This post is from my message I posted in one of news groups, I am a part of:
I remember an old book published in 90s, by none other than Mr. MP.Veerendrakumar former MP and Mathrubhumi's Manging director.
"GATT- um Kaanaa charadukalum" (Means GATT and hidden strings )
It was the time when discussions were ongoing about India signing GATT( general agreement on Trade and tariff) And about free trading agreements. Discussions were held how to allow easy trade og goods and services across boarders which were otherwise too restrictive.
It was a time, when almost all of the nation was opposing India signing as a party, forget that, even discussing these points in any international forum..Almost all intellectuals and knowledgeable persons predicted doomsday for the country, They feared that the colonial powers would soon eat up India and that the once again the Indian markets will be flooded with foreign goods and the Indian manufacturers and producer would not be able to match up.
The reasoning behind all these arguments were so logical and appealing that very few doubted that opening of the economy would make India a begging bowl after a few years.
It is another matter that the same Veerendra kumar became Minister of state for commerce an year later and then participated the GATT meetings and signed the agreements - But he is a politician- who somersaults without an iota of shame. Not withstanding the awards he got for this book and the intellectual exercise he carried out in that.
But it was when, ultimately, the foreign debt mounting and India on the verge of a economical bankruptcy, the IMF agent turned finance minister Manmohan Sigh took a decision with the support of a powerful prime minister of that time - To open up the doors and for allowing many a protected business to be done partnering forigeners be as partners or as customers.
While this increased the number of jobs and new avenues..And ten years later most indians believe that they are already a super power( a far fetched imagination though) which they wouldnt have ever said 15 years back.
Now many would see Aussie cricketers queuing up after india cricket money..And Many would dare to call Aussies names for sledging Indian players of an emerging India.. the new found assertiveness has much do with what happeend over last 15 years since we opened the door.
At the same time, with the increased financial mussle and assertiveness, India has become the mouth piece of the developing world against the developed in the latest round of trade talks. Any proposal which is seen unfair to the interest of India and developing world is strongly rejected and shot down..India has amassed its power to do that and that power has come because we opened our doors and we grew stronger .
To make a long story short, to protect our interests we have to make ourselves strong..The opening up of the economy has made India strong and its voice is heard now, so that it can now protect its interest be it in trades or in cricket. If we remained as a idealistically socialistic economy with an aversion to capital markets we wouldn't have achieved this. Now we can protect our farmers better that Nehru has ever imagined.
Look at yesterday's Budget and we have an interesting perspective
Now,Mr Chidambaram ,the admirable articulate and statesman like finance minister of India,can boldly write off the loans of farmers to the tune of 50000 crores because Indian tax payers have enough income now to support it..And this income has come from new found jobs and business (read IT- telecoms_ infrastructure etc.. which is post 1990 scenario
This is not to say that everything is hunky dori with our agriculture sector. Our farmers are still not finding regular sources of income. Our state of agricultural planning is abysmal at the village level, and the landless laborers are still exploited unscrupulously.The economic benefit of the growth have not trickled down to the poor and needy and still limited to a urban India and its illusions
But this can be sorted out by effective planning-Sure, the much talked about decentralization of power has done literally nothing.I am still a votary for centralized planning, You can not expect effective, corruption-free spending just because your local bodies are budgeted with lots of cash. Especially when the monitoring and auditing of such spending happening at the village level is effectively impossible and hence the money would find its way to the pockets of the village chiefs and associates.Ultimately to make effective development happen at the village level, a macro level planning is a must.
Major problems the farmers are facing now is about finding market for their produce. The cost of transportation of the farm goods to its major market(urban) is currently high and far exceeds the margin of profit. What is required is well networked channels to move the goods from farms to the markets there by enabling the farmers to leverage on better margins especially on perishable commodities.This infrastructure development has to happen for any kind of up liftment to be made possible in rural India .And the investment for the infrastructure can only come from tax payers money of an emerging India.
So the emerging India with lots of disposable and taxable income can make this possible.But then for that we need to make sure India really has the ability to sustain its growth, and needless to say power the basic and most important constituent of it.No growth possible without power.So, let us not stop deals that will help us to generate more and more power
So if we need a developed India, we need to have developed rural india, Now for that we need roads,for that Govt need money, for that tax payer has to pay the taxes.for that we need to more taxable income ,for that we need industries, for that we need power and for that we need nuclear fuel among other sources, and for that 123 agreement is a big help
To repeat,during early ninetees many feared that after liberalization India would become subservient and would lose its sovereignty. Instead we have become more assertive and more recognized (and even feared!!!) across the world.
It may be understood that, Indian scientists ( if there are still some) can continue their research of nuclear technology without any issues even after 123 deal is inked. However they cant use the newly imported technology for their research..But that is fine I think, anyway we wouldn't have it now, So by signing to the agreement our research remains uninterrupted.It is another matter that..Americans are also hinting that make use of this opportunity get technology from other now under this pretext and later use it secretly..as they consider India as a potential alley in future bound by the opposition from same kind of forces, which is anyway inevitable
Once Indian financial muzzle goes up, the technology you got via the deal can even be put to use for your research as it happens in every other country and it is a common knowledge (It is another matter that many of the self developed technology are in fact obtained via not so formal and legal channels -)
We have to get out of the mindset that we can be always controlled and hoodwinked by other big powers..We know now that we are too big a country and a potential economic power to be treated like that. granted that our colonial hang over make us feel victimized and exploited and we tend to stretch this fact of the past to our future, which is a great mistake.It is time to get out of this mindset
Now, when we discuss about the nuclear power in the same way we discussed about liberalization a few decades back..well it means we haven't learned anything yet..And I hope it wont require a energy crisis to wake up the Indian state to act just the way did in 1990s..Humans have the ability to learn from their mistakes..Let us use it for a change!!
