The
Marxist
Volume: 16, No. 01
Jan-March 2000
Community of Democracies:
India Joins America's Ideological Enterprise
Prakash
Karat
The advent of the BJP to office at the Centre in 1998 marked a major turning point in Indian politics. The character of the BJP, a right-wing pro-imperialist party, was bound to affect the foreign policy of the country. This became apparent very soon after the Vajpayee government assumed office. The Pokhran nuclear tests in May 1998 served as the launching pad for the qualitative shift in policy towards the United States. From the now infamous Vajpayee's letter to Clinton, citing China as the reason for testing nuclear weapons, to the beginning of the endless rounds of talks between Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and US Under Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, the course was set by the BJP leadership to fashion a new foreign policy abandoning non-alignment and embracing the idea of a strategic partnership with the United States. While much attention is focussed on the nuclear and security aspects in Indo-US relations and the burgeoning US stakes in the Indian economy, very little time is spent on recognising that the BJP, given its right-wing character, is entering into a political and ideological venture with the US.
While
it
is
true
that
the
nuclear
strategy
of
the
BJP
regime
is
founded
on
acquiring
recognition
from
the
United
States
for
its
nuclear
power
status,
even
if
it
is
not
an
official
status,
the
new
content
in
Indo-US
relations
has
deeper
implications.
The
BJP-RSS
combine
has
been
remarkably
consistent
in
its
world
outlook.
From
the
days
of
the
Cold
War,
it
has
scorned
non-alignment.
The
RSS
is
anti-China
and
anti-Communist
and
wishes
to
promote
India's
"great
power"
status
in
conjunction
with
the
US.
It
preferred
alliance
with
the
United
States
provided,
the
imperialist
superpower
is
prepared
to
rely
on
India
rather
than
Pakistan.
As
long
as
the
US
kept
Pakistan
as
its
military
ally,
the
Jan
Sangh
and
later
the
BJP
could
not
envisage
such
a
strategic
relationship
fructifying.
It
is
only
in
the
1990s
that
circumstances
changed
and
the
possibilities
for
effecting
this
long
held
view
opened
up.
The
success
of
the
Afghan
war
waged
with
the
help
of
America
and
the
end
of
the
Cold
War
with
the
dismantling
of
the
Soviet
Union
resulted
in
the
relative
diminishing
in
the
importance
of
Pakistan
for
the
US.
The
liberalisation
process
ushered
in
by
the
Indian
ruling
classes
in
the
nineties
and
the
signals
sent
out
that
it
is
now
willing
to
do
business
with
the
US,
set
the
background
for
the
BJP
pushing
for
a
regional
role
as
a
junior
partner
of
the
US.
Economic
policies
hospitable
to
international
finance
capital,
a
modus
vivendi
on
the
nuclear
issue,
resumption
of
military
collaboration
agreements
interrupted
by
the
nuclear
tests
and
acceptance
of
the
US
global
interests
form
the
basis
for
India's
entry
into
this
new
role.
In
the
US
global
strategy,
the
US
administration
places
considerable
importance
to
providing
an
ideological
content
to
its
hegemonic
order.
Democracy
is
one
such
construct.
How
India
has
been
drawn
into
this
ideological
venture,
is
the
focus
of
this
article.
The
BJP's
eleventh
month
stint
in
office
from
1998
and
the
return
to
power
in
October
1999
have
seen
this
process
unfold
and
reach
a
point
of
conclusion
with
the
Clinton
visit
in
March
2000.
As
in
the
case
of
much
of
the
developing
Indo-US
relations
and
its
different
dimensions,
there
is
very
little
information
provided
about
them
by
the
Vajpayee
government
and
the
Ministry
of
External
Affairs.
It
is
from
the
US
side
that
such
information
comes
out
about
the
current
initiatives.
This
was
so
in
the
matter
of
the
prolonged
negotiations
conducted
by
the
two
sides
on
the
nuclear
issue
and
it
also
true
about
the
brave
new
venture
called
the
"Community
of
Democracies"
(CoD)
that
India
has
entered
into
under
Madeleine
Albright's
coaxing.
The
Singapore
The first time Indians became aware of their country's involvement in this American project was a cryptic reference in a statement issued after Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh met Madeleine Albright in Singapore at the time of the Asean Regional Forum meeting in August 1999. The timing was significant. A caretaker government was in place. The Jaswant Singh-Talbott talks had completed eight rounds before the government fell after losing the vote in Parliament. By this time, India had indicated its willingness to sign the CTBT and open the economy further to foreign capital. The announcement signalled the Vajpayee government's readiness to enter into a political-ideological alliance[i]. Interestingly, the Ministry of External Affairs did not come up with any clarification or information about the CoD. Nor was the Indian mainstream media and the charmed circle of foreign affairs correspondents unduly interested or willing to go into it. It is a sign of the times that a major step of signing up on America's ideological bandwagon is ignored or treated as an ordinary event. So what is the CoD as put out by the State Department of the US government? For there is no question as to the parentage of this initiative. To begin with, one must go back to the cognities.
The
National
During
the
Reagan
Presidency,
in
the
early
eighties,
alongwith
the
renewed
military
offensive
against
the
Soviet
Union
(in
the
form
of
stepped
up
military
expenditure),
the
ideological
counterpart
was
the
campaign
for
"democracy".
It
is
in
this
connection
that
under
Reagan's
initiative,
the
US
Congress
passed
an
act
creating
the
National
Endowment
for
Democracy
(NED).
Funded
by
the
US
government
primarily,
the
NED's
motto
is
"free
markets
sustain
democracy".
The
NED
is
a
successor
to
the
American
outfits
such
as
the
Congress
for
Cultural
Freedom
which
operated
in
the
fifties
and
sixties.
It
provides
funds
to
promote
"democracy"
to
anti-China
Tibetan
organisations,
Cuban
émigré
groups
and
generally
supports
organisations
which
promote
market
reforms
and
transnational
corporations.[ii]
The
NED
appears
constantly
in
all
the
initiatives
taken
by
the
Clinton
Administration
to
float
the
platform
called
the
CoD
and
to
build
"a
world
movement
for
democracy".
The
first
appearance
of
the
CoD
is
with
an
inaugural
meeting
of
the
International
Committee
for
a
Community
of
Democracies
in
1985.
This
was
followed
by
All
Democracies
Conference
sponsored
by
the
ICCD
at
Ann
Arbor,
Michigan.
It
was
attended
by
90
representatives
from
more
than
50
countries
termed
democracies.
Former
presidents
Carter
and
Ford
addressed
the
Conference.
The
delegates
included
members
of
Parliament,
ministers,
businessmen,
journalists
and
professors
whose
attendance,
as
private
citizens,
was
funded
by
grants
from
various
foundations.
The
conference's
chief
objective
was
to
develop
support
for
an
"intergovernmental
association
of
democracies"
that
would
provide
a
forum
for
democratic
governments
to
discuss
common
problems.[iii]
This
aim
has
finally
reached
fruition
with
the
proposed
"Community
of
Democracies
Ministerial
Conference"
in
Warsaw
in
June
2000.
The
journey
to
this
governmental
level
international
conference
has
been
reached
through
various
regional
level
efforts
of
the
US
government.
Regional
"Community
of
The
first
laboratory
where
the
CoD
was
tested
was
in
South
America.
In
1993,
the
Clinton
Administration
which
took
office
in
1992,
called
for
"a
true
partnership
of
the
Americans
--
a
Western
Hemisphere
Community
of
Democracies".
In
a
speech
delivered
to
the
Council
of
Americans
for
the
US
Secretary
of
state
Christopher
Warren,
the
Acting
Secretary
Wharton
said
that
this
Western
Hemisphere
CoD
is
to,
apart
from
strengthening
democratic
institutions
and
human
rights,
"to
support
economic
reforms
and
free
markets".[iv]
This
is
the
recurring
theme
in
the
American
idea
of
democracy
whichever
President
takes
over.
The
North
American
Free
Trade
Agreement
(NAFTA)
was
held
up
as
the
US
vision
of
a
community
of
hemispheric
countries
linked
by
open
markets
and
democratic
values.
Wharton
also
asserted
that
we
have
a
chance
of
make
North
American
free
trade
--
and
co-operation
on
labour
and
environmental
standards
--
a
model
for
the
rest
of
the
hemisphere
and
the
world".[v]
At
the
same
meeting,
the
US
made
it
clear
that
it
would
support
a
counter-revolution
in
Cuba
by
`peaceful'
means.
It
hoped
that
"Cubans
win
their
freedom
through
the
kind
of
peaceful
transition
which
has
brought
so
many
other
nations
into
the
democratic
community".
Till
then,
it
reiterated
its
opposition
of
Fidel
Castro's
"dictatorship".
The
Clinton
Administration
assiduously
peddled
its
version
of
democracy
in
all
regions
as
a
step
towards
launching
the
global
democracy
forum.
The
US
setup
the
New
Atlantic
Initiative
(NAI)
which,
according
to
the
official
press
release,
is
an
"independent
US
initiative
dedicated
to
reinvigorating
and
expanding
the
Atlantic
community
of
democracies".[vi]
This
was
headquartered
at
the
"American
Enterprise
Institute"
and
founded
under
the
auspices
of
such
pro-American
stalwarts
as
Czech
President
Vaclav
Havel,
former
German
Social
democratic
Chancellor
Helmut
Schmidt
and
others.
In
1997,
the
New
Atlantic
Initiative
sponsored
a
conference
on
enlarging
NATO.
The
purpose
of
the
European
version
of
the
CoD
was
to
consolidate
the
Eastern
European
countries
under
the
US-NATO
umbrella
and
provide
the
ideological
support
for
their
difficult
transition
to
a
"democratic"
system
which
would
open
them
to
western
and
transnational
capital.
In
Asia,
the
grand
project
for
democracy
has
taken
shape
with
the
roping
in
of
India
into
this
global
movement
sponsored
by
the
US
State
Department
and
its
outfits
like
the
NED.
New
Delhi
Conference
The announcement in Singapore that India was ready to be one of the core countries to sponsor the CoD was followed by an international conference in New Delhi called "Building a Worldwide Movement for Democracy" in February 1999. India had finally arrived in the democracy business. It was also the American recognition of India's political role in its strategic interests which the Vajpayee government so avidly sought. This conference was organised by the NED and its affiliates. All the big-wigs of the Vajpayee regime graced the occasion which was attended by 300 participants from 85 countries.[vii] Jaswant Singh, the prime architect of the pro-US line was there, so was Yashwant Sinha, the "swadeshi" Finance Minister and George Fernandes, a person associated with the all democracy ventures of the US since the sixties. To give it a bipartisan look, Dr. Manmohan Singh was the lead speaker on the "political foundations of a market economy".
The
NED's
local
associates
for
the
conference
were
the
Confederation
of
Indian
Industry
(CII)
and
the
Centre
for
Policy
Research.
The
CII
is
the
most
influential
business
body
in
India
which
advocates
fullfledged
liberalisation.
The
CPR
is
an
academic
research
body
which
has
flourished
with
funding
from
American
sources.
Asian
Centre
in
Delhi
Though
it
was
not
known
at
that
time,
the
partnership
of
the
US
State
Department
outfit
and
the
big
business
organisation,
the
CII,
was
meant
for
a
more
enduring
relationship.
Before
the
Clinton
visit,
Madeleine
Albright
made
a
significant
announcement
--
the
setting
up
of
an
Asian
Centre
for
Democratic
Governance
in
New
Delhi.[viii]
Typically,
this
was
announced
in
Washington
on
the
eve
of
the
visit,
with
no
information
from
the
Indian
side.
Albright
termed
this
a
joint-non-governmental
initiative.
The
NED
would
jointly
organise
the
Centre
in
New
Delhi.
The
Bureau
of
Parliamentary
Studies
and
Training,
an
affiliate
of
Indian
Parliament
would
partner
the
CII
in
implementing
the
activities
of
the
Centre.
Thus,
a
private
business
organisation
is
used
to
rope
in
a
parliamentary
body
for
an
American
government
sponsored
project.
Jaswant
Singh
has
got
India
to
play
a
key
role
in
the
Asian
CoD.
The
NED
sponsored
centre
would
provide
the
institutional
support
for
its
activities.
According
to
the
NED
press
release:
"Focusing
on
democratic
development
in
Asia,
with
an
emphasis
on
problems
of
governance,
the
Center
will
organize
conferences
and
workshops
that
will
engage
practitioners
of
democracy,
business
leaders,
and
professional
executives
throughout
Asia.
The
Center's
other
activities
will
include
training
young
men
and
women
with
leadership
potential
in
public
and
corporate
life.
"The
conferences
will
introduce
participants
to
the
latest
thinking
on
democratic
governance
through
presentations
by
leading
scholars
and
practitioners
from
India
and
the
region's
other
established
democracies,
the
newer
democracies
such
as
Thailand,
Mongolia,
and
Nepal,
more
transitional
countries
such
as
Indonesia,
multilateral
development
institutions,
and
the
United
States
and
other
relevant
democracies.
"Workshops
will
be
designed
to
facilitate
active
and
forthright
discussion
among
practitioners
of
democracy,
businessmen
and
professional
executives
in
the
region.
Participants
in
the
workshops,
mainly
from
the
continent,
will
have
an
opportunity
to
interact
among
themselves
as
well
as
with
a
small
number
of
international
experts
on
democratic
governance
and
economic
development
issues.
Although
the
first
major
conference
and
workshop
will
be
held
in
New
Delhi,
the
Center
will
seek
out
other
centers
in
Asia
to
host
the
two
subsequent
workshops
in
the
series."[ix]
An
Indian,
Gautam
Adhikari,
recruited
by
the
NED
will
be
one
of
the
key
functionaries
of
the
Centre
in
Delhi.
Adhikari
is
a
former
executive
editor
of
the
Times
of
India
and
has
had
stints
with
various
American
research
institutions.
Poland:
Venue
of
The
stage
is
set
for
the
next
step:
India
being
a
co-sponsor
of
the
international
conference
of
the
CoD
in
Warsaw,
Poland
in
June
2000.
After
the
Singapore
announcement
when
it
was
said
that
eleven
countries,
including
India,
would
constitute
the
core
democracies,
it
was
stated
in
the
vision
statement
by
Clinton
and
Vajpayee
that
India
would
be
among
the
seven
co-sponsors.
The
others
are
USA,
Poland,
Czech
Republic,
Mali,
Chile
and
South
Korea.
The
hand
of
Madeleine
Albright
is
evident
in
this
strange
club.
Mali
is
an
African
country
which
has
recently
found
favour
with
the
US.
Albright
visited
Mali
in
October
1999.
According
to
a
commentary:
"The
visit
was
perceived
to
reflect
the
good
image
which
Mali
had
won
in
the
USA
through
its
political
and
economic
reforms
over
the
previous
seven
years."[x]
The
Czech
President
Havel
considers
the
US
the
torch-bearer
of
freedom
and
democracy.
As
for
South
Korea,
it
is
a
good
example
of
the
type
of
democracy
the
US
favours
in
Asia;
strong
authoritarianism
with
periodic
elections.
Poland
the
host
country,
is
a
striking
example
of
how
efforts
at
US
sponsored
democracy
first
met
with
success
in
East
Europe.
The
Warsaw
conference
will
be
a
ministerial
level
conference.
The
Indian
Foreign
Minister
Jaswant
Singh
will
be
the
Indian
representative.
Alongside
the
governmental
meeting,
there
would
be
a
World
Forum
on
Democracy
attended
by
business
groups,
ngos,
civic
leaders
and
so
on.
This
conference
is
being
hosted
and
funded
by
the
American
organisation,
Freedom
House
and
the
Stefan
Batory
Foundation
of
Poland.
Some
details
about
these
two
organisations
will
throw
light
on
the
motives
of
this
conference.
The
Freedom
House
is
a
high-powered
organisation
approved
by
the
State
Department.
It
is
funded
by
big
foundations
such
as
Eurasia,
Scaife,
Ford,
Unilever
and
Carthage.
It
also
gets
support
from
the
ubiquitous
NED
and
the
US
Information
Agency.
The
Stefan
Batory
Foundation
was
setup
in
Poland
in
1988.
It
is
part
of
a
network
of
31
`open
society'
foundations
setup
by
George
Soros,
the
billionaire
financial
speculator
in
all
the
former
East
European,
Balkans
and
Soviet
Socialist
Republics.
In
Poland,
it
is
the
Stefan
Batory
foundation
which
is
dedicated
to
the
development
"of
a
free
market
and
democracy
in
Poland".
In
1998,
the
Soros
Foundation
Networks
spent
574
million
dollars
which
level
was
expected
to
maintained
in
1999
and
2000.[xi]
The
latest
addition
to
the
network
is
the
Kosovo
Foundation
for
an
Open
Society.
Together
with
the
World
Bank's
Post
Conflict
Trust
Fund,
the
Kosovo
venture
is
to
help
the
Kosovo
Liberation
Army
to
entrench
themselves
in
local
government.
This
is
being
undertaken
in
territory
which
is
nominally
still
in
the
Federal
Republic
of
Yugoslavia.[xii]
The
Warsaw
Ministerial
Conference
on
the
CoD
will
be
discussing
the
following:
i)
Co-operation
Among
Democratic
Governments
in
Strengthening
Global,
Regional
and
Specialised
Institutions;
ii)
Democracy
and
Human
Right:
Sharing
Best
Practices;
iii)
Responding
to
Threats
to
Democracy;
iv)
Looking
Ahead
on
Issues
of
Democracy
Assistance:
Strengthening
Democratic
Institutions
through
Mutual
Support
and
Partnership.
The
rationale
for
the
emerging
architecture
for
global
democracy
is
spelt
out
by
the
specialists
associated
with
State
Department.
Penn
Kimble
(Special
Representative
of
the
Secretary
of
State
for
the
Community
of
Democracies
Initiative)
states
that:
"Ten
years
after
the
Berlin
Wall
fell,
`The
Community
of
Democracies
Initiative'
aims
to
take
advantage
of
this
period
of
opportunity
by
providing
a
forum
for
discussing
the
revitalisation
of
democracy
in
the
international
system."[xiii]
James
Robert
Huntley,
author
of
the
book,
`Pax
Democratica
--
A
strategy
for
the
21st
century'
has
provided
the
main
elaboration
for
the
restructuring
of
international
affairs
around
the
American
version
of
democracy
which
he
terms
`Pax
Democratica'.
He
argues
that
there
were
three
earlier
periods,
the
phase
of
empire,
the
phase
of
the
balance
of
power
and
the
current
phase
of
partial
international
institutional
cooperation.
In
the
future
such
cooperation
will
be
transcended
by
community
building.
He
holds
up
the
European
Union
and
NATO
as
advances
towards
community
building
which
is
superior
to
the
earlier
phase.[xiv]
Human
rights
and
democracy
override
national
sovereignty
for
building
a
community
based
on
the
democratic
principle.
According
to
him:
"mature
democracies"
don't
have
any
real
national
interests
of
their
own
any
more.
They
have
only
common
interests.
The
common
interests
are
democracy
and
the
open
markets
which
sustain
them,
as
the
NED
would
put
it.
The
ideologues
of
the
CoD
claim
that
it
is
not
Pax
Americana
that
should
be
pursued
by
the
US
but
Pax
Democratica.
Neither
"hegemony"
nor
"isolationism".
This
is
some
sort
of
a
variant
of
the
third
way.
It
can't
fool
many
people.
Except
those
like
Jaswant
Singh
who
are
in
a
hurry
to
make
up
for
the
"wasted
decades"
in
which
India
failed
to
convert
itself
into
an
American
ally.
Portents
for
India
The
impact
on
Indian
foreign
policy
has
been
immediate.
Attending
the
non-aligned
foreign
ministers'
meeting
at
Cartagena,
Colombia
in
April
2000,
Jaswant
Singh
proposed
the
democracy
principle
as
a
criterion
for
membership
of
NAM.
This
would
effectively
disrupt
the
non-aligned
movement
which
is
based
on
the
commonality
of
interests
of
third
world
and
developing
countries.
By
Jaswant
Singh's
criteria,
Cuba,
Yugoslavia,
Vietnam.
Iraq,
Libya
and
a
host
of
other
countries
would
be
ineligible
for
membership
of
NAM.
To
get
India,
a
founder-member
of
NAM,
to
propose
this
has
been
a
coup
of
sorts
for
the
US
and
its
western
allies.
The
ideological
trappings
to
legitimise
American
hegemony
are
now
manifesting
itself
through
the
leitmotif
of
democracy.
The
nineties
saw
the
US
and
its
western
allies
move
into
secure
the
gains
from
the
success
in
the
Cold
War.
The
relentless
drive
to
establish
the
neo-liberal
order
is
accompanied
by
the
ideological
justification
for
free
markets
which
alone,
it
is
claimed,
can
sustain
democracy.
The
denigration
of
national
sovereignty
and
disregard
for
the
real
content
of
human
rights
marks
this
discourse
on
democracy.
India,
under
the
BJP
regime,
has
formally
joined
this
American
enterprise.
A
government
which
accepts
the
economic
doctrine
of
the
imperialist
superpower
is
falling
in
line
with
its
political
and
ideological
ideas
as
well.
Paradoxically
the
democracy
venture,
portends
a
further
siege
on
democracy
in
India.
The
demands
of
international
finance
capital
are
relentless.
The
government
wants
fixity
of
tenure
for
Parliament
and
legislatures
to
ensure
stability
for
capital.
It
has
recently
declared
that
enterprises
in
the
special
economic
zones
to
be
setup
will
be
treated
as
public
utilities
to
enforce
discipline
on
labour.
The
rights
of
minorities
are
being
effectively
curtailed
by
sustained
terror
and
intimidation.
Acceptance
of
the
global
democracy
package
of
the
US
signifies
fresh
attacks
on
democracy
in
India.
[i]
L.K.
Advani,
BJP
leader
and
Union
Home
Minister
declared
around
that
time
that
the
year
1999
"has
become
a
turning
point
in
the
history
of
Indo-US
relations".
[ii] See Vijay Prashad: "National Endowment for Democracy -- Instrument of US Policy". People's Democracy, 18 April 1999 for a comprehensive profile of the NED.
[iii] "Democracies try to establish global organisation", USIA Text Link 59638 dated 6 December, 1998.
[iv] "US calls for `Community of Democracies' in Americas", USIA Text LEF 117 dated 3 May 1993.
[v] "US calls for…..". Ibid
[vi] "NATO Conference at Alpbach", USIA press release dated 17-19 October 1997
[vii] For details, see "An American Movement for Democracy" -- Prakash Karat. People's Democracy, 18 April, 2000. The second session of the World Conference for Democracy is to be held in November 2000 in Sao Paulo in Brazil.
[viii] NED press release, 16 March 2000.
[ix] NED press release. Ibid.
[x] Record of World Events, Keesings Archives, November 1999.
[xi] On Soros national foundations. http://www/soros.org/natfound/index.html.
[xii] Michael Chossudovsky: Opening Kosovo to foreign capital
[xiii] Secretary of State's Open Forum, 10 November 1999, www.state.gov
[xiv] Secretary of State's Open Forum. Ibid.