Sanjay Baru expresses reservations over the CAA

By M Chenna Nagaraj

Dec 17, 2019

New Delhi : Economist and former media advisor to Prime Minister Sanjay Baru has expressed his reservations over  the Citizen’s Amendment Bill (CAB) wondering what kind of message India wanted to send to the world community through the new law  when almost all Prime Ministers right from Nehru to Narendra Modi had showcased to the world the Indian values through the  slogan ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’ (world is one family).

Participating in a book release function organised by Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) here last week, Dr Baru said that successive Indian leaders, be it the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr Manmohan Singh and now Mr Modi, always stressed on unity in pluralism and quoted the subhashita to showcase Indian thinking of perceiving world as one family.

He said his researches into the speeches of the Prime Ministers in the past had shown that ‘vasudhaiva kutumbakam’  was quoted by successive PMs including Mr Modi. Indira Gandhi too had quoted this very Sanskrit shloka while addressing the environment conference in Swedish capital Stockholm.

However the country is now giving a different kind of message to the world by seeking to discriminate its citizens on the basis of their religion in the form of amended CAA recently passed by Parliament, which had evoked adverse reactions in and outside the country.

He said India has been a home for the citizens fleeing religious persecution be it Zorashtrians from Iran, Jews of Europe from olden times or anyother people. India believed in pluralism and its land being a home for multiple religions, races and cultures.

He said political leadership in the United States were publicly threatening to impose sanctions on India for its discriminatory policy which was not a happy sign for the country. However, it was too early for the scholars to arrive at conclusions on the Modi regime as the ‘show is still on’. One should not forget that it was late Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj who had underlined the country’s policy of peaceful resolution of national and international disputes on the principles of equity, inclusiveness, stability and sustainability. ”Will not such statesmanship like approach serve Indian interests? he asked.

He said countries across the world always sought to harmonise their ideals and values with their national interest in trade and diplomacy although in reality, national interests often triumphed over the values and ideals. During the cold war, the US’ had a declared national policy of ‘defeating communist ideology with its capitalist values. This was their motivational force throughout the cold war era, he remarked.

Answering a question if India should modify its views to ward off the threats of sanctions from US and other developed economies, Dr Baru said India being a sovereign republic will take its decision independently like it did when it had decided to become a nuclear weapon state in 1998 braving all threats and consequences. Although the US, West and Japan announced sanctions, they did not impose sanctions seriously, he noted.

Dr Baru who served as Media Advisor turned to UPA-I Government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh is currently Distinguished Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

Prof James Mayall, Professor Emeritus at the University of Cambridge analysing the global trade and defence said it was customary for the countries to mix their national character in their trade and diplomacy. Culture offers them ‘organic roots’ for their diplomacy. However in most cases, it was national interest that was the determining factor over the values professed by individual nations. There were countries that pursued their history and cultural values for a long term relations forgoing immediate economic gains, he said adding that the values can’t overlook realism.

A panel discussion on ‘Values in Foreign Policy’ was followed after the release of the book titled “Values in Foreign Policy: Investigating Ideals and Interests’ by Mr Sanjay Pulipaka, Señor Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Former diplomats Preeti Saran, Rajiv Bhatia were among those who took part in the discussions.