[PEN-L:11185] Re: India's International Independence

["Anthony P D'Costa" <ecsadc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

India has had a certain amount of autonomy during the Cold War era but
would have had considerably more if it had played its cards right.  It
still does.  Recall the CTBT accord which India has not signed yet
although no effort has been spared into pressuring India.

I should also add that Indians tend to be very "touchy" about
criticisms of India, especially wrt US policy.  There has always been an
anti-Americanism (witness the far less anti-Britishness) because of
meddling in regional politics.  US arrogance wrt India is pronounced
because India is one of the poorest countries, a recipient of
international aid, and yet votes against the US in most UN resolutions!


On Mon, 7 Jul 1997, James Devine wrote:

> Jim Craven writes:>>the notion that the governments of India have been in
> any position to leverage U.S. vs USSR rivalries for the benefit of India is
> simply not in accordance with the known historical facts. <<
>
> I was reporting what is commonly said about India's status in the context
> of the cold war, but I am perfectly willing to be corrected. It seems to
> me, however, that India's ability to co-found the "Non-Aligned Movement"
> and to engage in a certain amount of economic planning indicates that it
> had a certain autonomy during that era, despite the US success in messing
> with its policies. Currently, if I am not mistaken, India is pursuing the
> free-market uber alles strategy pushed by the US/World Bank/IMF axis.
>
> Jim Devine   jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Jim_devine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "A society is rich when material goods, including capital,
> are cheap, and human beings dear."  -- R.H. Tawney.

That India's free-market policies are being externally orchestrated cannot
be supported.  There is a long history of IMF aid to India, starting with
Mrs. Gandhi.  She borrowed a huge amount of money to reduce her dependence
on domestic political support.  Domestic politics has been critical to
India's outward orientation.  Yes, today the IMF/WB are pushing for
reforms (and honestly India does need reforms although not the recipe
approach) but they are also being engineered internally.  The same
bureaucracy that managed India's state controlled economy is today trying
to introduce privatization, etc.  This needs to be investigated.  There is
also a sizeable middle class, a class that has no interest in maintaining
the state sector (even if a many of them benefited from it) and many of
the middle class members have global connections, through education,
trade, skills, capital, etc.  In other words, some major social changes
are under way that are also reponsible for pulling in economic reforms.

Cheers, Anthony D'Costa