Editorial
UPA government in trouble
India's Left has a point to its agitation
LEFT political parties in India plan to launch a concerted campaign all over the country to explain the reasons behind their withdrawal of support from the UPA government in Delhi. There is hardly any denying that the rift between the Left, comprising CPI-M, CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc, and the government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has centred around the core issue of the nuclear deal the government has been negotiating with the United States. Obviously, as the growing agitation over the deal, and not just on the part of the Left, has shown till now, it is the overall question of how Delhi-Washington relations shape up in light of the deal and how those relations affect the nature of Indian politics that is now at the centre of every political consideration in India.
There is little question that the nuclear deal between India and the United States, if and when it actually comes into force, will cause a major change in South Asia and even beyond it. It will mean a fundamental shift in Indian foreign policy, which so far has been based on striking a balance between powerful global forces and indeed on maintaining a particular Indian identity. The deal brings Delhi closer to Washington. In the eyes of its critics, like the Left, it undermines the very essence of Indian independence where the shaping of foreign policy as well as maintaining geopolitical strategy is concerned. In effect, such a deal promises, to the regret of many in India and outside it, a certain change in India's geopolitical standing. To what extent it slices away at India's image as a balancing force through the non-aligned movement is a crucial question, notwithstanding the unipolarity of today's world. It also points to a shift in the balance of power in the region, especially at a time when both India and China are regarded as regional powers with ambitions of carving a bigger niche for themselves on the global stage. The concerns of the Left, which also promises to bring before the country all the promises left unfulfilled by the UPA government, thus have a strong base.
Against such a background, the vote of confidence the government faces in Parliament on 22 July assumes significance. Whether or not the government survives is less important than the new polarisation caused by this new vigour among the Indian Left.
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