February 16, 1998

Since India's rulers ignore real issues, the global community ignores their country.

By Tavleen Singh

For the past four years or so, on the last Thursday of January, I have found myself in the little Swiss town of Davos. Its name has become a synonym for what is probably the most impressive gathering of political leaders, businessmen, scientists and thinkers on the planet. This is the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. For me, it has become a chance to look at India with the objectivity of distance and also, over the years, examine whether we have come any closer to speaking a language the world understands. I may as well begin by telling you the answer: no.

Four kinds of Indians come to Davos regularly: political leaders, bureaucrats, businessmen and journalists. They react in different ways to this gathering of the world's elite. Most of our political leaders, with the exception of P. Chidambaram, react with abject puzzlement. Even the supposedly sophisticated ones, who pride themselves on their Oxbridge accents, find they have little to say and almost no answers to the questions they are asked.

Our bureaucrats react, as they usually do when confused, with sneering arrogance. This year we had the cabinet secretary and the finance secretary as the main representatives of the Government of India. One of them was heard saying, "We don't need Davos, we have people queuing up to invest in India." Mercifully, our businessmen make up for this chippy arrogance by listening, observing and trying to learn; and we hacks try hard to hide the fact that we are either bedazzled or befuddled or both. I long for the year when I will be able to come here and report that like other Asians (Chinese, Malaysians, Indonesians, Thais) we have also learnt to react normally.

Let me explain. The only political leader at Davos this year from South Asia was Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister. He addressed a session called "Emerging powerhouses: managing the volatility of globalisation". Poor old Nawaz was completely out of his depth. His speech had clearly been written by some bureaucrat accustomed to reading lectures to semi-literate audiences to whom the word globalisation had to be actually explained. When it came to answering questions, Nawaz was so completely befuddled that he referred to the motorway built between Lahore and Islamabad as an example of regional cooperation.

Don't laugh. Our own political leaders are not much better and our bureaucrats are as bad. In contrast, the Chinese -- who do not have the advantage we have of familiarity with the English language -- now speak with the confidence of real members of the global community. After poor old Nawaz, as if to show him up completely, came a session called "What terms for China's integration into the global political and economic systems?"

China was represented by Li Lanquing, its vice-premier. He spoke in halting English but made the point that China should no longer be kept out of the World Trade Organisation. In the clearest language, he proceeded to outline why and to give details of exactly where China would be going in the next 10 years. How much infrastructure it would require, what its growth rate could be expected to be and which areas of economic growth would get top priority.

Sitting in the audience, I wondered which of our own political leaders would be able to come to Davos after the next election and speak with equal intelligence about India's economic problems. Only two, I am afraid: Manmohan Singh and P. Chidambaram. The reason for this is that for too long we have allowed our political leaders to get away with concentrating on the sort of subjects that allow endless hours of meaningless waffling -- secularism, communalism, nationalism. From the Laloos and Mulayams come a whole bunch of silly local issues that have no relevance to whether India will become a confident, prosperous country in the 21st century or not. Surely this has to be our main goal, item number one on our political agenda?

So inconsequential have we become because of our insularity and our isolation, that India quite simply disappears from the newspapers and news bulletins of the world while you are travelling. For the amount of attention it receives in the international press, the Lok Sabha election may as well not be happening. In the week I have been away from India, I have seen only one story -- it was about Sonia Gandhi launching her campaign in Amethi. In Davos, during a week of sessions that begin at 8 a.m. and end after dinner, there has not been a single one dealing with India. South Asia has barely been mentioned, despite Sharif's presence.

We could react as our chippy bureaucrats do by simply shrugging our shoulders and saying we couldn't care less. This would be stupid. Globalisation may only be a buzzword in India but it is a reality everywhere else. If we want to be part of it, we must start demanding that our political leaders and high and mighty officials speak in a language the world understands. For a start, they have to become economically literate.

It is no longer good enough for us to be told, ad nauseum, that India is a poor country with vast problems. We need to know why it is still a poor country and what our political parties are going to do about it. When they learn to answer our questions, they will learn to answer the questions of the world.

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