a nightmare threatening all nations and the improvement of cultural relations. A wide ranging issues, all compared to economic relations turn secondary but simultaneously remaining significant.
The presence of Indian envoy at the conferment ceremony of Nobel peace Prize to Liu-Xia-Bao, who is languishing in an East China prison since last December for a period of 11 years may come up, may not come up and in the case of China raking up the issue before the Indian leaders, both nations are certain to keep a low key and both are sure to wipe out the matter as if nothing of seriousness has happened. China must be thinking on the lines of making a casual reference rather than making it a hot issue. Never at a particular juncture like this a comparatively silly matter is to occupy a prominent and sensitive matter as far as China is concerned.
Socialist-Capitalism a term coined by the architect of China, Deng-Zio-Ping is a kind of peculiar sort of capitalism – neither capitalism nor socialism - while claiming to be holding on to the ideals of socialism, free market economy is given a free rein. Thus even while keeping a high growth trajectory, freedom of speech and expression continues to be a taboo in Peoples’ Democratic Republic of China. The ones who demand individual freedom are dealt with accordingly, brutally tortured, repressed, imprisoned and silenced forever. Liu-Xia-Bao fought for freedom of speech and expression and against human rights violations and finds himself incarcerated. Like him thousands are languishing in jails, thousands remain outside but fearing the consequences upon plunging actively against an iron-fisted political system they continue to be mute spectators gritting teeth.
While our external relations continue to be rosy on account of remaining peaceful and independent – a non interference policy - our democracy is literally rotting. The day to day affairs that we witness across our country are pointers in that direction. While the deserving ones starve a minority piles up and up playing foul, of course with the covert and overt support of the mandarins in the corridors of power within one year of its tenure in power. India has transformed into a quagmire of scandals and scams squeezing the exchequer of round about 3 crore lakhs of rupees. Corruption like a beastly creature has bared out its tentacles across the length and breadth of the nation, virtually asphyxiating a generation. But the disgusting, distressing truth is that the ruling mandarins still continue to harp on the 8.9 percent GDP growth while sweeping the stench emanating scams and scandals under the carpet. But the truth is that an inescapable truth is the stench still continues to leak out making life unbearable for the common man and it is widely known across the nation as well as abroad.
Sonia Gandhi, Congress President cum NAC (National Advisory Council) Chairperson after keeping mum for almost a whole month after a ‘historical performance’ by Parliament – that of a session without transacting any business till the last day of the session for not acceding to the demand of the opposition to order a JPC probe over the 2G spectrum issue – lambasted the BJP and other opposition parties for not allowing to function Parliament and has reportedly thrown all her weight behind her beloved appointee Prime Minister Dr.ManMohan Singh. Her arguments go on like these: Congress never lost time in removing Ministers in the cabinet allegedly involved in various scandals and scams beginning from Shashi Tharoor, Ashok Chavan, Suresh Kalmadi, A.Raja, from their positions but it is BJP which did evade from removing its scam-tainted Chief Minister of Karnataka B.S.Yeddyurappa.
On going through her yesterday’s statement, Sonia herself is fit to be the PR manager of BJP than it’s leaders like Arun Jaitely, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu et al. Her arguments are ludicrous to say the least. What actually prevents her party from holding a JPC probe into the alleged 2G spectrum scam if her party has nothing to be afraid of the committee reports and that is quite baffling to some and crystal clear to many a one
We were talking about Wen-Jia-Bao’s visit, if not our internal affairs have gone rotten let our foreign relations continue to be bright as a balancing factor.
No comments:
Post a Comment