Diplomatic Pressure Points

               

''EVERY NATION OFFERS A NEW LENS TO LOOK AT THE WORLD.''

Fibromyalgia owe a lot to the application of the idea of Pressure Points while fighting with red fellow entities of the category. Discover it earlier or the front shift may threaten the existence. It can afford to keep a distance with those who constitute fast chemical reactions and visible differential. Still unknown how it was conceived, its nomenclature offered me a ripe ground for analogy. It informed me to attend those terminal clusters of nerves which are eager to talk to me. It can still make a channel to put in place the joules where they are far more needed.

One wonders, how much amount of calories, if not joules, have been consumed in MEA offices to locate Diplomatic Pressure Points.  Though it may not be invidious in tone, but such queries may come up from those who will constitute posterity.  Why a single tool was our roulette? Diplomatic cortisone were put into self contradictory use while pressure points were not located at all. Should there be resurrection of such middling theory? Are we suppose to create a pantheon? The answer is NO.

Pursuance of the idea of Pressure Points was always needed in independent India and is still potent. No place for tenuous actions and those who are habitual of it under the umbrella of romanticism, need to sit on back benches, It can hardly be sustained anymore.

How to figure out such pressure points? Do we need a lexicon of our own or just put ideas directly into actions using the internationally acceptable collections of diplomatic channels? The later is far more feasible and reasonable. Well only then we can have our own version of Realism.

Are we capable of contributing into any kind of "Old-New-Would be" Global order or can we even react to it without looking for a shoulder. History knows very well which kind of collective action survived and which one was not even born.

How shall we compartmentalize those who are our guests. Not all of them wiling to come to our house and discuss "Pressure Points." But lets give a thought to locate them ourself.

The World is an organic entity.T here are organs with in which contains numerous hierarchies. Are there diplomatic pressure points located somewhere? Maybe. But arbitrariness is not going to find that. They say arbitrariness has an all season affair with Idealism. This is a bad affair and it took a while for Indian diplomatic class to find it out.

Hierarchies, which matters to us, are organic in nature too. They attract each other. We know the levels of hierarchy very well and often are aware of those which belong to others. But when we put them on the desk of policy making, we locate the "Pressure Points.''

Lets talk of strings of cardinal nature, which are in our hands. They need to be stretched to every General Compartment with requisite exclusiveness. There exist three such compartments, if seen in broad sense. We need to invest different strengths, lengths and flexibility into each of them. Those strings which gets connected to the North compartment ("The Developed" compartment and the "Multilateral" compartment) will be having fibers of trade imbalances, less bargaining powers, more show offs, never to offend, have a click etc at least till the time we reach there to sit in the same box. The new feature added into it by India is to attain nuclear capacities in both the forms and to stand neutral on certain internationally volatile episodes irrespective of where the developed group moved. This deserves an appreciation as seen recently in the context of Arab Uprising.

The next string is attached to those who are our buddies, close on chronological progression charts. They are the natural friends sometime and bilateral otherwise. They are competitors as well Collective action is chosen idea if willing to remain in reliable existence. We suffers from same ailments ( developing, socio-politically vulnerable, new to globalization etc.) and thus pressure points are easy identifiable. Never stay cross with your neighbors and close friends as they help you first in emergencies is something we have learnt. Its easy to be proximal with those who are like us and no opportunity should be missed to strengthen that. India opened up to it mainly in post-cold war era, but remained hesitant in initial years. I see it as Biggest Failure of Indian Foreign Policy since independence. Shock waves can be felt till now. The instrument which we selected to deal with such, was devoid of any mechanism of peaceful dispute resolution, collective action and any efforts to put forward a new global order. The action now is On, but need to be fuelled regularly and protected from getting fibres of first string.

The third compartment which we should hold close to our heart is the one where pressure points directly talks to us and we need not to locate them. They are present in open for everyone. Leadership if offered, need real world substantiation. Here is the extreme competition. They have wide spectrum to choose from. What exclusive can we offer to them? Aid has least money multiplier essence in such cases. Pressure points here need very careful handling in socio-political arena as they have developed inflammation in few cases. Black Continent is inflamed in parts. Pressure points alone will not serve the purpose. But does that mean the treatment meted out on them need to be same as those of others of our position? No. In fact this can be the playground of our own form of realism. Has anybody worked upon it? Is baccalaureate enough to choose such handlers. The "organic hierarchies" may hold the key.

 After this broad division, the time is to locate the pressure points in organic hierarchies existing within the nations. These will be central while crafting bilateral rapport. The first step required to identify which group of institutions is on top and which one on the bottom. Is it political, social, economical or military? Though all of these need to be attended but thanks to realism we know where we need dense relations and where just a touch. In this process, our domestic hierarchy shouldn't matter. We have done enough of this hogwash in past.  We love songs of democracy, liberalism, egalitarianism, human rights but lets sing them at home, preach them at home. Don't be a teacher to sovereign nations. Though visible in recent past , such tendencies need further materialization.

At the level of political intersection, we need to make it clear that opposition club shouldn't hate us. This pressure point deserve utmost care. The domestic ideology at this level need no exhibition . Let's get them in any way. Don't articulate some exogenous force if we fail to befriend this club. Our efforts should dominate against all odds. If nuts and bolts of this pressure point taken into serious consideration, this will be biggest success.

At the level of Economy, things may seems easy. But there is an unlocked area. How can we enlighten and enliven the left to centre to those who believe in it, and Non-involement to those who want it. The later has got more space and support but earlier is still profound in its existence at home and thus should be put to best use. Aren't we waiting nations to suit us some time in future? This is close to failure, if not exactly.

China knows best to play at this level. Indian representation and officials are slow on this. We need bifurcation in our presentation to bring them home. We don't hate Hugo Chavez or Fidel Castro, but shall we invite them? Obamas, Merkels,Cameroons of the world knows why they are our friend, but do we know why our one packet illustration of economy is outdated. Let’s be Nehru with likes of Chavez and Manmohan Singh with likes of First Brazilian Citizen. Can we move forward with this dichotomy and convince them? This is the real confrontation. It can be tackled if those in the front knows how best to package and market it. Aids and Agreements are pain killers, not the Pressure Points. There exist enough of such points which we still need to devise.

At Social and Cultural level, Pressure Points are copious . Instead of showcasing our stratification here, we need to work upon how it can attract stratification of other nations. For this, lets first accept their stratification without prescription. Put to diplomatic use our multiculturalism and diversity. Film Festivals, Cultural Shows, Visits of Parliamentarians is surface anatomy. Pressure Points lies beneath, so more labor is needed. The opportunity is to make their homogeneity love, believe and respond to our heterogeneity. Few reddish black patches exist on both the sides but we need to cover them. Public Diplomacy is still not for us in most of the cases. At home, this poor baby is malnourished. Barring very few cases, amicability rests with political class and not with social classes. Cultural Exchange is not Social Exchange. The medium of exchange in later is far more soulful and comprehensive than first and will find satisfaction with whole than just a segment of social class. How can we deal with this category of  most widespread pressure points, the hope lies with us.

 We let demise of these pressure points into oblivion in the first few decades of our Foreign Policy Operations. The onus lies on personalities. Their personalities were to reality in core, ours not. To put it other way, there should never exist  Pressure points with representatives. If they do exist then we need to not let them proliferate in any form. That's most alarming thing to be kept open. Foreign Policy is not just a domain for few good cozy friends of same social strata, its a space where nations need to be cozy not just their representatives. Those who operationalised the first part of independent India's Foreign policy, knows what this distinction is and  what catastrophe can we have if we fail to acknowledge this distinction. We have received fall outs in the past due to this. Better we read the nations than just individual minds. The theater of conduct and thus chances of higher grades increases in former case. It needs a Statesman to recognize such pressure points, not just outcome of a mechanical electoral process.

Gaurav

Chandigarh