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DIPLOMACY
Oriental
Overture
Vietnam
and Indonesia roll out the red carpet for Vajpayee not because India is
a non-aligned power but because it is an IT superpower.
By
Sumit Mitra
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Indonesian
President Wahid welcoming
A.
B. Vajpayee
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Krishna
Deva Raya was the medieval monarch of Vijayanagar, the last Hindu kingdom
in mainline India after the Islamic conquest. History textbooks paint
him as one who survived against all odds because of his strength. Last
week, when Air-India's special aircraft, Krishna Deva Raya, flew to Vietnam
and Indonesia with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the name of the
16th century king painted on it added an ironic twist to India's new look-East
diplomacy. In the heady years of the post-colonial 1950s, Nehru's India
was the fountainhead of inspiration for Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnam and
Sukarno's Indonesia. They swore by India, so much so that neither of them
wavered after hostilities broke out in 1962 between India and China. India
slid from its pedestal as the wind of economic progress blew so much faster
across the east, and the cross-current of world diplomacy left it isolated,
particularly after the fall of the Soviet Union.
To make
a new beginning in Vietnam and Indonesia last week, it was therefore necessary
for the Indian prime minister to be charged with the Krishna Deva Raya
spirit-which is all about creating a space for oneself with one's own
strength. Vajpayee has compelled the leaders of these nations to think
of India as a nation of the future, not of the past. In both capitals,
the Indian prime minister was received as the representative of a country
which has at last recovered its self-confidence with concrete achievements
in two key areas- information technology and the stability of its democratic
institutions. P.V. Narasimha Rao visited Indonesia in 1992 and Vietnam
in 1994 but he is hardly remembered there. Perhaps because nobody thought
at that time that India had much to offer. The economic reform was only
in its infancy then.
The table
has turned since. The Indian economy is growing almost in tandem with
ASEAN's and, more importantly, the country's skilled knowledge-workers
are holding the attention of the West. The new perception came off in
the speech of Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Van Khai at the banquet in Vajpayee's
honour: "India today has become a scientific and technological power,
especially in software technology. It is rapidly advancing into an information
technology revolution and into the knowledge economy." This sentiment
was immediately reflected in the business agreements signed between Vietnamese
organisations and Indian firms, including a US $238.5 million (Rs 1,100
crore) investment by ONGC in a joint venture to explore the country's
continental shelf for oil and natural gas. For India, it was the single
largest foreign investment. For Vietnam, it was a way of saying that,
given a chance, it would trust India more than the West in sharing its
natural resources. It was the best red salute that Vajpayee could have
hoped to earn.
When Krishna Deva Raya landed in Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport in Jakarta,
a still bigger surprise was awaiting Vajpayee. Breaking protocol, President
Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia was waiting at the foot of the aircraft
steps to receive him. Minister of State for External Affairs Ajit Kumar
Panja, a member of Vajpayee's entourage, said, "The president's gesture
took us by complete surprise".
The Indian
diplomats in the prime minister's team had stood on relatively sure ground
in Vietnam, the country being an ardent supporter of India on all international
issues including Kashmir, but they had trepidation about Indonesia. On
Kashmir, its policy is that the issue should be resolved through dialogue
within the framework of the Simla Agreement and the UN resolution. Vajpayee's
party also had doubts whether Jakarta would support Delhi's bid for permanent
membership of the UN Security Council, since Jakarta itself has an eye
on the seat. Such doubts were dispelled dramatically when Indonesian leaders
clearly told the Indians that Jakarta had no intention to bid for permanent
membership and that if India wished to be a member it could count on Indonesia's
support. In Jakarta, as in Hanoi, the warmth of reception rose by many
degrees because of India's giant strides in the knowledge industry. President
Wahid was candid even in his first discussion with Vajpayee at the Presidential
Palace within minutes of the Indian prime minister's arrival. He said
Indonesia would like closer Indian participation with ASEAN for two reasons-its
uninterrupted record of democracy, and the impressive advances made by
it in software technology.
Why are
they turning to India for a boost on the IT front? India's attraction
lies in its ability to develop customised software for western (particularly
US) businesses. This need cannot but rise, its demand being linked to
continuous restructuring of business, with the global market for software
development expected to cross the $1 trillion mark in this decade. India
has a headstart in this exciting future economy because of its abundant
resource of people who can write software and know English. It is a gift
from Lord Macaulay which East Asia lacks. Coupled with India's it advantage
is the growing global awareness that India is no longer a one-party nation
and the country is mature enough to respect continuity in international
relationships. In Hanoi, Vajpayee embraced the 89-year-old General Nguyen
Giap, hero of the legendary battle of Dien Bien Phu, with the same warmth
that Nehru or Indira Gandhi might have shown. In his banquet speech in
Jakarta, he didn't forget to pay homage to the Bandung Declaration of
1955, which "articulated the solidarity of the developing world against
imperialism, colonialism and racism". It reassured the hosts that
India's foreign policy does not waffle.
The realisation
of strength has worked on Vajpayee like power tonic. In his suites at
the Daweoo Hanoi Hotel and on the 18th floor of Jakarta's Borobudur Hotel,
he worked with Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra and other members of
the official delegation till one in the morning, but showed no sign of
fatigue in the morning At the state banquets in both capitals, he ate
with great relish, scraping the last tissue off the flaming red shells
of lobsters. In Jakarta, he hugged Wahid and laughed his head off when
the Indonesian president told him that his favourite character in the
Ramayana was Ravana's brother Kumbhakaran, who slept for months at a stretch,
because he neither saw his sibling committing sins nor would he turn against
him. If a doubt had arisen in Vajpayee's mind that the President had a
more contemporary relation on his mind, such as India and Pakistan, he
was in too fine a spirit to show it.
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