India owes us all some explanations
In recent years, India has become more insular and even aloof from its neighbors. At the same time -- and this is not a contradiction -- Indian governments have moved away from central management. While Indian businesses and citizens have increasingly moved into the world to trade and travel, their governments have increasingly looked inward.
There are those who link declining Indian diplomatic engagement with the increasing venality of Indian politicians. That may be unfair, but, in fact, recent Indian elections have been fought virtually entirely on local issues. The fall of the last fragile government was brought about by a controversy over the lengthy investigation into the assassination of ex-premier Rajiv Gandhi. There are two leading candidates for prime minister next month. The likely winner is the virtually isolationist L.K. Advani of the Hindu nationalist party, who wants power so badly.
Last year, under the international obligation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, India was forced to admit that it had a long- term program to develop, make and store chemical weapons. It has refused to sign a ban on testing nuclear weapons, but Indian officials say it has never wanted to stockpile nuclear weapons. Advani now denies this, in advance. During the last election campaign, the BJP leader called for building India's nuclear capability.
If India needs to explain its nuclear policy better to a world that is abandoning nuclear weapons, there is another bothersome image problem. Advani makes no secret of his desire for Hindutva. He defines this as benign, because Hinduism has room for other faiths and beliefs. Advani has constantly criticized "so-called secularists" who see his Hindu fundamentalism as communal, and possibly dangerous in a region of the world with differing faiths.
India's poll is its internal affair and no outsider should meddle. But Indian foreign policy and many of its domestic policies are a matter of concern to others. We neighbors have the right to ask India the limits of its nuclear program, to request the reason for such a backward step and to protest nuclear armaments in our back yard. Indian neighbors must also ask New Delhi and Advani about religious freedoms in India. The elevation of any religion above all the others would be a major source of concern.
-- The Bangkok Post