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Why scaling up of Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) is a good strategy for India

Dr Shekhar Tankhiwale
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Why scaling up of Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) is a good strategy for India

Two seemingly routine yet strategically very important announcements came from the Govt in the last fortnight. First, in his budget speech in parliament Finance Minister Arun Jaitley proposed setting up of two additional  Strategic Petroleum Reserves [1] namely Chandikhol in Orissa and Bikaner in Rajasthan, which would augment India’s crude oil storage capacity from current 5 million metric tons (MMT) to 15 MMT and second, India- UAE agreement following the state visit of Prime Minister Modi to Gulf nations [2] in which Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) agreed to invest $400 million by way of storing about 6 million barrels of oil at India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) facility at Mangalore, taking up about half of the site’s capacity of 1.5 MMT.

At the root of both these important announcements is India’s keen desire to quickly scale up its much-delayed strategic crude oil storage capacity to not only secure its energy supplies but also to match its eastern adversary China, who has rapidly moved forward on this path in last decade and built some massive storage capacities next only to USA and worst still is now increasingly positioning itself to maneuvere international crude oil prices to its advantage. Why it is so important for India to invest in scaling SPRs now when the world and indeed India too seem to be moving towards solar and other renewable forms of energy? The answer lies in the fact that despite huge renewable focus that India has, it would still need to rely on fossil fuels for a foreseeable future. India is the 3rd largest importer of oil in the world today. India imports 80% of all its crude oil needs and likely to spend $90 billion by March 2018 on its oil import bill. Given this, it is absolutely critical for India to ensure its energy security.

Back in early seventies United States built its first strategic crude oil reserve following an oil embargo imposed by Arab petroleum exporting countries on US and few other nations who were perceived to be supporting Israel in Yom Kippur war. This resulted in four-fold rise in oil prices from US$3 per barrel to US$12 per barrel [3]. US SPR was specifically aimed at protecting domestic economy from oil shocks in future due to supply disruptions. Over the years US has built the biggest strategic oil reserves (sand and rock caverns) in the world which can store 700 million barrels of oil [4] which annually takes approximately US$200 mn to maintain it. China is the second largest SPR holder with installed capacity of 70 MMT (approximately 500 million barrels). Although in case of China due to lack of authentic official information the SPR capacity is bit speculative. Japan, South Korea and Spain are the next three countries in terms of SPR capacity [5] however it is China’s determined effort of rapid storage capacity build-up in last decade or so should worry India more now. This storage is equivalent to 100 days of consumption at normal rates vis-à-vis India’s current storage capacity which is equivalent to 10 days of consumption at normal rate.

China started thinking about SPR in 1993 although the actual construction of the first four SPR projects with a capacity of about 100 million barrels commenced only in 2004. On the contrary, following the Gulf war in early nineties which posed a serious supply chain disruption challenge, India started thinking about developing strategic oil reserves in 1998 when Prime Minister A.B Vajpayee mooted the idea of Strategic Petroleum reserves and formed a company in 2004 to oversee the implementation of SPR. The Govt had then decided to set up 5 million metric tons (MMT) of strategic crude oil storages at three locations namely, Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur (near Udupi) in India to cater for 10 days of oil requirements. By 2004, India and China were at the same level as far as the strategic storage capacity build up was concerned. It was in the decade that followed that China took a huge leap forward and created a capacity of 70 MMT, while India remained mired in indecisiveness at the Govt level and tardy progress on the implementation. By 2009, all of China’s Phase 1 SPR projects were in operation, containing about two weeks supply of oil. India was clearly seen lagging in implementation and India’s first phase of SPR was commissioned only in 2014-15 and the crude filling started thereafter in 2015. India has now set up a target of building 90 days equivalent of crude oil reserves by 2020.

To construct and manage the Strategic Crude Oil Storage facilities, Government of India formed a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) [6], which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The ownership of crude in SPR rests with the ISPRL and not with the Public-Sector oil companies.

India’s hitherto commissioned strategic storages of 5 MMT is expected to serve multiple objectives such as (I) serve as a cushion during any external supply disruptions like in gulf war e.g. IS occupation of oil supplier nation (ii) help manage oil prices in the domestic markets by regulating (drawdown) the supply from SPR, in case the international crude prices shoot up significantly like in 2012 when the crude oil prices had shot up to more than US$100 per barrel level (iii) to ensure energy security of India and sustained economic progress.

Besides these, countries have been leveraging SPRs in very many ways and these would certainly present a few lessons for India from the policy and governance perspective. For example, Obama in 2011 released 30 million barrels [7] from the American SPR into the market, ostensibly under the pretext of loss of Libyan crude to the global market, but in reality, for the domestic political reasons and to drive oil prices down. Trump administration recently made its intent public to make non-emergency sell of half of strategic oil reserves to reduce federal deficit by $16.6 billion [8]. In the past SPR assets have been sold off to meet financing needs of Highway Trust Fund. After its success with shale oil, US doesn’t need to maintain huge oil reserves and given the cost of maintenance it is trying to optimism the quantum stored in SPR. US has also used strategic reserves during natural calamity situations e.g. in 2005 hurricane Katrina caused massive damage to oil production facilities, pipelines etc. in Gulf of Mexico [9].

Given these and to avoid politicization of the decisions relating to SPR filling up, hold and draw down, pricing etc. as is being seen in US, India should set up an independent regulatory body SPR Regulatory Board to oversee the governance of all aspects of strategic petroleum reserves.  Currently an Empowered Committee constituted by the Government of India under Ministry of Petroleum has been mandated to release the crude from the reserves in the event of any supply disruptions from abroad or natural calamity etc. Since release or hold of strategic oil reserves has multi-dimensional impacts ranging from monetary to fiscal to current account, this is a good case to be brought under the ambit of comprehensive regulation.

Why India Needs to Scale Up SPR Quickly?

Strategic stake sale in Public Sector Undertakings though a good economic idea has always been mired in political controversies in India. Various governments have attempted disinvestment since 1991, but with a limited success. The biggest success so-far has been under the NDA government of 1999-2004, when PSUs like Maruti, VSNL, IPCL and IBP were privatized. It is hard to argue against the economic rationale for privatization. With higher expenditure plans for sectors including agriculture, health and education, Govt of India will have to continue to depend heavily on revenue from stake sales in public sector units. The stake sale in PSU besides being an arduous process is also fraught with market as well as political uncertainties. Alternately India can look at judiciously leveraging scaled up SPRs for financing the social sector schemes a la Modicare. This will provide the Govt with much needed freedom and flexibility to raise necessary funding for its social sector schemes

Given its geo-political location between suppliers on the west and the consumers on the east, an interesting opportunity for India would be to act as an oil storage hub for southeast and east Asian countries. This would require India to continue to plan its investments in hydrocarbon value chain and pipeline network with a view to minimize response time and construction cost. This would also mean planning for storage capacity beyond IEA mandated 90 days equivalent of normal domestic requirements. The recent agreement between ADNOC and ISPRL where ADNOC has been permitted to take storage capacity in India worth $400mn is a step in the right direction

China having built a huge SPR of 75 MMT storage has started actively leveraging its might to control crude oil prices in the international market and act as a balancing power to OECD countries. Although in 2017 China’s oil imports went up by more than 10% primarily for filing up the storage capacities but in coming years, China is likely to taper its oil imports since its reaching its storage capacity. Any reduction in China’s short-term crude oil import demand could lead to glut situation in the world market leading to fall in crude oil prices. Thus, SPR presents China with a huge bargaining power with OPEC countries. To ensure balance of power in the international oil market, India along with its partners like Japan must act in tandem to guard their strategic interests. This necessitates India to invest in scaling its storage capacity that can be leveraged.

Thus, by scaling its SPR India can gain both economically and politically by protecting itself against any future oil embargo while offering an opportunity to oil producing countries to leverage India’s geo-political location for improving their footprints in Southeast and East Asian countries in a much more economical way.

References: –

[1] Budget proposal about two additional strategic reserves https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/oil-and-gas/government-to-build-two-strategic-crude-oil-storages-in-odisha-rajasthan/56919410

[2] Press Information Bureau, http://www.pib.nic.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1520423

[3] Oil shock https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis

[4] US Strategic Petroleum Reserves https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_stoc_typ_d_nus_SAS_mbbl_m.htm

[5] Top five SPR capacity holder nations https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-5-Biggest-Strategic-Petroleum-Reserves-In-The-World.html

[6] Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd http://www.isprlindia.com/

[7] Obama drawdown from SPR https://www.forbes.com/2011/06/27/strategic-petroleum-reserve.html#24571d342183

[8] SPR for reducing federal deficit https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/22/trump-seeks-to-sell-off-half-of-the-strategic-petroleum-reserve/?utm_term=.44f30e3a7a9fhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/05/22/trump-seeks-to-sell-off-half-of-the-strategic-petroleum-reserve/?utm_term=.44f30e3a7a9f

[9] SPR draw down during hurricane Katrina https://energy.gov/fe/services/petroleum-reserves/strategic-petroleum-reserve/releasing-oil-spr#2005Katrina

Liberal contradictions

mrudulalele
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Liberal contradictions

Some strange contradictions are observed in the belief systems of human species called ‘Left Liberals’. Let’s have a look.

Species found globally:

Liberal me: All I ask from family and society is a very basic expectation of personal freedom of choice.

Also me: Government knows what is best for the society and it should have proper rules and regulations to control it.

Liberal me: I am independent and I can take care of myself.

Also me: Of course, it is my fundamental right to depend on Government to provide “free” education, healthcare and social security.

Liberal me: Today’s Germans should not be blamed for Hitler’s crimes (everyone agrees!)

Also me: America and specifically white Americans are still responsible for slavery! (Everyone is confused!)

Liberal me: Feminism is freedom for women to choose what they want to wear, work in whatever field they want and be who they want to be.

Also me: Hijab IS the new symbol of freedom and choice, duhhh keep up!

Species found in India:

Liberal me: Name calling is bad and frankly so unsophisticated!

Also me: Modi is such a bigot, fascist, Hindu nationalist and hardcore fundamentalist; I can’t even imagine how India will survive in his saffron terror reign.

Liberal me: There is a wide and clear distinction between Patriotism and Nationalism and I am a Patriot.

Also me: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islamism, Christianity and Judaism all are same and I am an atheist.

Liberal me: There is no room for narrow thinking like ‘we are Indians’ in this age, we are global citizens.

Also me: Modi is such a Dehati, what is the need of Sanskrit quotes like ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ n all in his UN speech, so embarrassing!

Liberal me: How dare Ram abandon Sita while she was pregnant with his kids under the name of a king’s duty? How can anyone pray to such misogynist, male chauvinist, so called God?

Also me: Ram was just fulfilling his duty as a husband to get Sita back, so what if he had to walk miles and build a bridge across ocean to reach Lanka, fight and kill Ravana with an army of tribal? And of course he should not have married another woman after he abandoned Sita even though his king’s duty asked him to, it’s the only justice to Sita, there’s no love there, period!

Hindu scriptures have been a scapegoat for the socially constructed caste

Rohan
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Hindu scriptures have been a scapegoat for the socially constructed caste

Being a Hindu and a still modern, rational student of the 21st century, who interacts with people from all communities and cultures on a day to day basis, what is my stance on the caste system? Will I go to the extent of defending the injustices? Will I try and justify oppression of millions?

Short answer? No.

Yet, if you would like the long answer, don’t worry, for I will be exploring why I follow Hinduism despite there being many instances of oppression in its name. But before that, I would like to answer an important question: why this issue on ‘caste’ all of a sudden.

There are two reasons. The first reason is that, in one of my articles, I expressed my stance on Caste and Varnas but didn’t offer as much analysis on it because the main focus of the article was on something else. This seems to have made some people believe that I deliberately avoided the topic because my arguments were ‘shallow’ or because I was taking a biased stance. This is one example of the sort of opinions I got on the caste system-

The second reason that I write about the caste system is because I notice that people believe that true Hinduism is a religion that inherently contains the caste system. A few even say that it has “no place in modern India” and go to the extent of talking of the nation’s future after Hinduism, the likes of whom the media pays a lot of attention to. Kancha Ilaiah for example has written books such as, “Why I am not a Hindu”, “Post-Hindu India” and “The Untouchable God”.

In Ilaiah’s 146 page book, Why I am not a Hindu, there are 403 references to the word “caste” and 606 references to the word “Dalit”. It means something, if a book that is a (proclaimed) “refutation of Hinduism” only talks about the caste system for a religion of such depth.

In other words, there is only one argument that these books really contain within them. And that is about the “caste divide” that supposedly lies in Hinduism.

And of course, there is nothing meaty in anything he argues about but that does not stop the media. People like him, are given far more importance than they deserve, by getting invited to conclaves, shows and TV debates. They sadly even manage to convince many unaware Hindus and Indians by pretending to be very informed about the religion and catching the ordinary person off guard. Therefore, their lofty claims deserve a response from a rational perspective. Let us give them that response.

I would like to begin by analyzing the Hindu scriptures. Because in my firm opinion, the best way to judge the rationale of a religion is to go by its scriptures, not by its followers. The reason I say so (as do many scholars of religion) is because often, practitioners of a religion may alter things in the scriptures to suit their convenience. But a scripture consists of the original teachings and the grounds of the religion. So, let’s check the Hindu scriptures for casteism, shall we?

Firstly, I wish to be very candid when I tell you how unjust the caste system was at its peak. Many wrongs were committed in the name of caste. There were ghastly incidents of discrimination. Although there is no concrete documented evidence to prove this, some say that sometimes hot wax was poured into the ears of people who were born Sudra, just because they happened to listen to the Vedas. Others say, that they were prohibited from entering temples and even chanting the Lord’s name. If these did take place, I have no hesitation in saying that those who committed it would be nothing but oppressors.

But, where do we draw the line when we attribute these injustices to Hinduism? This brings me to the next area of rebuttal: proving that these acts of injustice were a total misrepresentation of Hinduism. The first thing here, is proving that every single person was welcome to pray and chant God’s glories. One example of this is the Phalaśruti of the Vishnu Sahasranāma, (where the benefits of chanting are mentioned), it is openly stated:

“By chanting this, the Brahmana will get knowledge, The Kshatriya will get victory, the Vaisya will get wealth and The Shudra will get pleasures”. This obviously means that Shudras were only encouraged to pray and so, is there even a question of praying being impermissible for Shudras?

Also, it is clear that the caste discrimination was condemned in every segment of Hindu scriptures. In the Mahabharata Shanti Parva 188, there is an unequivocal mention by a sage named Bhrigu of there being no superior Varna, because every part of the universe is the work of an immense being. He also says there is no difference among Varnas. It occurred because of differentiation of work and qualities; duty and rites of passage are not forbidden to any of them. And frankly, I don’t think the writings could have made it any clearer that equal treatment was a necessity.

Now, I can already sense some skeptics raising eyebrows at me because of one card that has never failed them. You know what it is, don’t you?

Here is where I wish to address something key regarding this scripture that people cite all the time. There is strong evidence to prove the tampering of this one scripture by the likes of Sir William Jones and other self proclaimed “Sanskrit scholars”. The fact that in other scriptures like the Bhavishya Purana there is reference to people like Jesus Christ, Prophet Muhammad, Mughal rulers and even Queen Victoria, makes it obvious that a large amount of interference with Indian scriptures has taken place. But let’s be generous to the skeptics. Let us say, for sake of argument that the Manusmriti hasn’t been touched after so many years of colonisation and is in its purest form. Even then, a basic fact silences their argument. The precedence of the Manusmriti ended in the Dvapara Yuga. Smritis needs to be rewritten for every age based on the Vedas and Upanishads.

So, it is a totally different Smriti for Kali Yuga (the current time period) and thus, the Manu Smriti’s supposed discrimination is irrelevant and is not meant to be followed. But let’s not stop there and give the skeptics and the likes of Ilaiah, even more generosity. Let us even say that this book is relevant now. Even then, their argument on “discrimination” shall be taken down. Because it is this very Manusmriti (11.157) that unambiguously says, “Without studying scriptures, Vedas and the development of intellect, a brahmin by birth cannot be considered a brahmin”. This essentially means that only a practitioner of the Vedas and scriptures can be a Brahmin, not someone who is born into it. And the Vedas (that you are meant to practice as a Brahmin) say that among men there are no superiors or no inferiors, no middle ones either. They become great from small beginnings (Rig-5-59-6). And so, based on the Manusmriti, you need to follow the Vedas, which only propagate equal treatment. A Brahmin ceases to be Brahmin if he does not follow this.

To sum up the point, the only scripture that is quoted by skeptics is the Manusmriti, which has been tampered. If it has not been tampered, it is still irrelevant because of the basic cycle of Smritis. If it is somehow relevant, it reiterates the message of equality more than ever.

In conclusion, the purpose of this article has been to illustrate something that has been crystal clear since the beginning of the Vedic era; The original scriptures of Hinduism have only wished for equal treatment irrespective of birth and Varna. The biggest violation in Dharma took place when some ignorant, self proclaimed “Brahmins” turned a blind eye to every part of their own scriptures. But we should not let the Hinduphobes misrepresent the religion as a whole, just because of some discriminatory, hypocritical people who emerged as a blot on Hinduism. Such people want this blot to overshadow the real principles of equality that lie in its scriptures. We as informed people, must be able to battle the bigoted misinformers, to prove that the oppression came socially and was contradictory to the fundamentals of the religion. So, the next time you hear someone say “caste” and “Hinduism” in the same sentence, or see an Ilaiah get applauded in the India Today Conclave for attributing injustices to Hinduism, or see a child’s history textbook say “The Vedic social order predicated in inequality”, your job of stopping the delusions, begins.

References:

The World’s Religions- Huston Smith
The Bhagavad Gita Podcast- Michael Scherer
Why I am Not a Hindu- Kancha Ilaiah
The Huffington Post- The Caste System of the Hindu Society
Manu Smriti- Sir William Jones
Theme Picture- Kullabs

West Asia – A Glimpse into Jawaharlal Nehru’s ideas of Arab Nationalism

etee23
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West Asia – A Glimpse into Jawaharlal Nehru’s ideas of Arab Nationalism

As early as the 1920’s, Jawaharlal Nehru was the dominant voice in the Indian National Congress on matters of foreign policy. His attitude was essentially anti-imperialist and he supported Arab nationalism wherever it was manifest. Nehru was keenly aware of the importance of this part of Asia to the history of the world.

The decision to organise an Inter-Asian Relations Conference in India as early as 1947, was a good indication of the foreign policy Nehru was to pursue as Prime Minister. As the Prime Minister of independent India, Nehru always advocated the dismantling of the overseas empires and bringing Asia and Africa into the front rank of world politics. On the issue of West Asian defence alliances too, Nehru had always held clear views and wanted India’s position to be unambiguously spelt out.

Nehru was ever watchful of the developments in West Asia, and the West Asian crisis of 1958 elicited consistent statements from him in favour of Arab Nationalism. His observations, as we will see, also betrayed an acute understanding of the imperialist shenanigans in the region and the futility of armed groupings. The geographical area commonly known as the Middle East is situated along the western periphery of the Asian continent. The nomenclature ‘Middle East’, however, is somewhat redolent of Euro-Centrism. After all, the region can be termed ‘Middle East’ only when looked at from Europe.

As decolonisation progressed in Asia and the continent began to claim its rightful place under the sun, the Eurocentric name came to be replaced by “West Asia”. Nehru, however, seems to have preferred the nomenclature ‘West Asia’ to ‘Middle East’ much before the tide of decolonisation began to flow over the region. In the Glimpses of World History published in 1934, for example, the region is always alluded to as ‘West Asia’. In fact, the book makes it quite apparent that Nehru took a lively interest in the region. Besides delving at length into the region’s glorious history, Nehru extensively comments on the political situation in Syria, Palestine and Trans-Jordan and Iraq in the book.

Nehru, was keenly aware of the importance of this part of Asia to the history of the world. It was the chunk of geography which hyphenated three continents and their mingled pasts. The rise and fall of its empires had influenced the broad currents of history. Also, once the culture of West Asia had enlivened a moribund Europe. Nehru, the intellectual and the romanticist, thus, was endlessly fascinated by the region and this fascination definitely came to have a bearing on the foreign policy he adopted towards it as the Prime Minister of independent India.

Nehru’s Pro-Arabism

Earlier under Gandhi’s leadership, the Indian National Congress had striven to preserve the Ottoman Caliph’s jurisdiction over Arab lands including Palestine. However, once the Khilafat movement collapsed in India and the Turkish empire was dismembered by the imperialist powers, the west Asian situation dramatically changed.

Gandhi now tended to leave matters of foreign policy in the hands of Nehru who thus became the accepted voice of the Indian National Congress on international issues. Nehru, as President of the Indian National Congress in 1936 and 37, determined the organisation’s foreign policy and he steadfastly remained pro Arab throughout these years.

Nehru’s attitude was essentially anti-imperialist and he supported Arab nationalism wherever it was manifest. In his Presidential address at the 50th session of the INC at Faizpur in December 1936, he declared that “the Arab struggle against British Imperialism in Palestine is as much part of this great world conflict as India’s struggle for freedom.”

Zionism, according to Nehru was an imposition by British imperialism in Palestine. Nehru felt that the Arabs were as justified in being against the “mandatory system” and coalescing as “anti mandate” forces as the Indian National Congress was justified in standing up against British imperialism in India. Hence, Nehru’s pro Arabism was reflected in the vocabulary of all the resolutions passed by the Indian National Congress, the AICC and the Congress Working Committee during the years of his presidency.

Nehru’s sympathy for the Arab cause in Palestine was reflected in an article published by him in the National Herald on 18 December 1938. Nehru wrote that “Palestine is an Arab country and Arab interests must prevail there.” He further added, “the real conflict [in Palestine] is with British imperialism and this struggle, whatever its varying phases, is a national struggle for freedom. It is the misfortune of the Jews that they have aligned themselves with British imperialism. In doing so, they have not even shown practical wisdom for British imperialism has had its day and fades away before our eyes.”

Often, in his correspondence too, Nehru sympathised with the struggle for freedom in the Arab world. Many of his letters also provide proof that he closely followed the developments in Iraq around this time. Though Iraq had secured membership of the League of Nations in 1932, the British control over Iraq’s economic, political and strategic interests remained unchanged. The result of this was disorder in the country. The political landscape of Iraq was thus avowedly anti-west. The nationalist response to this western  imperialism in the form of the Baghdad Pact and economic, primarily oil interests, caused revolutionary anti-western sentiments to increase among the Iraqi population between 1948 (when the anti-British demonstrations against the unpopular Anglo-Iraqi Portsmouth Treaty caused the Iraqi parliament to reject the Treaty) and the 14th July coup in 1958.

Arab nationalism, however, was not an undifferentiated, monolithic whole. Advocated by Nuri-el-said and Abd-al-Karim Qasim, the leaders of the 14th July revolution, it differed from that of other Arab leaders. Another source of Arab disunity was Egyptian President Gamal Abd-al- Nasser’s dream of arrogating to Egypt a leading role in uniting the Arab world. The incompatible visions of Arab destiny set the stage for conflict and provided the imperialist powers a pretext to meddle in the affairs of the region.

The enthusiasm for Arab unity peaked in 1958 with the merger of Syria and Egypt as the United Arab Republic and the unification of the kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan as the Arab Federation. The already explosive situation was exacerbated by the Lebanese crisis and the American intervention in it. As this complicated mesh of events unfolded and was complicated further by the July revolution in Iraq in 1958. Throughout this, Nehru remained watchful and consistently made pronouncements decrying the imperialist shenanigans in the west Asian region.

Dr. Etee Bahadur is a faculty at Jamia Millia Islamia

How successful is Modi’s Middle East diplomacy turning out to be?

Rohit Dhyani
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How successful is Modi’s Middle East diplomacy turning out to be?

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently visited three Middle Eastern countries and now he is hosting the Iranian President in Delhi. Modi has been able to establish good relations with opponents of the Middle East.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani reached India on Thursday on a three-day tour. In this journey, he will try to push the billions of energy and infrastructure related deal to the billions of dollars between the two countries, including modernisation of Chabahar Port of Iran.

According to information given by the Iranian government, Rohani will first go to Hyderabad where he will meet Muslim scholars and visit many religious and cultural sites. On Saturday, he will be in Delhi, where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On this occasion both the businessmen of the two countries will also meet together.

Iran wants India to invest in projects related to its petrochemical plants, railways and industrial development. In Iran, there is concern about the fact that the United States can repeal the 2016 nuclear deal again and impose stringent economic sanctions against it, thereby putting pressure on their investors and projects.

India is one of the key buyers of Iranian oil. From 2012 to 2016, when the US and European Union had established sanctions against Iran, it was India who kept on buying from it. Prime Minister Modi visited Iran in 2016 and promised to invest $500 million in the project related to the development of Chabahar Port.

Modi has signed six agreements with Palestinian Authority and agreed to help and invest in $50 million in Palestinian territories. With this money there is a plan to open a hospital and educational institution. After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Modi said, “I once again assure President Abbas that India is tied to the promise of taking care of the interests of the Palestinian people.”

Some observers believe that the visit of the Prime Minister Palestinian areas to balance the growing defense and economic ties with Israel. India has long been committed to the creation of a separate Palestinian nation and has recognized Palestine as a country since 1988.

Modi, who is strengthening relations with Iran, has recently returned from a trip to the three Middle East countries. In addition to the Palestinian territories, he also went to Oman and UAE. Earlier, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured India for six days. Modi’s diplomatic negotiations show that he is able to take advantage of the neutral stance in the Middle East region so that he can get the best results from Indian investment.

There are also friendly and traditional relations between India and Iran. Although many times India has to face American pressure on this issue, it has maintained balance in its relations. A US Congressional report states that India has “generally supported” the implementation of sanctions imposed on Iran. Although Iran was financially sanctioned, it still remained a part of India’s economic relationship with Iran.

The important thing is that India’s strong relationship with Israel has never been interrupted by its relations with Iran. There are strategic reasons for the relationship between Iran and India. They have nothing to do with relations with Israel.

Why are terrorist activities in Kashmir increasing, BJP policy failure or something else?

Gagan Bhatt
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Why are terrorist activities in Kashmir increasing, BJP policy failure or something else?

There has been a hue and cry from the opposition and a certain number of our media houses about the increasing attacks, incursions on military camps in Kashmir after the BJP government came to power. Congress party is trying to prove that its policy of counter-terrorism was more effective and present government has failed badly. But reports that surfaced today suggests something else, which is being neglected by Indian Media.

A report of reuters.com suggests that the US has put forward a motion to put Pakistan on global terrorist – financing watchlist, which would hurt Pakistan’s already stumbling economy. The US stance on Pakistan has been hard since Donald J. Trump joined the Whitehouse. The US has also suspended worth $2 Billion aid to Pakistan. which also shook Pakistan.

Pakistan, as we all know isn’t a very much vibrant economy and discontent in the people of Pakistan isn’t also a secret. many provinces of Pakistan are already struggling for freedom from Pakistan.

Due to growing discontent in public and falling economy, Pakistans best resort to distracting its people from the problems is to push forward the Anti-India narrative. Pakistan wouldn’t be shy even from starting a small scale conflict with India, which can turn in to a full-fledged war. Numbers of terrorist attacks and ceasefire violations from Pakistan has increased but not because of India’s lose policy, it is because of the falling economy of Pakistan and growing discontent.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s stand about Pakistan has been very clear, that India isn’t going to give up to Pakistan’s threats. Prime Minister Modi on the other has been a favorite of all the Gulf Countries, which used to stand with Pakistan in previous Governments. The US leaving Pakistan and India’s increasing business with Gulf Countries and the welcome which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been receiving in Gulf Country has left Pakistan isolated and rattled.

To handle a rattled Pakistan India Army has been given a free hand to tackle Pakistan’s activities, maximum numbers of Terrorist leaders in Kashmir have been gunned down during this Government.
Numbers of terrorists gunned down in last years:

2012: 72 (UPA)
2013: 67 (UPA)
2014: 110 (NDA)
2015: 108 (NDA)
2016: 150 (NDA)
2017: 200 (NDA)
(Data Collected from various News websites.)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy has also been very effective so far in telling the world how Pakistan has been a haven for terrorism and harboring leaders of various terrorist organizations. Though data means a lot, only because the number of attacks is increasing is not a good reason to call NDA’s “No talk to Pakistan” stand a failure.

‘Unauthorized’ rally, authorized killing

Kachra Seth
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‘Unauthorized’ rally, authorized killing

Like the prices of brands of the same product differs, in the same way, the prices of brands of humans also differs. Death of Akhlaq Khan will attract the attention of everyone, including CM of a state who is miles away and is struggling with providing safety to the women of his state. Death of Junaid Khan would make our country intolerant. It would attract nationwide protests and campaigns. And rightfully so. We need to stand up against these 2-bit goons, and self-proclaimed protectors.

However, how cheap is Chandan’s life that it didn’t attract as much attention. Why are editorials and TV debates shying away from talking about it? Why is media distancing itself from calling it a communal clash? Why no “Not in my name” campaigns or “award wapsi” for him.

Adding insult to injury is the “unauthorized” rally excuse. Like, it justifies the killing of someone. If you can scream “Bharat tere tukde honge hazaar” and get away with it under the garb of freedom of expression, then why not “Vande mataram”. An undeserving analogy, but let it be this way.

A mere speech can get you killed, and instead of condemning the act, we are trying to find escape points.
It is still highly debatable what actually transpired on 26th January. The two clashing communities have their own tales to tell. The truth, however, gets lost somewhere. But, irrespective of the events leading to the clashes, killing of a 22-year-old can never be justified.


The media newsrooms have always presented strong assertions on such cases, but they have failed to represent this case strongly. The silence of eminent personalities and supporters of freedom of speech, screams out loud. The message is clear. Your life is not worthy of our concern if it doesn’t fit our narrative.

The mainstream media of our country went into a damage control mode. From unauthorized bike rally to jingoism narrative, they tried their hand at everything to justify the killing. The general implication is that the death of 22-year-old Chandan is somewhat a consequence of “unauthorized” bike rally and sloganeering. However,  the real issue is not about “unauthorized” bike rally, it is the section which feels “authorized” to kill someone for merely exercising his freedom of speech.

P.S: -If the ‘Tiranga’ or ‘Vande Mataram’ chants intimidate or threaten you, then you need some introspection and not us.

I request Sri Sri to not mediate in the Ram Janmbhoomi case, this is why

manasdoon
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I request Sri Sri to not mediate in the Ram Janmbhoomi case, this is why

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji does not require any introduction. His work speaks for itself and his commitment towards peace is well understood. His following is huge and cuts across many countries.

However, Ram Janmbhoomi is a very different ball game. I would request Sri Sri not to mediate in this matter. For the following reasons.

When I talk about dispute I am strictly talking about dispute in Judicial domain. However, I would say the dispute started the day when Mir Baqi demolished a temple to build a mosque. This action was purely driven by hatred for infidels which was understandable in that era. Until many years later this structure was called as Masjid-e-Janmasthan. Many references like P Carnegy’s historical sketch of Faizabad (1870) and an Austrian Priest ‘Joseph Tieffenthaler who stayed in Avawdh during 70’s describe presence of Hindu temple being destroyed to build a Mosque.

This dispute dates back to the year 1885 when the first suit was filed. Despite validating the claim of the petitioner “Mahant Raghubar Das” the judge gave the verdict: “I visited the land in dispute yesterday in the presence of all parties. I found that the Masjid built by Emperor Babur stands on the border of Ayodhya, that is to say, to the west and south it is clear of habitations. It is most unfortunate that a Masjid should have been built on land specially held sacred by the Hindus, but as that event occurred 356 years ago, it is too late now to agree with the grievances. “(Court verdict by Col. F.E.A. Chamier, District Judge, Faizabad (1886), para 19, [source])

Since then 133 years have passed and Hindu bodies like Nirmohi Akhara and Gopal Singh Visharad have been using legal recourse to settle the issue. The purpose of writing a bit about the involved parties is to argue that it is not correct to become a stakeholder and propose a new solution now. This is more than a century old struggle in which many participants have given their sweat, blood and life. Many of the stakeholders are still fighting at various fronts, including Gorakhnath Peeth which spearheaded the movement in 1949.

There is no intent of a settlement or a compromise from the other side, rather they have been very malicious in their intent. Even after going through various historical accounts they carried on with this dispute, even backtracking on their promise of forfeiting the claim if the any signs of temple were found in the excavation. Intent is a core principle in any mature legal system and a clean conscious is required as a foundation to build mutual trust. The vile intent was clear when after losing the battle in the High Court the next dispute was filed in the Supreme Court name of land ownership.

When Mir Baqi attacked Ayodhya, there was no industrialization or any scarcity of land. He could have built the mosque anywhere he wanted but why did he choose to demolish a temple and build a mosque instead. This is something which the Indian Muslims as a whole need to think about. Germany moved on not because Hitler was killed, but because Germans accepted what horrible things were done to the Jews. Such was the burden of guilt that people demolished every sign of the Nazi Party including the house of Adolf Hitler.

Lord Ram is dear to many, first recorded clash over this mosque was in 1853. There shouldn’t be any dispute in saying that Babar was an invader and was not a son of the soil. There is also no dispute to say that just like Babar, Islam also came to India from outside. Just like every other place, the invaders brought their own culture and faith. It was spread with sword and seldom with love. The present Indian Muslims must not bear the burden of the invaders with whom they have got nothing to do, unless they would like to. Average Muslim faces the same problems just like any other Indian be it Sikh, Hindu, Jain or Christian etc.

This dispute is more about principle and dominance. While one party revers that site and birthplace of their lord, other party is scared of loosing its dominance. Compromising for a settlement would literally mean forfeiting our right over Kashi and Mathura. Why are we hellbent of punching below our weight? This does not mean that Hindu’s should go on reclaiming every mosque but these places hold very high significance for us.

Imagine a scenario when someone forcefully ejects you out of your house and starts living in it thinking it is his. You now confront him and produce all the necessary evidences to show that house belonged to you. Even your neighbours and your grandfather’s friend come and testify that your family have always been living there peacefully. Time passes by and that bully die. No one lives their but his friends who say that they are people of principle, do not allow you to re-posses your home. Any righteous person upon seeing the truth would except the facts and forfeit the property, but again this is not utopia and you have to knock on courts door.

Now at this point when you are fighting a legal battle tooth and nail not because you are hungry for land but because of attachment with your family home and your claim of ownership has been vindicated time and again, but at this very moment some one from your side who was never seen before, tries to make an intervention for settling this matter when other party has clearly shown their vile intent. This is what this attempt looks like.

I am yet to see a tangible argument to understand why should we forfeit our right and opt for a settlement. Who will ensure that this settlement will be accepted by all and will bring a closure to this issue. How can you assure that people who choose to be blind to all facts, evidences, strong emotions of their fellow citizens, cruelty of invaders with whom they like to share an umbilical cord out of free choice will start loving the new owners of the disputed property?

As Hindu’s we need to have a unified approach towards what we want to achieve rather than working in silos. This settlement would do injustice to all the people who have been struggling for last 133 years relentlessly in the house of Justice. Would be unfair to many karsevaks like Kothari brothers and many more devotees who have made supreme sacrifices in fighting this battle since 1528 when this mosque was build.

I would rather request Sri Sri to lend your support to the battle which are already going on than to propose a new solution. Taking a leaf out of Gandhi I would like to say “All compromises are based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take.”

With all my humbleness I would like to say, compromise is great, but this is not the time.

7 times I felt Nation is not important to some people in India

anupampandey
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7 times I felt Nation is not important to some people in India

In school, we had a morning assembly which was compulsory to attend. The assembly gathered for prayers, pledge and last but not the least, the National Anthem. After completion of Anthem, one last thing that happened before going back to our respective classes in queues, the command boy shouted aloud ‘Bharat Mata Ki’ and the whole assembly roared with thunderous echoes of ‘Jai’, not once but thrice.

I didn’t see it happen in a school assembly recently when I went to drop my cousin in the same school. I held back and stood there to go through the euphoria of morning assembly all over again but I was left disappointed to witness a bizarre lackluster morning assembly with no essence or spirit of India in it. This made me wonder, is the nation not important anymore? Are our future generations not expected to follow those essential nationalistic values?

And then, I open up the newspapers coming every morning. I find a broad first page with the cover story about why patriotism shall not be enforced on people! There are articles every other day which try nonchalant manipulations to prove our nationalistic ethos deny the right to freedom of expression. That our culture is regressive and our religion is downtrodden. And what not?

Yes, these articles are against my views and I am nobody to respond back with a befitting reply to their arguments right at their face. I know nobody cares even if I write it somewhere but I need to start.

Better something than nothing.

No Freedom Without the Nation

I still believe in what I think about nationalistic virtues and I find it necessary to explain how it is that important for us to keep the nationalistic flavour up and growing when it is being pulled down every other day. We should never hesitate from using our Nationalistic aura to inspire ourselves. They say, it is not always about the product, sometimes being a brand alone is enough. Being a Brand serves a sense of responsibility to carry forward the quality benchmarks your brand has set. I don’t want an outrage but it is necessary to put things in a rational perspective.

Our love for the Nation makes us whatever we are and disregard for it can break us too. I see many people trying to defame our Nation because the nation allows them to do so. They curse the nation and question each and everything about it but they forget that they can only do this if the nation exists. In their hatred for specific reasons, they are tearing the nation itself as if the nation is not important to them.

Let me discuss few such events which placed nationalism under scrutiny and signal us about time when India was not important…

1. The Debate of Intolerance

If any sane person still sees any truth in the whole mockery of a situation which occurred under the garb of that intolerance drama, then he is probably not sane enough as he thinks himself to be. What has changed about the country due to intolerance? Nothing. I see every Muslim living the same life if not better, as they had been living throughout this life. But still the fire of Intolerance was kept alive for a long time with many other catalyst coming in to raise the relevance of the issue. This overall narrative of Intolerance gave India a bad name all over the world as proven when Barack Obama in one of his speech during India visit reciprocated the narrative of Intolerant India.

2. The Award Wapsi Campaign

After the drama of Intolerance started to lose its grip in the mainstream, few awarded artists all of a sudden realized that the Intolerance issue deserved some more debate than it got. So they took their pious awards and went for a press conference to return those awards. To my surprise, for doing that whole drama, their reason was that the ruling government was imposing a situation of an emergency. For reference, they gave example of one Muslim youth who got killed by a mob for some reason. It was wrong and many of the people involved in it have been put behind bar. Apparently, the event held by those awarded men shall be remembered as one of the biggest minority appeasement campaign ever seen by this country’s non political elites. No need to tell you, this also did a greater damage to India’s image globally.

3. The Evidence of Surgical Strike for Pakistan’s Help

When Indian Army took the revenge of Uri attacks by conducting surgical strikes across the border, not many people were happy and they were rather confused. No matter what, it was a fearless statement which India made by announcing those strikes that sent a strong message to our enemies. It was an open rebellion against Pak Army and surely caught them by surprise in no position. Probably the reason why Pak neglected the claims to preserve their image on a safer side. But few Indians loved the perspective of Pak army and started to raise doubts in media openly. They not only questioned the credibility of Indian Army but also lost a track of the situation in which the nation’s pride was at stake. The political hatred had turned them blind to the national priorities.

4. Against the Flag and the Anthem!

The famous incident of Jadavpur University in Kolkata refusing to hoist national flag caught media limelight for differing opinions but it had one thing in common with another issue raised on playing the national anthem. When people openly confer these subjects of national identity as a threat to freedom of expression, logic is certainly the most under used aspect behind such arguments. There Plis nothing that can be argued against the national pride and to stand against it, is the lowest you can fall.

5. Bash Hindu, Hail Secularism!!!

The implications of word Secularism has been exploited by certain political parties and intellectual elite of this country. People openly bash Hindu community for the act of one individual, allow defaming Hindu culture to flaunt their progressive secular values, use exaggerations and false interpretations to malign the religious sentiments in the name of free speech and still, everything goes for a toss once Muslims get involved in similar or even worst case scenarios. There is an absolute silence about issues of Kairana and Kandhla. So much so that many of you will never know that Kandhla was also suffering from the issue of religious exodus. The riots in Dadri didn’t get media limelights. Appeasement of Muslim and bashing the Hindu mindset has become the new trend of Secularism in India.

6. Kanhaiya Became a Posterboy of Liberals!

The event in JNU campus was supposed to open eyes, instead many self proclaimed liberals turned the antagonistic deeds into heroism. When students are chanting about breaking the nation, threatening the Indian state with war, hailing terrorists as immortal heroes, then it is better to get a reality check about what is wrong with the students. But Kanhaiya Kumar is all of a sudden conferred as the posterboy of voice of freedom in some media channels. He becomes a hero just because he organized a rally in honour of Afzal Guru the terrorist. How can a person become great after showing sympathy for a terrorist?

7. Poor Stone Pelters, Bash Virtueless Army!

It is all about the narrative. The stone pelting by youth of Jammu and Kashmir has been a big hurdle to deal for Indian Army. There have been clear evidences of these paid protests being orchestrated through funds coming from across the border but still, plethora of news channels highlight the response or rather retaliation by the Indian Army in a bad vein. What would you do if someone is constantly trying to pin you down by throwing stones at you? Even though, there shall be no justification for stone pelting, yet the certain class of people show sympathy and project stone-pelters as innocent. How horrendously it impacts the morale of Indian Army? I really feel sad about it.

Nationalism Is Not Patriotism Anymore!

There is a subtle and certain patriotic feel which is attributed to nationalism. Of late, India has seen many intellectual minds debating against the patriotic values which are flaunted by public in public. In fact, they have given a new term to it, hyper nationalism is a synonym for the word Patriotism to their mind.

Now here is my point. You can say what you want to in front of the media and roam freely. You are accusing the same government which rules the nation and still remain free. No government authority has held you back or punished you or jailed you, even though you feel it is an emergency like situation. Is this how you think dictatorship works? No, just go and try the same somewhere else in the world with dictatorship in place and you will learn the difference.

When all this happens, it deeply disturbs most of the Indians who see it as the nation being ridiculed in front of the world. India allows you to say all this and get away with it and you still don’t realize that these are the National values which are allowing you the privilege to do so. Instead, you shame India globally.

‘People who try to oppose national pride by opposing the virtue of its flag, anthem and slogans are doing no lesser damage. How do you think will it affect the mind of a child?’

These are the values of nation’s identity and it is what makes a nation important. When you malign the national identities, play with the image of nation’s Army, joke around nation’s culture, then it clearly suggests, nation is not important to you anymore.

Perspectives on India-China relationship

etee23
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Perspectives on India-China relationship

The spectacular Guangzhou ballet performance co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy (Indian Council for Cultural Relations) and China Federation of Literary and Art Circles has for the first time reached India. The envoy advocates cultural exchanges to improve people’s understanding of each other countries.

Today in the 21 st century as we see a re-emergence of Asia and move closer towards the term ‘Asian Century’ and a world order termed ‘Easternization ‘ (as propounded by Gideon Rachman). If we trace  the journey of the ‘Asian Century’ by focussing on the historical odysseys of the two oldest world civilizations, India and China we reach the conclusion that China and India have been civilizational neighbours until cartographies changed and new Asian geo-politics took over. Today whether China is a stakeholder or a challenger, in the world order is a matter of much debate. However it was always not so.

Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) who spent his entire life to the rebirth of China and was also known as the father of Modern China (guofu). Sun Yat-Sen did not never expressed his world view in the form of an autobiography , but every time he spoke of the Chinese revolution and refers to the international situation and often in his public statements spoke of India.

In the use of ‘Europe’ and ‘Asia’ in World Historical Studies, the terminology has an Eurocentric Western bias, which is largely distortive of reality. Marshall G.S.Hodgson writes that these categorizations have made “among Westerners” the illusion that the “mainstream’ of world history ran through Europe”. The other discourses of ‘West ‘ and ‘East’ (or Orient) form another part of the picture still maintaining Western Euro-centric ‘illusions’. The Chinese political leaders have been seen as weak in their ‘Asian perspective’. This is because the concept of ‘Asia’ is a European invention, this has not been so popular in China and in many other Asian countries as well.

Confucius’s refers to a three- tier formulation of jia (family), guo (state) and tianxia (world). This has as we can see no place for ‘Asia’ in between China and the World. However, Sun Yat-sen is an exception, having been exposed to Western ideas and education at an early age. He felt strongly about the domination of white Europeans over non-white Asians, and was also aware of the desire of the Asian nations to be liberated from European repression.

Professor Chen Xiqi of the Sun Yat-sen University of Guangzhou had remarked at a seminar on ‘Sun Yat-sen and Asia’ that took place in 1990, his religious culture was India’s forte, while Chinese religious culture (Buddhism) was imported from India. In the course of several thousand years China and India not only had cultural interactions, but also an economic relationship. As Sun Yat-sen was paying attention to India, he even regarded the Indian national movement as linked to his own career.

As we now live in a moment where the issue of Indians and Chinese understanding each other be placed as an important agenda in India-China relations, we need  to look  back, at a time in history when it was so.

(Dr Etee Bahadur is a faculty at Jamia Millia Islamia)

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