Prof (Dr.) D K Giri
Another year is passing. We await the New Year with hope as well as anxiety, as the world is going through turbulent times. Philosophical speaking, it is the order of the life, full of ups and downs, happiness and sorrow, peace and war. The last cycle of international life (peace and war) is under interrogation as Prime Minister Narendra Modi profoundly said while mildly chiding the Russian President Vladimir Putin last year during Shanghai Cooperation Summit at Samarkand, that “it is no time for war”. The United Nations was created after the Second World War to prevent further wars.
However, the world community has failed in preventing full-scale wars in addition to several armed skirmishes and clashes. The horrifying war in Ukraine continues unabated causing horrendous loss of lives, properties and resources. The war that started last year lingers on defying diplomacy and the political acuity of world leaders. Apparently, the Ukrainian war at present is stalemated as Russia seems to tire out and Ukraine running out of support from the West. Until there is some kind of truce, the war can intensify at any stage as the resources or resolve on either side are reinforced.
If Ukrainian war was not enough for the world community to address the disruptions in economy and politics, another violent war erupted in the Middle-East between Israel and Hamas. This was quite unexpected. Israel and Palestine were living in peace and some kind of co-existence since the conflict began over seven decades ago. However, terrorism as a method of conflict resolution is still lurking around. This is completely illegitimate and unacceptable. India, as a victim of cross-border terrorism has been raising the issue of eliminating the scourge of terrorism from world politics. But, because of dubious policies of quite a few countries terrorism persists.
Israel became a victim of cruel and sadistic attacks by Palestinian terrorist groups namely Hamas on 7 October this year suffering hundreds of deaths and hostages. Shocked and surprised, Israel vowed to retaliate with all its might with two war objectives – to eliminate the military capacity of Hamas so that they are incapable of repeating such attacks on Israel, second, to free all the hostages taken by Hamas. Consequently, from October, Israel and Hamas are engaged in a deadly combat with heavy casualties. According to the reports available, over 20 thousand civilians in Palestine have been killed and over hundred soldiers from Israeli side. Israel is facing assaults from Hezbollahs in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen. According to the Israel military, the war is likely to continue for months.
Again, the world leaders have miserably failed in bringing about a lasting ceasefire, let alone the end of the war. In dealing with the current war, the commentators are going back to the origin of conflict and are caught in victim-aggressor-victim cycle. In this war, both Israel and Hamas have become aggressors as well as victims. If the focus would have been on 7th October and the consequent reactions, it could be easier to resolve. While calling out Israel on the massive retaliation causing heavy casualties amounting to genocide, the commentators go back in time instead of stressing on the terrorist attack by Hamas which gave the ground for Israel for ‘self-defence’.
Recalling the brighter side of India and its interactions with the world, we had an amazingly successful G-20 Summit in Delhi. It came up roses inasmuch as there was a consensus statement by the world leaders despite a divided opinion on Ukrainian war. However, it happened, Indian leadership was credited with successful negotiation across the countries. The entire canvass of India’s politics and economy in all sectors – local governments, social sector, art and heritage, small-scale innovations were all exposed with the world community in the run-up to the Summit spanning over the year.
This year, India became the fifth largest economy in the world. That is some achievement to shout about as India’s growth has been constantly low in the 70s and 80s at 3 per cent which was queerly called ‘Hindu rate of growth’ by an eminent economist, Prof. Raj Krishna. The economic planners resolved to expedite the economic growth which is promised to be over 5 trillion by the end of this decade to be the third largest in the world. However, the prosperity of the country is measured by per capita GDP not the country’s GDP alone. In that sense, disappointingly, India has the lowest per capital GDP among all G-20 members.
At the same time, India became the most populous country in the world surpassing China. This is again a distinction India could claim provided it uses the demographic dividend intelligently and strategically. Prime Minister Modi, in an article, articulated the strength of India in terms of four Ds – democracy, demography, development and diversity. So, India’s population, mainly its large segment of youth population, could be harnessed in India and abroad. India’s foreign policy could strategise on population redistribution, facilitating the migration of skilled manpower to various countries. The European countries, namely Italy, Portugal and Germany are open to receiving India’s work force.
There were two unsavoury incidents involving India and Canada and India and the USA. In both the cases, two Sikhs of Indian origin having accepted the citizenship of Canada and USA, were plotting violent attacks on Indian agencies. One of them, Hardeep Singh Nijjar with dual citizenship of India and Canada, was murdered in Canada. The Canadian Prime Minister accused Indian agencies being behind his death. An avoidable diplomatic row erupted. Similarly, the US citizen Gurpatwant Pannu, who called for boycott and violence against Air India, was targeted causing the US to point a finger at Indian intelligence agencies. The sharing of evidence etc. is on between relevant authorities in India and the US.
On the side of caution, it is to be noted that once again the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has asked for 17 countries, including India, to be put as ‘countries of particular concern’. This is about lack of religious freedom in those countries. In case of India, it is the minorities which are being harassed and hounded by the religious vigilantes from the majority religion. This is certainly a matter of concern for a country like India, which has been famous across the world for religious tolerance and accommodation. Remember, Prime Minister Modi spoke in Israel with a great sense of pride that no Jew suffered from anti-Semitism in India. India is one of the few countries in the world with a secular Constitution.
Likewise, India ranked low in the ranking of three democracy watchdogs – Freedom House, V-Dem and Economist Intelligence Unit. One may quarrel with their process of measurement of democracies, but should we be completely dismissive of such concerns! When India is aspiring, may be rightly so, to be a Vishwa Guru because of its unique spirituality and culture, any blemish on India’s politics and society should be addressed. The World Happiness Report 2023 shows India on 126th position out of 137 countries despite it being the fifth largest economy. Is this not something to address in 2024 and beyond? (INFA)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
