The Hindu : On the global stage

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 05, 2003

Opinion

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On the global stage

APART FROM EXPERIENCING first hand the disconcerting and even debilitating chill that has hit international relations in the wake of the war against Iraq, the Prime Minister was perhaps not expecting very much from his rather gruelling, weeklong three-nation tour. Without doubt, Mr. Vajpayee's presence at the St. Petersburg celebrations and the expanded Group of 8 summit meetings at Evian, France, both on invitation, marked in some ways the coming of age for India on the global stage in the post-Cold War era. Against this distinct gain from the recognition of the voice of this country must be weighed the manner in which the bilateral issue of Kashmir was sought to be raised at every conceivable opportunity. Mr. Vajpayee's comments on the Kashmir issue on arrival in Delhi as well as the claims of Government spokesmen after his exchange of pleasantries across the banquet table with the American President, George W. Bush, in St. Petersburg shows that the Government has not yet got over the pre-occupation with ties with Pakistan. The meaningless claim of results flowing from that brief interlude contrasts sharply with the step by cautious step approach being adopted by both sides to move the bilateral relations forward.

The Prime Minister's first stop, in Berlin, was in the nature of fulfilling a long-delayed return visit. His review of bilateral and international issues with the German Chancellor and peace activist, Gerhard Schroeder, did produce the promise of a second look aimed at liberalising visa and residence regulations for Indian information technology professionals to live and work in Germany. The German green card scheme, introduced to lure IT technicians, has failed to yield the expected results mainly because of restrictive regulations. Of German investments in India, the high expectations roused by the high profile visit of Mr. Schroeder more than a year and a half ago have remained unfulfilled. At Evian, on the third and last leg of his tour, Mr. Vajpayee returned to developmental issues. Here again, it is hard to share his optimism that a new world forum is emerging that will bring together the developing and developed world. The reality is that the message from Evian holds no particular cheer for the developing and poor nations in the prevailing atmosphere of mutual hostility within the Group of 8. The Franco-American obsession with upstaging each other has left the world distinctly poorer.

The Evian summit was a partial setback after the successful easing of tensions witnessed earlier at St. Petersburg. The summitry and celebration came in the backdrop of the Iraq war and the continuing American and British scramble for a credible rationale for their action, which had raised fundamental questions about the evolving global order. The gathering at the imperial capital, bringing together allies, former and aspiring allies and former foes, served to take some of the bitterness and heat off the strained global relations, sparking hopes that diplomacy may get back to centre stage after the trauma of Iraq and summitry, devalued in the wake of the Cold War's end, regain its importance. The spirit of St. Petersburg, at 300 years old Europe's youngest city which set the tone of 20th century's ideological debate through a cataclysmic revolution, might hopefully have set the direction of international relations in the next few decades. Against their unilateralism, the policy makers in Washington were provided a different worldview from the Czarist capital, the focus trained on the distinct advantages of an inter-dependent, multipolar world. The promise proved shortlived.

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