Ajith Keshakambali
India was one of the most important destinations of the Heads of the states of a number of powerful countries of the world at the end of 2010.
US President Obama was followed by his French counterpart Nicholas Sarkozy. Then came Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to be followed by Russian President Putin.
Obama visit was publicised by the media with such an awestruck manner that it resembled the visit of an imperial monarch to a subject country. His entourage consisted of even a huge army of security personnel who took up almost the whole of Mumbai under their control, Visits of the three other dignitaries did not have that amount of media euphoria, but enough of coverage.
Trade treaties were inked as usual. While Lockeed Martin and Boeing could grab big contracts while Obama was in India, French competitor Air bagged a bigger deal few months after Sarkozy left India. Obama boasted his visit to India will create 75000 jobs in the USA. The power generation project by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance at Samalkot, a small town in Andhra Pradesh will create 1600 jobs in G.E. USA. Similarly in defence supplies, oil exploration, civil aircrafts and above all, nuclear power generation the USA stuck deals with India. Obama also broke the ice on American assistance, read attempt to control, in the defence research and development sectors, such as DR Do.
But what was of much more importance was Obama’s continued harangue on "terrorism" and "fight against terrorism". It was nothing but big leaf to align India with the global interest of America, especially its geo-politics in the Middle-East.India has already been a partner of America’s war on Iraq and Afganistan in the guise of working for the development of those countries. It is now known to the world that one of the most important engineering arm of Indian military, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), famous for its expertise in building roads and bridges in the mountainous terrains, has been deployed to build up roads for the NATO forces in Afganistan, Indians are being used for transporting military necessities and supplies in both Iraq and Afganistan. Now Iran is embarrassing the USA by not complying with its dictate. So it has become all the more necessary to get India as ally in its military adventure in this region. In this score Obama’s problem to minimise the age old enmity between two neighboring countries India and Pakistan. Obama had to deal with a number of adversaries-the forces in both Indian and Pakistani establishment who are opposed to building up friendly relationship between the two countries, forces in the Pakistani establishment which are acting for an Islamic brotherhood and reluctant to fight the Afghans, forces in the Indian establishment which are allied to adverse imperialist powers etc. He had to use both carrots and sticks to deal with them. In that effort ‘terrorism’ was his handy tool, but he was extra-cautious in not connecting Pakistan with ‘terrorist’ activities in India. He was also very much cautious in not promising clearly a security council seat for India, but at the same time very diplomatically promising support to changes in UN regulation.
Obama thus had his tasks clearly formulated. It was explicitly to develop trade and business such that on the one hand it can be used to create employments in the USA, and on the other hand, and that was more important, to turn India more dependent on US in its infrastructure development, especially energy sectors, and to penetrate more deeply in the military establishment of India. But the implicit task was to force India serve the US geo-political interest.
For the visitors who followed Obama the latter was far more important than the former. So how they reacted was very interesting and important for India and its people.
Sarkozy, the Frech President, again outwardly emphasized trade and business. He also eyed of the energy sector. Being the highest producer of nuclear power in the world, Sarkozy promised supply of nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants in India. Arrangements were made for supply of huge number of Airbus civil aviation aeroplanes. He was just short of promising India a US Security Council Seat. But his implicit task was to take India away from acting at the dictate of US imperialist on Iran. The present dispensation is not as adverse to French oil interests in Iran as that to US civil interests. Being a part of NATO, France is in an unenviable position to carry on its policy on Iran. So Surkozy had a tight rope walking on this issue.
Then came Chinese Premier Wen Jinbao. The most interesting part of his visit was that he had to convince the Indian government for advancing his visit more than one month. Indian media reported it with due importance, but never ever tried to bring before the Indian people the real reason behind it. Outwardly it was for enhancing trade between the two countries. China also came up with its expertise in building up thermal power plant in India again a stress on the energy sector. For the umpteenth time both sides agreed for peaceful solution to border disputes.
Then why was so much haste on the part of China for this visit? It is to be noted that the US is in a big trade deficit with China. It has been continuously pressing China for revaluation of its currency, yuan in respect of dollar, China has been opposing it. Chinese President was to visit the USA in January, 2011. So, China wanted to go to the USA with a strong message that even if, the USA tries to restrict trade with China to enforce revaluation of yuan, it has already developed an alternative market.
This tactics of China pinched where it really wanted could be seen from the actions of political and media stockholders of the US imperialism in India. They started crying foul against the quality of Chinese goods and raised a big storm on granting ‘paper visa’ or stapled visa’ [meaning visa separately stamped in piece of paper] to two weight lifters of Arunachal Pradesh, which had been a long practice of the Chinese government from when it changed its policy of granting no ‘visa’ to Indian passport holders of Arunachal Pradesh because they felt that was a Chinese territory. Rather it was shift towards peaceful solution to the border dispute.
Just after the Chinese Premier had left India, came the Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has somehow come out of the brink to total economic collapse. With a more stable economy than that of nineties, this military superpower has been trying to gain its old position as the USSR in the global geo-politics. India had been its one of important allies in Yesteryears. Though India shifted its position in favour of the US, till 2008, it was the biggest supplier of Indian military. Israel pushed it to the second position very recently. Putin’s first aim was to regain that position and he achieved it. Moreover, Russians know very well that the comprador bourgeoisie in India always dream of advancing its expansionism. It is difficult for the US to fan it up. Because it may not help US global interest. Russia has been planning to develop a Russia-China-India axis. Putin did everything possible at this moment to fan up Indian expansionism. He promised to support India’s claim to permanent membership in UN security Council knowing very well it could not be achieved without reform of UN regulation. He once more announced that Kashmir was an integral part of India, which is a policy from the days of Khruschev. Implicitly it advised India to refrain from falling in line with the USA in its Iran policy and promised to supply oil.
Thus India has become an important territory for global players for their own geo-political interest thanks to the geographical position and the big market.
In the near future Indian people will find the contradiction amongst the ruling cliques sharpening. It has already started, but far sharper developments are awaiting. With the assembly elections in different states, these contradictions are hotting up. As the contradiction will develop, more skeletons like scam on 2G spectrum, from cupboard will be unearthed. Each imperialist power will try its best to put its adverseries to the mat.
Such development of contradictions amongst the ruling cliques will surely be advantageous for the people to strengthen themselves for a total change in the structure of the Indian state, to put an end with this semi-colonial semi-feudal state. The proletariat will have to unite itself and its allies to get ready for the final battle.
No comments:
Post a Comment