On Monday 19th September Professor Madhav Das Nalapat
began by discussing the paramount importance of improving India’s human
rights and entrenching liberal culture, in order to advance India’s
knowledge industry. In addition to the importance of a culture of
liberalism and democracy. Professor Nalapat mentioned the history of the
relationship between India and America, prior to the Bush Jnr
administration. In contrast to Britain, which has always seen India as a
close partner, America under the Clinton administration was
unsympathetic towards the notion of India as a strategic partner.
However Nalapat argued that neo-conservatives have always had a natural
affinity with India and therefore India’s relationship with America grew
under Bush Jnr, who accepted India as a worthy partner.
After Professor Nalapat’s introduction, he discussed the effects of
British colonial law and how aspects of it are still a problem in India
today. Professor Nalapat discussed how Prime Minister Modi, through his
advocacy of a policy of “minimum goverrnment and maximum governance”,
represents a departure from previous Indian leaders. However Professor
Nalapat argued Indian society still harboured illiberal tendencies and
requires further liberalisation and a greater level of freedom of
speech. For example it remains “absurdly easy” to imprison someone or
seize their property. For Nalapat, the need to improve liberty and
supress the arbitrary power of the state remains a high priority.
When discussing America’s relationship with India, Professor Nalapat
first spoke of India’s expertise in fighting terrorism. Barring Israel,
Professor Nalapat argued that India was doing as well as any other
country in the field of counter-terrorism and that it was only a matter
of time until India had boots on the ground in the fight against
terrorism. For Professor Nalapat, a natural alliance has emerged between
America and India under Modi in the fight against radicalisation.
In contrast to India’s relationship with America, which is
characterised by shared security concerns and liberal culture, Professor
Nalapat argued that China was a natural commercial partner for India.
When discussing China, Professor Nalapat first spoke of the Mao regime,
which saw China play a “game of bluff”. The 1970s saw the US accepting
Mao at face value, which consequently led to China developing at a fast
rate. Although Mao destroyed the Communist Party leadership, Professor
Nalapat discussed how current Chinese president Xi Jinping is trying to
emulate Mao in attempting to make China the ‘world’s number one power in
the globe’, to the extent of even demolishing his own caste to achieve
this. Professor Nalapat believed that Jinping’s vision entailed boosting
Chinese entrepreneurship and improving the link between Asia and
Europe. However, Professor Nalapat claimed that the success of Jinping’s
vision will only become clearer in 2018 and predicted that the
Jinping’s power faltering would only lead to instability and the
plummeting of economic growth in China.
Ultimately, Professor Nalapat believes that Modi wants to achieve a
balancing act which consists of good commercial relations with China but
an equally good security relationship with America in the fight against
Wahhabism. Professor Nalapat also spoke of China being astute in
calculating risks and China’s hopefulness of prizing India from America.
However, Professor Nalapat still reiterated India needing America as a
means of preserving freedom and democracy. In conclusion, for Professor
Nalapat, many of his views depend on India being finally liberated from
colonial culture.
Credits: Michael Hartfield
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