Al Ahram, P.7 (2-5-2006)

 

New Delhi (Mohamed Abdel Hady):

 

    India has achieved major leaps in the fields of economic and industrial development, thus paving the way for India to have a distinguished status in   the international community and become a regional major power in its region and the whole world. India's progress is reflected in the increase of growth rates in the sectors of technology, textiles, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, printing and publishing. Bangalore has become a key centre for giant high-tech companies. Also, Mumbai has become the economic and commercial capital of Asia. By virtue of the massive progress it has achieved in the field of pharmaceuticals, India produces the cheapest drugs in the world. India has become one of the most important hubs for automobile manufacturing.

 

    The Indian economy is the seventh largest in the world in terms of GDP (US$ 700 billion annually) and the fourth largest in terms of Power Purchasing Parity (PPP) after China, US and Japan. India is the largest consumer country all over the world. India comes on top of the world countries in terms of milk production, the second in terms of the production of sugar, rice and wheat. India has turned from importer to exporter of food grains. India is the fourth largest country in terms of using modern agricultural equipment and the sixth largest country in terms of electricity production. India is the second largest country in terms of English publications with 60,000 daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly newspapers and magazines. Daily average of newspapers' circulation in India is 330 million copies.

 

The Middle Class

 

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) in India is considered the engine of development in the country, as no foreign president visits New Delhi without meeting the leaders of the Federation to discuss investments and joint ventures. Also, no Head of State in India makes a tour abroad without accompanying a businessmen delegation including representatives of FICCI. The members of FICCI are working hard to make India join the rank of major powers.

 

            The efforts of development in India are not false and this is reflected in the growing of the middle class, which is the backbone of the Indian society. In the past, the middle class was not so remarkable in the Indian society that had only two classes: one extremely rich and the other extremely poor. The steadily growth of the middle class in India is the outcome of the real development achieved in the industrial and technological fields as well as the government's keenness to take part in the property and management of major national projects. In this regard, we should also mention the governments' efforts to ensure free education and healthcare to all citizens. The government also allows issuing newspapers (all newspapers in India are independent) without any conditions or controls. There are many TV channels (the state owns only one TV channel). In fact, all these policies and their outcomes have been possible because of the democracy India is witnessing. There are about 1000 political parties in the country. The policies of social and economic reforms in India have commenced since the government of former PM Narasimha Rao, whose reform strategies coincided with the reform policies of the Chinese leader Dang Xiao Ping. The reforms in China have started after precise assessment of international conditions following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

 

            We can say that India has been moving on the path of development according to two concepts: the first, the implementation of national projects for entirely national objectives through self-reliance. The second, not to import any commodity or equipment (including defence equipment) without knowing detailed information about how to manufacture them. This is how India managed to get out from the rank of poor countries to join the rank of the countries exporting food grains.  With a population of about 1.2 billion, India succeeded in shifting from a backward country to a country producing technologies and launching satellites, and from a country suffering from epidemics to a country producing the cheapest drugs in the world. In fact, the consecutive governments in India (such as Vajpayee's government and the present government of Manmohan Singh) have been achieving tremendous progress with regard to India's investments abroad.

 

            Moreover, the Indian governments have been interested in promoting the awareness of the citizens and their right to have access to information. According to the figures released, tens of conferences and symposiums are held on daily basis in the Indian capital, New Delhi to discuss national, regional and international issues, such as combating corruption, Kashmir,   the priorities of India's investments abroad, the dispute in the Middle East, the Iranian nuclear file, the relations with Pakistan and the American global policies and its repercussions. The government makes use of these gatherings to inform people about the country's stance towards these issues and brief them on the facts and information related to all these issues so that decision makers can feel the impulse of the public.

 

India speaks about itself

 

            Although the Indian society includes all religions known to mankind (80% Hinduism, 15% Muslims, 2% Christians,  1,8% Sikhs and believers of other religions, such as Bahaism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism and fire worshippers), India managed to achieve enormous  development and become an emerging major power. There are 18 local languages in India in addition to different dialects. India sets a unique experience of democracy, respect of human rights, minorities' rights, appreciation of the values of citizenship, justice, equality and hardworking and promotion at work place on the basis of proficiency.

 

            Thus, India is not concerned about the issue of clash among civilizations, religions and cultures, because it already represents a model of coexistence between people of different religions and cultures. Some parties propagate such concepts to cover up other issues or to use them as a means to interfere in other countries' affairs for their own vested interests or for spreading hegemony. At the international level, the two leaders Nehru and Nasser had set a mode of understanding, cooperation and coordination of joint struggle, though they had different religions, civilizations, cultures and languages. Actually, they had other things in common, such as the values for justice, freedom, independence, development and rejection of occupation.

 

            Ms. Mani Makalai, the Joint Secretary of West Asia and North Africa Division at the Indian External Affairs Ministry said that her country sets a model of a mutli-cultural civilization, which achieves progress. She indicated that the present President of India Dr. Abul Kalam Azad is Muslim and he is not the first Muslim President of India since its independence. She added that tolerance, respect of people's different religions and refusal of offending others' religions are among the basic values in India. Thus, India strongly condemned the offending cartoons of Prophet Mohamed, God Bless Him and Grant Him Salvation.

 

Islam and terrorism

 

            In this context, India rejects any link between Islam and terrorism and it is very keen to show the tolerance of Islam. This is not because there are 180 million Indian Muslims (15% of the Indian population). Also, the Hindu majority in India realize the difference between Islam and the practices of some of the Muslim rulers (Mughals) in India in the 16th century, such as the imposition of Zaziz tax (requital)* on non-Muslims and oppressed them.

 

Egypt and India

 

            The relations between India and Egypt are deeply-rooted and it was enhanced during the era of national struggle against the British occupation. The struggle movement in Egypt was led by Saad Zaghlol, while the national struggle movement in India was led by Mahatma Gandhi. Bilateral ties and the coordination of joint national struggle were remarkably developed during the period of Mustafa Al Nahas and Jawaharlal Nehru, as they used to coordinate and consult each other. For instance, Al Nahas invited a delegation from the Congress party to participate in the general conference of Al Wafd Party in November 1938. Similarly, Nehru invited a delegation from Al Wafd party to visit India. Moreover, Nehru visited Alexandria in June 1938 to meet Al Nahas.

 

            The letters exchanged between Al Nahas and Nehru reflect that the coordination between the two countries was not confined to the struggle against occupation in quest for independence, as it covered the support of the struggle movements of oppressed peoples in the Middle East, such as the Palestinian people. The friendly relations between Al Nahas and Nehru developed to the extent that Al Nahas told Nehru in one of his message about the assassination attempt he and his friend Makram Ebeid were subjected to. In one of the messages,        Al Nahas invited Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi to spend one week with his family in Alexandria.

 

            These relations constituted a strong foundation for the Egyptian-Indian relations after India's independence in 1947 and during Nasser-Nehru era. The friendly relationship between the two leaders started after the 1955 Bandung Conference and was consolidated after the foundation of the NAM in cooperation with the Yugoslavian leader Tito and the Indonesian leader Ahmed Sukarno. Nehru and Nasser joined hands in supporting national resisting movements and the peoples' struggle against occupation. Nehru adopted heroic stances in support of Egypt at the international forums, as he advocated Egypt's right to nationalize the Suez Canal and ward off the tripartite aggression in 1956. Afterwards, the relations between Nasser and Indira Gandhi were further enhanced.

 

            Given such distinguished historical relations, the Indian officials and politicians feel sorrow for the lukewarm ness of the relations between the two countries, which they attributed to the low attention given by the Egyptian side to enhance bilateral relations. They feel that bilateral relations are not up to the aspired level and not reflexive of the two countries' potentials and common history.  Ms. Mani Makalai added that her country is looking forward to the visit of President Mubarak, as an invitation extended to him since 1995 to receive Jawaharlal Nehru Award for Peace, the highest Indian decoration given to a foreign leader. She indicated that the meeting of the Indo-Egyptian Joint Commission, which is       co-chaired by the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, was postponed, because the Egyptian side has apologized saying that the proposed dates are not convenient. Mr. Rajan Kohli, Deputy Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) said that no Egyptian economic or commercial delegation visited India to discuss the aspects of cooperation with the Federation since the last two years.

 

            He added that some Egyptians told us that relations with India are not top of their priorities, as they give priority to cooperation with the US. He said, "We also have relations with the US, but we never ignore our relations with the other countries." The Director of Foreign Relations Department at FCCI Mrs. Shelaso Dakarat said, "We want to know the problem in order to sort it out. We have sent many letters in which we said that we want to open more interaction channels, but we did not receive any response."

 

            All these factors negatively affected Egypt's status among the public in India. When I told some Indians that I am from Egypt, one asked me "Where is the geographical location of Egypt?", another said " Yes, Egypt is located in KSA." and        a third said, " I see, you are from Morocco." Those, who know much about Egypt, had information only about the pyramids and Abdel Nasser. They wonder, "Where is Egypt in the political arena?" The information many of the Indians know about the Arab world is restricted to Dubai only, as if the whole Arab world were Dubai.

 

            The Chief Editor of the International Asian News Agency Mr. Ram mohan Rao indicated that news bulletins in all radio stations and satellites rarely broadcast news from Egypt or about Egypt. He added that even the reports published about Egypt are mostly not good. In the past, Egypt's news were present in all news bulletins and most of the world countries used to listen to Egypt's opinions, because several countries were shaping their stances in conformity with the Egyptian stance. He added that Egypt is achieving outstanding successes at home and it is highly interested in the Palestinian issue at the cost of other issues, which are equally important. He indicated that he was working as a correspondent for one of the Indian newspapers during the 1970s in Egypt and he was a witness of Egypt's status and political weight at that time. Given the strong relations between India and Egypt during that period, the people in Egypt named him as "Ramadan", which is almost similar in pronunciation to "Ram mohan". He expressed his belief that Egypt would be back soon to perform its leading role. He added that Egypt's past record could not be denied.

 

India and Israel

 

            At the same time, the relations between India and Israel are obviously growing in all fields, including the field of defence. The official spokesperson of the Indian government Mr. Navtej Sarna emphasized that his country's relations with Israel are similar to those between Israel and other Arab countries like Egypt, which has diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv. He confirmed that his country's relations with Israel are not at the cost of his country's endeavours to develop its relations with Egypt and the Arab world or at the cost of India's supporting stances to the legitimate rights of Palestinian people and the implementations of the relevant resolutions of the international legitimacy. Mrs. Mani Makalai highlighted that India recognized Israel and established diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv in 1993, only after the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) recognized Israel and several years after Egypt and Jordan recognized Israel and established diplomatic relations with it. Mrs. Mani Makalai indicated that her government has two programmes towards the Arab region: The first focuses on the increase and development of relations with different Arab countries. The second is concerned with supporting the Palestinian people till they restore their legitimate rights.

 

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