The latest dump of WikiLeaks cables have been reported as containing material which exposes difference of opinion in tackling Pakistan, between the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the then National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan.
And immediately the media (read TV media) have gone into overdrive by trying to get either the PM or the former NSA to utter a few sound bites. I am not sure whether such a hype is required, in so far as a difference of opinion or perceptive between two senior people in the executive, is concerned.
India is not -
In such a form of Government, if difference of opinion arise, as it may on occasions, a course of action is agreed upon by consensus. Once a consensus is reached, then everyone from the most senior to the junior most executive is expected to toe-the-line, from then on there are no going backs.
Pertinent to point out here are two points:
And the refusal of both the PM and the former NSA to speak out to media after WikiLeaks shouldn’t wrinkle our eyebrows either.
Which brings it out to the disclosure - talking to the Americans about such differences. As I wrote hardly 10 days back -
there are two human vocations in which ability to deceive, misinform and double-deal are pre-requisites. One is Diplomacy and the other is Politics.
Now an NSA talking to an Ambassador off the record is both Diplomacy and Politics. It is not for me to say whether any deception or attempt to misinform Pakistan back-channelled through Americans was involved.
But what I can and will do is pat myself in the back - for another correct deduction - sitting far away from the corridors of power in Delhi from my home at Madras that is Chennai.
I’d blogged about
“You have a shared destiny; We don’t”, was what the former NSA is supposed to have told the PM (April 2009).
LOL!
I think it is high time, really the time, for me to compile the Hits and Misses workbook - especially now that patronizing whelps have started to bless me with advice.
(image from toonpool.com cartoonist Mark Lynch)
:-D
And immediately the media (read TV media) have gone into overdrive by trying to get either the PM or the former NSA to utter a few sound bites. I am not sure whether such a hype is required, in so far as a difference of opinion or perceptive between two senior people in the executive, is concerned.
India is not -
- a banana republic like Castro’s Cuba or Chavez’s Venezuela,
- a one party state like the Communist China or Singapore,
- a despot ruled country like Kim’s North Korea or Gaddafi’s Libya,
- an autocratic monarchy like Saudi Arabia or Brunei, or
- a 3-word-ideology driven state like ‘destroy-Israel’ Iran or ‘deconstruct-India’ Pakistan,
In such a form of Government, if difference of opinion arise, as it may on occasions, a course of action is agreed upon by consensus. Once a consensus is reached, then everyone from the most senior to the junior most executive is expected to toe-the-line, from then on there are no going backs.
Pertinent to point out here are two points:
- One - that such difference of opinion or perceptive is (and should be) allowed (only) at senior levels. A democratic, pluralistic, consensus driven form of government does not mean that the lower levels of administration or the junior most executive has the right to air his views or refuse to carry out the consensus, quoting ‘a’ difference of opinion.
- Two - even amongst the senior levels, any differences should (only) be aired in-private, among equals and in the suitably stipulated forum. Even a senior should not air the differences at a press conference or a TV interview.
And the refusal of both the PM and the former NSA to speak out to media after WikiLeaks shouldn’t wrinkle our eyebrows either.
Which brings it out to the disclosure - talking to the Americans about such differences. As I wrote hardly 10 days back -
there are two human vocations in which ability to deceive, misinform and double-deal are pre-requisites. One is Diplomacy and the other is Politics.
Now an NSA talking to an Ambassador off the record is both Diplomacy and Politics. It is not for me to say whether any deception or attempt to misinform Pakistan back-channelled through Americans was involved.
But what I can and will do is pat myself in the back - for another correct deduction - sitting far away from the corridors of power in Delhi from my home at Madras that is Chennai.
I’d blogged about
- the obsession with Pakistan of the Opposition leaders (April 2010),
- the longing for birthplace-now-in-Pakistan Prime Ministers for peace at any cost (Feb 2011)
- the buffoonery of birthplace-now-in-Pakistan born leaders to appease Pakistan (Jun 2011)
“You have a shared destiny; We don’t”, was what the former NSA is supposed to have told the PM (April 2009).
LOL!
I think it is high time, really the time, for me to compile the Hits and Misses workbook - especially now that patronizing whelps have started to bless me with advice.
(image from toonpool.com cartoonist Mark Lynch)
:-D
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