India’s UN hyperbole is a joke
Hyperbole is an art form that is as ancient as Aristotle’s discussion of the alazon. It is a rhetorical device of immense use to governments to amplify achievements and bolster self-esteem in front of the domestic audience. The South Block just took it out of the armory. South Block has projected the
‘UNGA [United Nations General Assembly] decision on Security Council reform’ with a shot of hyperbole. The government just stopped of claiming credit for it but hinted at its expectation that India would be home and dry as a permanent member of the UN Security Council by the time the 70th Session of the UNGA gets over.
These are sad times when nothing much is happening in India’s foreign policy to brag about – except, perhaps, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Madison Square Garden-style
banga banga parties abroad. (Another one is due in Silicon Valley in California.)
The gap between illusion and reality cannot be any bigger. The Security Council reform is a long haul and may not become reality for a foreseeable future. The established veto-holding members have no interest in sharing their prerogative to sit at the high table and decide on issues affecting international security. The claimants are far too many and a common acceptable yardstick seems virtually impossible to evolve.
And, to cap it, the United States recently put it in writing that it not only disfavors the new inductees being given veto power (in addition to the 5 already holding it) but is also opposed to the concept of regional representation and will weigh each claimant on merit – plainly speaking, it will decide who is eligible to join an expanded Security Council (and who is not) in terms of the utility of that country to America’s global diplomacy and strategies. It is improbable that in the current climate of big-power politics a consensus built around the superpower’s insistence can be reached.
However, the government has come under compulsion to indulge in some outlandish hyperbole, by projecting a vastly exaggerated notion that it is hopeful of ‘securing concrete outcomes’ on the issue in the UN GA session that began yesterday. If
media reports are to be believed, our prime minister will be in New York but won’t address the UNGA. Now, do you think our prime minister is the sort of politician who will miss India’s moment, if there is really one coming round the corner?
The prime minister is not known to be someone who shares power and the glory. Yet, he will attend the Sustainable Development Summit 2015 in New York (September-25-27) but will apparently skip the UN GA session and leave it to the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to represent India.
But then, what is the government’s compulsion to indulge in such antics to exaggerate the dynamics of the UN Security Council reform? From all indications, this is a cover-up operation aimed at putting a gloss over the embarrassing diplomatic setback that India may have suffered to its hopes of putting its hat in the ring for the election to the ‘Asian seat’ in the UN Security Council that is falling vacant in 2016.
There are already two contestants for the Asian seat – Kazakhstan and Thailand. India’s best hope probably would have been to persuade Kazakhstan (which Modi visited recently) to stand down and to give way for India’s candidacy. But Kazakhstan sees no reason to sacrifice its national interests, since its campaign has already picked momentum. It is assured of support from Russia and China and other countries on the Eurasian landmass. The 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference has announced its
support for Kazakhstan’s candidature. The robust backing by Saudi Arabia has lined up the GCC support as well.
Unsurprisingly, the international community may regard Kazakhstan’s credentials to be more impressive than India’s. True Kazakhstan’s population may be just about 20 million (as against India’s 1200 million) but it is a very active player in the regional and global arena. Read the
Kazakh foreign ministry website, here, detailing the country’s strong claim to be represented in the UN Security Council. It will put South Block to shame.
Isn’t the Modi government wasting the talent and potential of Indian diplomacy by directing the South Block to focus on the propagation of Hindi language and yoga as the priority areas of our foreign policy? The time has come to ask some hard questions as to what are the gains of the present government’s foreign policies so far. To the uninitiated, our prime minister’s frequent travels abroad may seem synonymous with an active foreign policy. But in reality they turn out to be ‘sound and fury signifying nothing’.
The saddest part is that our government doesn’t even realize that India’s future membership of the UN Security Council is very much linked to the climate of its relations with its two major neighbors – Pakistan and China. Yet, only last week, Pakistan National Command Authority met
to review operational readiness to use the “country’s strategic assets” (read nuclear weapons) in a war with India.
The Chinese Communist Party tabloid
Global Times alleged only two days ago that the Indian military establishment and the media “have formed an information chain” to vitiate the climate of Sino-Indian relations. Now, it is common sense that the highly professional Indian military will never act like a rogue elephant. (Wouldn’t the Chinese also know it?) So, what is happening?
The Modi government seems incapable of realizing that India needs the goodwill of all countries – especially two major nuclear powers in the Asian region such as China and Pakistan – to advance its case for the UN Security Council membership. China and Pakistan’s goodwill would strengthen India’s case, while their passivity or opposition could work as ‘spoiler’.
Hyperbole is no substitute for hard work. But, for Indian diplomats to work hard and deliver, they need political guidance. And for that to happen, a visionary leadership is needed.
Posted in
Diplomacy.
Tagged with
India-China,
Kashmir problem,
UN reform.
By
M K Bhadrakumar – September 16, 2015
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2015/09/16/indias-un-hyperbole-is-a-joke/