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Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Shashi Tharoor for UN Top Job - Does it matter to India's Strategic Interests ? There is pride and honour in hosting the Olympics too but it means little by way of strategic advantage, so the real question however is - should the Indian establishment be getting carried away by the euphoria and feel good factor of such a development. Some of the Indian news reports have speculated on why India's ambitions to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council could hurt Shashi Tharoor's chances. Somewhere between an unfulfilled ambition to a high seat on the Security Council and a naive hope of an Indian at the World's top Diplomatic post, the Indian establishment has perhaps lost sight of the strategic factor. To what extent does the United Nations matter to India's strategic interests ? The United Nations continues to play an important humanitarian role in the world in many areas from peace keeping to Anti-AIDS campaigns to childrens issues. However the recent spate of scandals have eroded the UN's moral standing on many fronts. The UN Security Council, that exalted body that many Indian's have foolishly pinned their hopes on, has been paralyzed from timely action on a number of occassions with the general divergence of strategic interests of the permanent members on resolving global conflicts from Iran to Darfur. Debate on reforms at the United Nations has been ongoing for some time now with little by way of tangible progress. Some recent absurd developments like Cuba being elected to the newly constituted Human Rights organization and the U.S. keeping out of it highlight the underlying contradictions in the UN's attempt to becoming the high priest of global morality. A dose of realism is in order when it comes to India's attitude to the United Nations. It may be worthwhile to examine closely how the United States has changed in its attitude towards the United Nations. Over the last decade the United States Congress has increasingly become skeptical over the track record of the United Nations. Case in point was the United States Senate sometime ago holding back on its contributions to the UN. The general attitude of the UN General Assembly to issues dear to the U.S. have not helped either. The developments in the run-up to the constitution of the recent Human Rights organization that saw known U.S.antagonists with highly suspect track records on human rights elected to the body were further validation of the extent to which the UN had diverged from the strategic interests of the USA. That apart at the core of current U.S. cyncism on the relevance of the United Nations is its fundamental character - which is that of an International Bureuacracy with little accountability. The recent spate of scandals have only confirmed this. Closer home, the UN's track record on issues strategic to India has hardly been comforting. Pakistan still swears by United Nations resolutions on the Jammu Kashmir issue that it accuses India of not honouring. Does the permanent seat on the UN Security Council, on which India has staked a lot of diplomatic capital, really matter in addressing the strategic issues of Jammu & Kashmir, the spread of Islamic Terrorism from Pakistan throughout South Asia, India's energy security, India's access to nuclear technology and leverage for India in International Trade Agreements. The truth is neither a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council nor a UN Secretary General of Indian Origin will matter little when it comes to any of these issues. There has been little debate in the political realm on how much importance should India give to the United Nations. The Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury Communist phalanx continues to fall head over heels in reminding us of the need for the United Nations on issues of no consequence to India's strategic interests, The Congress is not exactly known for its strategic thinking, with the fossilized brain of Natwar Singh that swears by Non-Alignment, heading the foreign ministry until the Volcker scandal broke out. For a brief while with Manmohan Singh taking charge of the nation's Foreign Affairs and setting the ball rolling on the Indo-US Nuke deal it looked like there was some hope until events on the political front and his madam's inner voice got ahead of the poor doctor's prescriptions for India. The BJP, the party of the right, the self professed guardian of India's strategic interests seems to have lulled itself into an intellectually insipid state. While the political scene is increasingly playing out to a script authored by the Communists who having appropriated the mantle of Opposition are busy putting into reality their dream of cobbling up a 3rd front, the BJP has been on the defensive on every issue from the Mahajan saga to the RSS editorial on its stance on the Oil Price Hike. There is a need for bold and fresh thinking from the Indian Right on issues strategic and dear to India and its attitude towards the future of the UN. Tough questions need to be asked on what kind of diplomatic capital will India end up spending in ensuring a Shashi Tharoor lead United Nations and how much of a difference would it make by way of strategic leverage to India. -- OffStumped For All Things Right of Center, Bringing a Right of Centre Reality Check to Indian Politics, News Media Reporting and Opinion through Blogs and Podcasts. -- Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Yossarin at 8:47 PM |
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