Red politics

China will up its aid to Nepal by 50 per cent. That is whopping and snooty considering Nepal was once under India’s sphere of influence.

I say ‘once’ because I do not know if Indians call the shots anymore now that the red brigade has taken over in Nepal.

India found itself in a fix when Maoists won a majority in Nepal. Common sense read foreign policy concerns, dictate that dear Surd and Aunty Sonia should have extended the olive branch at once. Not that there was a dearth of people to send feelers. If the royals could have acted as state messengers in the past, Congress party’s biggest asset was the CPI (M).

Though Yechury was quite active as a member of the coalition government on bridging the gap with Nepal Maoists, I do not recall much on the Indian government being able to adopt a clear and concrete stand on Nepal and Maoists.

My point is, if the Congress had no qualms to accept the commies’ support to form a government what was the hesitation to talk to Prachanda in Nepal.

Think about it.

If ideologies poses no bar in forging domestic alliances why do they create a barrier on the international front.

India supported the status quo in Nepal and was against royals being plucked out of the Nepalese social fabric. But the truth is they were and it was time to do business with Maoists. Is it not dealing with the Myanmar Junta despite its paeans on democracy?

When it comes to India vs. China, it is more about who paws the maximum space in least time. Chinese wooed Burma while Indians struggled to strike an optimal stand on the Junta government.

Africa fell head over heels for China’s overtures, India watched from the fringes. India turned West but Iran was tough to tackle. Chinese had already made inroads in Central Asia.

Coming back to the issue, why has the presence of the Left in the Centre not been used to woo the Maoists in Nepal or to resolve the domestic Naxalite problem for that matter?

(Ok, Naxalites are CPI (ML) but there are there no umbilical connections despite ideological dissimilarities)

Why has the Left in India not been proactive to counter the Chinese carrots to Nepal?

Without getting into the rut of Indian communist allegiance to China, why have the brilliant comrades not been vocal on anything except the nuclear issue?

Indian politics has seen some of the weirdest strategic combinations. However the shrewdness is lacking when it comes to foreign policy and critical domestic issues.

Nepal is too close a punch. Wake up!