The 21St Century: Geopolitics, Democracy and Peace

THE 21ST CENTURY

This book examines a wide range of issues that are expected to play a dominant role in shaping the 21st century. Delineating key concerns in geopolitics, democracy and peace, it studies the functions and influences of educational institutions, progressive religious and social groups, communities, international institutions such as the United Nations and forums promoting interfaith dialogue. The author underscores how the century may be forged by a pluralist ethos: multiple and diverse nation states, centres of power, faiths, cultures, economies and languages. He stresses the need to nurture moral strength and enlightened leadership for a life of compassion, peace and holistic development. Lucid and engaging, this book will interest scholars and researchers of political studies, international relations, public policy, governance and development studies.

Balmiki Prasad Singh is former Governor of Sikkim, India. Earlier, he was Culture Secretary and Home Secretary, Government of India; and Executive Director and Ambassador at the World Bank, Washington, DC. He received his education at the Universities of Patna and Oxford, and has been recipient of several awards and fellowships, as also delivered lectures at national and global congregations. He has been Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, Asia’s Representative on Ramsar Convention, a founder member of the Development Gateway Foundation (DGF), and Member, Global Environment Facility (GEF), Washington, DC. He has held various honorary academic and governmental assignments as Chancellor, Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath; Chief Editor of book series ‘Perspectives on Economics, Technology and Governance’; President, Namgyal Institute of Tibetology; Chancellor, Sikkim Manipal University; and Mahatma Gandhi National Fellow. He is the author of many books including The Problem of Change: A Study of North-East India (1987); India’s Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond (1998); and Bahudh ā and the Post-9/11 World (2008).

‘[This book] explores the importance of pluralism, science and spirituality, democracy, good governance and ecology . . . As a distinguished scholar, thinker and public servant the author is well-known for advocating a more harmonious world . . . Readers will find [this work] stimulating and . . . inspir[ing].’ His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Laureate

‘A major contribution to understanding the most urgent geopolitical issues of our time. Singh’s creative analysis challenges conventional wisdom and also provides a fascinating roadmap for the global future. Both scholars and general readers will find this a stimulating work full of new perspectives and original insights. Essential reading for those concerned with the human prospect.’ Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka

‘A timely book that attracts our attention to the problems of the 21st century. This bold re-thinking as well as careful new thinking around the unresolved question—how do we live with peace and harmony— charts a road to transformation . . . [This book] should be on the shelf of everyone hoping to play a role.’ Ela R. Bhatt, Founder, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) and a Gandhian activist

‘Represents a valuable set of insights into the current dilemmas.’ Karan Singh, Member of Parliament, India

‘A much-needed book by an eminent administrator and scholar which suggests a way between the two extremes that threaten our world, fundamentalism and nihilism.’ Sir Mark Tully, author and former Bureau Chief of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) THE 21ST CENTURY

Geopolitics, Democracy and Peace

Balmiki Prasad Singh

First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Balmiki Prasad Singh The right of Balmiki Prasad Singh to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-28635-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-17004-6 (ebk)

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In fond remembrance of my wife Karuna. And to our children and grandchildren who I hope shall live and work in a peaceful world.

CONTENTS

Message from His Holiness the Dalai Lama viii Foreword by Ralph Buultjens ix Preface xiii Acknowledgements xvi

Prologue 1

1 Building peace: the Bahudha approach 21

2 Interplay of ideas: the Indian story 46

3 Ecological issues in the Himalayan region 76

4 Science, spirituality and ways of living: a plea for integrated education 114

5 Democracy and its consequences 147

6 Good governance: a narrative from democratic India 197

7 The emerging world: challenges and possibilities 250

Epilogue 305

Select bibliography 322 Index 332

vii The Dalai Lama

MESSAGE

I am happy to know that Balmiki Prasad Singh, a long-standing friend, is bringing out a new book, The 21st Century: Geopolitics, Democracy and Peace, in which he explores the importance of pluralism, science and spirituality, democracy, good governance and ecology today. I admire the dedication with which he shares his thoughts with his readers. As our world in the 21st century becomes ever more interdependent, we need to stop thinking in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’. If we think of others as part of ‘us’, it will put an end to violence as a way of settling disputes. We need to think of the entire world as our family. War is outdated; it brings no benefit, but instead creates suffering, disruption of trade and environmental problems that everyone must bear. When conflict arises we need to engage in dialogue and employ peaceable, non-violent measures to resolve it. Our aim should be to make the 21st century an era of dialogue, peace and collaboration. As a distinguished scholar, thinker and public servant the author is well-known for advocating a more harmonious world, a world in which diversity is celebrated and the other person’s point of view is treated with due respect. I am sure many readers will find what he has to say stimulating and may also be inspired to consider how they may contribute to bringing such a harmonious world about. With my prayers,

28 May 2015

viii FOREWORD

To thoughtful observers of world affairs, it is increasingly evident that we live in a world of transition. The international arrangements, the power structures and the generally accepted norms of conduct between nations – a kind of system that emerged after Second World War – is eroding, perhaps even collapsing. This enervation is gradual in some areas and quite dramatic in others. Nonetheless, it is a notable and persistent feature of the recent global landscape and creates an atmosphere of uncertainty, doubt and instability.

The context Eras of insecurity are not uncommon in history. The years between the French Revolution and the end of the Napoleonic Wars were such a time. The period between the early 1930s and the late 1940s was another – Old certainties and verities, and the safe houses in which they dwell, dissolve. Those who live in these moments feel deracinated; makers of public policy fear endless confusion; the paladins of world order see their ramparts unable to withstand the stresses of obsoles- cence. The simple fact is that, occasionally, circumstances change and the carapace of accommodation, unable to contain these changes, cracks and falls apart. Those who live through it are confused and frightened – and are often unable to accept or recognise that it has happened before. Eventually, by design and conscious creation or by accretion and common consent or from resignation and despair, a new architecture emerges and disorder retreats – some stability governed by new norms and understandings evolves. Right now, the inadequacies of the post–Second World War con- structs are increasingly visible. The physical balance of global political and economic power, long dominated by Western nations and through

ix FOREWORD international institutions that they influenced, is shifting. New centres of importance have arisen. Lodged between the old and the new are fresh zones of indetermination – probably temporary but significant in both their strength and disruptive capacity. Also, quite suddenly, dramatic issues – terrorism, climate change, refugees among them – have burst onto the world agenda. The present global system and institutions have not yet been able to elicit effective responses. Furthermore, the speed and intensity with which social media and cyber activities have germinated have created a jungle of disorder, a disorder that is now a critical instrument in diminishing the post–Second World War system and forcing the birth of the current age of transition. It is not only these physical erosions and inadequate reactions that have caused the disarray of the old order. The philosophic and intellectual pillars of the post–Second World War design, once vibrant supports, have also weakened. Secular beliefs – communism, socialism, democracy, capitalism/globalisation – have failed or failed to fulfil expectations. If alive, they are neither flourishing nor showing much revivalist vitality. Religions, too, have been tainted by the extrem- ism that has infiltrated into and distorted their message, and by their inability to resist these depredations. The idealism of internationalism and holistic globalism, quite appealing in the early post-war period, seems unable to restrain or overcome the corrosion of contemporary nativist nationalisms. Institutions created in that spirit are under- performing. Collectively, both the physical and the philosophical building blocks have proven arthritic buttresses, unable to sustain the old order or accommodate the challenges that currently beset it. And so, we plunge into an age of transition – the old not strong enough, the challenges eroding, responses as yet slow in the making and unclear. History, however, has an interesting message. It tells us that these disturbed and grey periods are temporary; how temporary we do not know, but they are essentially periods of passage. Desperate need, the discomfort and danger of uncertainty will sooner or later inspire some order, some architecture of governance, some laws. As Aeschylus, the ancient Greek sage, once wrote: Pain that we cannot forget Falls drop by drop Upon the heart Until in our despair Against our will Comes wisdom

x FOREWORD

The challenge The challenge, then, for thinkers, policymakers and statesmen of our era is to devise and blueprint an architecture that will bring forth new sensi- bilities. Of course, definition, acceptance, construction often requires time, but it is encouraging that many vigorous efforts are now underway. Foremost among them has been the seminal thinking of Balmiki Prasad Singh. About two decades ago, as early evidence of the breakdown of the post–Second World War order began to appear, BPS invested great intellectual and analytical energy in examining this decline and in imagina- tively creating counter-pathways and fashioning new coordinates. In several books – a large output of monographs, essays, articles and speeches – he has presented both historical forensics and crafted possible designs for the emerging global environment. This creative flow, pioneer- ing and original, has earned BPS wide recognition for both joining in inaugurating the global discourse and continuing to shape it. Well before it was much recognised, BPS’s analysis foresaw the rising power of culture in world affairs. In 1998, his insightful work India’s Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond challenged conventional wisdom. In it and other writings at that time, BPS anticipated the dynamic of politicised religion clashing with and aspiring to replace fading 20th century ideologies – ambitious to provide meaningful answers for the large overarching issues gathering around us and to even undertake the work of government. Fearful of the chaos of this confrontation, its murderous cost and social consequences, BPS began conceptualising a framework for restoring global equilibrium – a framework largely con- structed by extracting, dovetailing and applying some secular and spiritual meridians latent in certain historical traditions and experiences. This synthesis of brutal fact and enlightening vision was acclaimed when formally presented in his book Bahudh ā and the Post-9/11 World (published in 2008), the intellectual outcome of many years and many layers of thought. Now, in this present volume, BPS extends his inquiry into the contemporary geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape and takes it beyond Asian boundaries. It is a welcome demarche and a major contribution to addressing the urgencies of the global agenda of today. To my mind, at the core of this book, the gravamen of its funda- mentals, are two themes: First, the antidote to the restless psyche of modern humankind – deracination enhanced by the infusion of mass technologies – is lodged in the adaptation of certain historic wisdoms, imperatives that are perhaps most valid today if they are divested of the frills and fancies that have attached to them. Second, there is no

xi FOREWORD magic bullet – skilled management of change must go together with the graduated testing of answers scaled to local, regional and national diversities and cultures. Some grand ethic can be eventually synthe- sised, maybe possibly universalised, but this is only achievable by retail tolerance and building accommodation not by wholesale com- pulsion and social exclusion. There are, of course, many other facets and prescriptions in the BPS worldview, and several are woven into this volume. Particularly interesting is how BPS uses specific local situations to encapsulate and reflect much larger international concerns – ‘to see the world in a grain of sand’. This interface of bottom-up with big answers, history with contemporary affairs and concept with process adds a multidimensional critique to his perspectives and helps transcend any culture-bound tendencies.

An intellectual journey Unusual attributes and rich experiences inform BPS’s efforts. Nurtured in the heart of rural society, BPS reached the highest positions in the largest administrative network in the world, but never lost the sense of authenticity engendered by his roots. He has represented India with dis- tinction at important international organisations and assemblies, and was governor of one of the more strategic States in the Indian Union. As to be expected, policymaking and effective management has been his primary professional preoccupation. Yet, through over three decades of public service, he has consistently engaged in intellectual endeavours: scholarship has walked hand in hand with civil administration; the life of the mind cross-fertilising the tasks of bureaucracy. In this, BPS continues the noble record of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) of the past – some of India’s best public servants were some of India’s best scholars. This tradition has unfortunately declined in recent times and it is refreshingly revived through BPS’s endeavours. The shades of senior statesmen and bureaucrats of the past will be pleased; younger government officers could well make this blend of erudition and practical experience a career model. And all of us, readers of this work, will cherish its essential opti- mism about the human prospect and find that it inspires us with cour- age to confront the maladies of an age of transition. Ralph Buultjens Professor at New York University, USA, and former Nehru Professor and Professorial Fellow at the University of Cambridge, UK

xii PREFACE

For many years, I have been mulling over the complexity of the evolv- ing world: unprecedented scientific and technological development, previously unheard of prosperity, mind-boggling advances in the means of communication, along with bitter conflicts – civil and across borders, natural calamities, pandemics, hunger, malnourishment, denial of education, violation of human rights and much else. But a comprehensive and wide-ranging book as this was not even in my remote imagination. It is true that geopolitics, democracy and peace were subjects that fascinated me most as a student of political science and continue to do so. It was perhaps my loneliness and the magnifi- cent surroundings of the Raj Bhavan at Gangtok that propelled me to think in terms of writing a book on the 21st century. I was sworn in as governor of Sikkim on 9 July 2008. Among several urgent challenges in this assignment was one that was existential in nature. On arrival at the Raj Bhavan, Karuna, my wife, and I were lodged in the annexe of the Raj Bhavan. Due to severe damage caused to the Raj Bhavan building by the earthquake of 14 February 2006, the State Government had considered it necessary to construct a new Raj Bhavan. Having had some experience of restoration and retrofitting work of museums and historical monuments as culture secretary to the Gov- ernment of India, I felt that restoration of the Raj Bhavan to its original glory could be feasible. A team of experts from Patiala and other places after inspection supported my idea. The Raj Bhavan building was built by the first Political Officer John Claude White in the year 1889–90. On 15 August 2009, this historic building was retrofitted and a heritage site was successfully restored. Raj Bhavan, Gangtok, has a rich and inspiring history. Raj Bha- van is indeed the measuring rod of Gangtok. Physically, its majestic

xiii PREFACE location, with a view embracing the Kanchenjunga mountain range and Gangtok valley, is a constant reminder of how human aspirations can blend with the magnificence of nature. Artistically, the Raj Bhavan campus now demonstrates how creative craftsmanship has fashioned a harmonious synthesis of British and Sikkimese architecture. Symbol- ically, Raj Bhavan is now a structure worthy of the Indian State and its constitutional attributes. To me, personally, the renewal of Raj Bhavan represents the confluence of preservation and progress, heritage and innovation, designed in ways acceptable to the diverse interests in the community within which it is situated. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, visited Sikkim on four occasions during the 1950s and stayed in the Raj Bha- van in the suite on the first floor adjacent to the residence of the governor (then of political officer). During this time, Apa Pant was the political officer of Sikkim, Bhutan, and looked after Indian missions in Tibet. The window of the room where Nehru stayed opened towards Mountain Kanchenjunga. Legends go that Nehru once told Apa Pant that he would like to spend his retirement days in this inspirational place. After restoration, I named this suite as Jawahar. After morning walk and breakfast, I used to move in Jawahar suite at about 9:00 or 9:30 AM almost every day to read and reflect before going down to my office around 11:00 AM. Several ideas which are enunciated in this book were conceived in these surroundings. A fascinating aspect of human history is that it is like palimpsest where several ideas that found expression got retained, and with printing and now the Internet technology, with a degree of meticulousness. This is a unique phenomenon where the past and present coexist and each informs the other. Humankind has now entered the 21st century. There is much to be proud about, but there is also much to be concerned about as well. Yet I believe that despair would be a kind of self-indulgence. One can see that there are very many positive signs on the geopolitical map of the world. The processes of democratisation have expanded and so has the performance on the human rights front. There is yearning for peace everywhere. A more constructive public discourse has commenced on the need for taking positive measures, including ratifica- tion of the Paris Agreement and formulation of a legal framework by nation states for reducing the emission of carbon dioxide and for the conservation of our natural resources. The 21st century would be concerned with a wide range of issues including the role of international institutions like the United Nations

xiv PREFACE and others, of educational institutions, of progressive religious and social groups, of communities in facing natural and other disasters and forums for interfaith dialogue. I am aware of the fact that enormous challenges facing us have been further complicated by rise of terrorism and all kinds of violence generated by it. I am conscious of the need to devise new strategies and to look for new approaches. I believe some incremental steps in the positive direction can make impact. Encouragement of global conversations in areas of commerce and trade, environment and climate change, strengthening of global institutions and laws would narrow down differences and bring positive change. In all these, dialogue occupies central importance. Keep- ing all these in view, I have propounded the Bahudha approach. The Bahudha approach is both a celebration of diversity and an attitude of mind that respects another person’s point of view. This has immense relevance in today’s world of cultural and identity tensions spilling over into the economy and the polity. We need to build on these positives and find ways to support the forces which will generate peace and harmony in the world, and I believe that it is possible. I hope this book would be of use and value to students and teachers, scholars and researchers in social sciences, journalists and public leaders, economists and development planners and concerned citizens interested in contemporary affairs all over the world. The United Nations and its organs, multilateral agencies and the leaders of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) movements in the field of democracy and human rights, ecology and climate change and peace and harmony may find it of value to them. I trust this book would also be read in centres of excellence and libraries and by faith leaders, and scientists and officials concerned with conservation of ecology.

xv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to several persons and organisations in the making of this book. I am grateful to the chief minister of Sikkim, Shri Pawan Chamling, and his colleagues in the government for unfailingly cooperating with me in the discharge of my duties which immensely contributed in the making of my five-year term as governor of Sikkim both successful and personally fulfilling. But more than that, Chief Minister Chamling and his wife, Maya Chamling, for showing their humane side by sup- porting me at the time of a personal family tragedy. I am beholden to my colleagues in the Raj Bhavan, particularly my secretaries M. G. Kiran and Ravindra Telang; Thakur Thapa and Shiva Ghimiray. ADCs Rajeev Ranjan and Ram Niwas of the Indian Police Service; Rana and Satyadev of the Indian Army; secretariat team of Karma and Tenzing Choden gave valuable support in the discharge of my duties. Sonam Topgay Tashi of the Sikkim Civil Service who was also my PRO made outstanding contribution in preparation of my speeches and notes. I would also like to acknowledge contribution of Shri Tashi Densappa and Ms Tenzin C. Tashi of Namgyal Institute of Tibetology. I moved to New Delhi in July 2013, and my place of work is divided between my home and the library of the India International Centre (IIC). I am grateful to the chief librarian, IIC, Dr S. Majumdar, and his entire team as they have been extremely helpful in meeting my requirements of books and journals. However, this book would not have been completed but for the committed efforts of my old colleague Raman Pathak. I cannot adequately thank him. A writer lives his life inside his head but conversations with eminent persons like H. H. the Dalai Lama, Dr A. R. Kidwai (who recently passed away), Dr Karan Singh, Dr Bhishma Narayan Singh, Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, Smt Ela Bhatt, Dr Sonal Mansingh, Sarvshri

xvi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Jagmohan, Ved Marwah, S. Nihal Singh, H. K. Dua, Y. K. Anand, Amb. Lalit Mansingh, Ms Kalyani Shankar, Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Prof. Meenakshi Gopinath, Prof. Ashis Nandy, Prof. M. P. Singh, Prof. S. D. Muni, Prof. M. P. Lama and several others have always been intellectually stimulating. Several organisations, particularly the Saturday Discussion Group (SDG), provided me with an intellectually invigorating environment where meaningful dialogue takes place on national and global issues every week. My association with organisations like Vivekananda Inter- national Foundation, The Temple of Understanding India Foundation, Indian Council of World Affairs, India Foundation for Non-Violent Alternatives, Zaheer Science Foundation, Respect India Foundation, Universal Peace Federation and Unity International Foundation offered me opportunities to express my ideas and also to interact with eminent persons. These interactions may also have unknowingly spurred me to creativity. Above all, I continue to draw a lot of inspiration from conversations with common people in Delhi as well as those hailing from Bihar, Assam and Sikkim. My family has always supported me in all my works: administrative and academic. The sudden death of my wife, Karuna, on 1 April 2010, due to heart attack at a hospital in New Delhi, robbed me and our children and grandchildren the pillar of support and strength. In the making of this book, my son Rajeev and his wife Kirti, who stay with me, rose to the occasion to provide a comfortable home as long periods of solitude is a necessity for any creative enterprise. My two daughters and their spouses – Sumita and Paras, and Pritty and Rajeev Ranjan – who stay in Patna and Chennai, respectively, have given me emotional and caring that I needed. My six grandchildren Tanvi, Aditya, Gauri, Karan, Akhil and Kaustabh in different places of the world would be delighted to see this book of their grandfather and read it with avid interest. For the 21st century is going to be their century.

xvii

PROLOGUE

Why this book? This book, The 21st Century: Geopolitics, Democracy and Peace , reflects my concerns as a global citizen. Many of the subjects that I have dealt with have engaged the attention of philosophers and economists, historians and political thinkers, scientists and social workers.1 I do not claim any special advantage over other thinkers and scholars in analysing or predicting events. Yet, my experience in administration, my own efforts at self-enrichment and the fact that I have lived and worked in varied social situations and interacted with people of diverse faiths have inspired my reflections. I believe each generation must undertake unfinished tasks in the light of new realities and challenges. All I seek is to re-engage my readers with their own humanity. In that spirit, I offer this book to my readers of the present generation as well as the future. Have I been able to communicate some deeper experience in respect of a better tomorrow? Have I been able to provide some vision? I have my own doubts as I am deeply conscious of the fact that the task that I have undertaken requires knowledge and wisdom of an exceptional order. Sant Tulsidas has put it beautifully in his classic work Ram- charitmanas when he writes:

कहत किठन समझतु किठन साधन किठन िववेक2 (Knowledge and wisdom are difficult to be expressed, difficult to be understood and difficult to be internalised)

Nonetheless, I present them as a humble effort to help facilitate dialogue and accelerate the pace of positive change towards a better world for future generations. The central message of this book is one of peace

1 PROLOGUE and harmony in the 21st century. It primarily draws strength from my belief in the goodness of people, the institutions of governance and the growing number of ethical men and women, who passionately believe that humanity aspires for peace and harmony and that humanity has the capacity to meet the defining challenges of our time. This thematic book seeks to reach readers of various sections of society, particularly the youth on whom rests the future of humanity and the conservation of our fragile planet.

Approach In composing my thoughts, I have endeavoured to navigate between the extremes of idealism and realism. I have had to often remind myself that as a public administrator for nearly five decades, I might burden readers with too many descriptions and facts, and too few ideas. So, I have deliberately tried to enter the realm of abstractions, speculations and imagination. And yet, I have also tried to keep a traditional district officer’s approach – before giving opinions and making judgements, to evaluate the landscape, consult available records and talk to as many informed people as possible. Places and people, their histories and cultures, their aspirations and frustrations have always fascinated me. My perspective thus bears the influence of my work in India and abroad, and the exchanges that I have had with people of a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds. I am deeply conscious of the fact that every proposal to build peace, to empower people, to improve the environment and to ensure quality delivery of services is related inevitably to changes in human behav- iour. Thus, any improvement in society becomes dependent upon human capability. There has to be a conscious effort to empower people through education, skills development and the expansion of their consciousness. Freedom of mind, interplay of ideas as well as speculations, interactions and expression of opinions and views are prerequisites of a society poised for betterment.

Context and personal background Looking back on my early life I can recall two events that shaped my personality in decisive ways. Ever since these two landmark moments I have been alternating between public office and the public library. First, the adverse worldwide reaction to India’s military intervention in Goa in 1961 aroused considerable interest in me. I was then teaching

2 PROLOGUE international politics to MA students at Patna University. The West- ern media criticised India’s action and termed it a violation of Article 22 of the UN Charter as well as the Gandhian principles of peace and non-violence that the Indian nation state professed to adhere to. My reaction was to study the situation. I collected material on Goa’s annexation available in the University and the British Council libraries, and eventually wrote a piece called ‘Goa and International Law’. I was pleased with the outcome of my efforts and shared it with some of my senior colleagues in the department. They all advised me to send it to national dailies, such as The Times of India or The Statesman. My eyes were, however, set on the Modern Review, the most prestigious monthly daily of that time in the country, published in Calcutta. I still recall vividly being told by one of my senior colleagues that the waiting period for publication in that journal was two to three years. Nonetheless, I dispatched my paper in the second half of January 1962 by registered post to the Modern Review’s head office. There was no acknowledgement. However, to my utter surprise and great joy, the article was published in the March 1962 issue. Its publication when I was barely 20 years old greatly enhanced my self- confidence.3 I remember that my father, an avid reader of the Modern Review , was really thrilled. The article was widely appreciated, and for the next several years, I used to get enormous satisfaction to find it referred to not only in articles in learned journals, but also in books on the subject. The author was born. The second event occurred as a result of my valuable experience in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the Assam cadre, for which I was selected in 1964. Assam was a polyglot State and it then com- prised present-day Assam, Mizoram and Meghalaya, and also had de jure control over Arunachal Pradesh, then known as NEFA. I took my administrative assignments very seriously, and in fact as a district officer I literally felt a sense of ownership over my jurisdiction. Anything that would go wrong in the district would pain me as well as propel me to action whether it was an ethnic or linguistic conflict or natural calamity. The district and secretariat jobs that I did in Assam literally made me a workaholic. I used to work for 12–14 hours a day without vacation or holiday. In fact, it was in Assam that I became truly a civil servant, thanks to the guidance of common people, senior colleagues and public leaders of the State, perhaps in that order. There was no looking back. Later, I moved to the Centre and my work was recognised by the Government of India as well. I was given several important positions including the sensitive post of union home

3 PROLOGUE secretary. Subsequently, I also became executive director at the World Bank in Washington, DC, representing India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Finally, after my retirement, I became governor of Sikkim during 2008–13. I have found that the world of scholarship always helped to invigorate my work particularly in policy formulation assignments. The author in me was ignited when the then prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, in her capacity as chairperson of the Jawaharlal Nehru Fund offered me the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1982 for a period of two years. The result was my book The Problem of Change – A Study of North-East India published by Oxford University Press in 1987. Later, I wrote a highly popular book India’s Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond also published by Oxford University Press in 1998. Immediately after my World Bank assignment in 2002, I made a foray into political philosophy by authoring the Bahudha approach in my book Bahudha and the Post-9/11 World published by Oxford University Press in 2008. On reflection I find that my upbringing in a village and relentless work in the field as a professional for a decade have helped me to gain a realistic understanding of people living in the villages and in small urban centres, as well as their perspective on government development programmes and the world of public affairs generally. I would go so far as to say that the most important duty of the All India Ser- vice officers is to listen to the people with humility, to have empathy with them and to critically examine whether a particular policy would assist them improve their lives. The work of public policy formulation that I did later in the Secre- tariat, both in Assam and at the Centre, was informed by my understanding of the significance and consequences of government activities as they are carried out to meet aspirations of the people. My village background and the understanding of the habitat of marginalised people, their aspirations, their attitudes towards their parents, children and nature as well as their folklore, folktales and music were of considerable help, both in dealing with implementation of policies in the districts and also in public policy formulation. Policy formulation is a creative process that calls for understanding of society and implementation of those policies is a task of enormous sensitivity. Ensuring delivery of quality services to the people is, of course, a connected responsibility. The work in administration invigorated my writing and ensured that I do not go utopian. My scholarship, on the other hand, was of

4 PROLOGUE considerable assistance in policy formulation assignments. In fact, one complimented and refreshed the other.

The context of this work At the age of 58, I found myself in the 21st century – the dawn of the new millennium. The post-Cold War era had already commenced – a world with a lot of hope and a little fear. Various serious scholars and commentators wrote about the way the world was going. Francis Fukuyama’s formulation of the concept of ‘the end of history’ seemed to be the most appropriate expression of those hopes. He wrote: ‘We may be witnessing the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind’s ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government’.4 In contrast, an opposite point of view was soon articulated by Sam- uel P. Huntington, who asserted that in the post-Cold War world, ‘the rivalry of superpowers is replaced by the clash of civilizations’.5 My own thinking was that there was reason to be optimistic. In 1998, I shared my views in my book India’s Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond. I wrote: ‘In the last decade of the 20th century culture emerged as a third factor in determining the status of a nation in the world after market and military strength, the market having replaced military strength from its position of supremacy in the post- Cold War World’.6 Samuel P. Huntington met me twice during 1997–98 in New Delhi to discuss the viability of the theory of harmony among civilisations in the modern world. Francis Fukuyama also called on me to discuss this theme of harmony among civilisations in June 2001 at Washington, DC. Interestingly, my forecast that culture would come to dominate world affairs did materialise, but not in the manner that I had visual- ised. And this is how it happened. Mahatma Gandhi had instructed his followers that India’s inde- pendence movement was against the servitude and exploitation of the colonial order and not against the British themselves. Senior leaders of the new Republic such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, Abul Kalam Azad, Rajendra Prasad and B. R. Ambedkar concentrated their energy and time in drafting and debating the constitution for independent India and on establishing institutions in the fields of the sciences and arts, literature, philosophy and culture, most significantly on the participation of ordinary citizens in democratic governance.

5 PROLOGUE

This constructive phenomenon was not experienced in several newly independent countries of Asia and Africa, nor among the nation states which emerged after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In these countries, there was deep resentment against the cruelty inflicted by colonialists and dictators on their people and against economic exploitation by imperialist powers. In these circumstances, fundamen- talists in several countries fomented hatred and hostility and used religion and traditional values to support their ideas. The flashpoint came on the morning of 11 September 2001 as air- craft flown by Al-Qaeda attacked the two towers of the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon – America’s defense headquarters in Washington, DC; another plane heading towards Washington, DC, ultimately crashed in Pennsylvania. While the attack itself lasted just 102 minutes (1 hour 42 minutes),7 it heralded an era that has com- pelled a more realistic appreciation of the world we live in. It clearly indicated that religiously motivated violence will pose a major threat to global peace. And so, culture became a vital factor in world affairs, but not in the way I had envisaged. In my subsequent book Bahudha and the post-9/11 World ,8 I therefore focused much attention on religion and religious values. I developed the view that Bahudha is a way out of the present crisis – besides celebrating pluralism; it calls for the cultivation of an attitude that opens oneself to meaningful dialogue and embraces the idea that another person’s view also could have validity.

Changing profile of the contemporary world The Industrial Revolution that began in Britain in the late 18th century initially changed the shape of production processes, particularly in textiles and iron making. It rapidly spread to Western Europe and the United States during 1820–40 and transformed the manufacturing industry. It heralded new technologies – a world of wood and water became a world of steam and iron. Steam power in boats, ships and railways radically altered the old methods of moving goods and people making transportation faster, cheaper and more convenient; iron became the key material of industry and construction. However, the deeper impact of the Industrial Revolution went beyond that of technology – it reshaped the entire gamut of human activity and even the nature of civil society. The tremendous expansion of British territorial and state power was rightly ascribed to its mastery over technology-fuelled political

6 PROLOGUE ambitions, and that was implemented through the prowess of its trad- ers and political leaders. By 1900, Great Britain possessed the largest empire of ‘some twelve million square miles of land and perhaps a quarter of the population of the globe’.9 The spread of industrialisation to France and Germany and the augmentation of their military and naval resources made them powers as well. Russia and Japan, too, were on the ascendant. The most impres- sive rise in this index of power, underwritten by industry and technology, however, took place in the United States. The United States became home of innovation in supersonic jets, new drugs, nuclear technology, missiles, robotics and computers. In fact, it became a pioneer in information and communication technology (ICT) revolution. On the other side, over the years, while British productivity started declining, the Americans were surging forward in all areas including trade and arms, and eventually became the most dominant global power. The 21st century is once again witnessing a shift in the power of nations. The global productivity balance has begun tilting in favour of three major Asian powers: China, Japan and India. China has been rapidly modernising its economy and military since 1980. India, too, is gradually strengthening its capabilities. There is already a growing feeling in Japan that its territorial and political interests cannot be preserved and promoted by remaining merely a trading State and remaining dependent upon the United States for security. The signs are clear that Japan wants to adopt a stronger military and even economic presence in world affairs in the 21st century. The United States, however, still remains a powerful factor in global affairs. The future of the United States as a world power and as a land of innovation and new technology has been strikingly presented by Paul Kennedy in The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers in 1987. He writes:

Although the United States is at present still in a class of its own economically and perhaps even militarily, it cannot avoid confronting the two great tests which challenge the longevity of every major power that occupies the ‘number one’ position in world affairs: whether, in the military/ strategical realm, it can preserve a reasonable balance between the nation’s perceived defense requirements and the means it possesses to maintain those commitments; and whether, as an intimately related point, it can preserve the technological and economic bases of its power from relative erosion in the face of the ever-shifting patterns of global production. This test of

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American abilities will be the greater because it, like imperial Spain around 1600 or the British Empire around 1900, is the inheritor of a vast array of strategical commitments which had been made decades earlier, when the nation’s political, economic, and military capacity to influence world affairs seemed so much more assured. In consequence, the United States now runs the risk, so familiar to historians of the rise and fall of previous Great Powers, of what might roughly be called ‘imperial overstretch’: that is to say, decision makers in Washington must face the awkward and enduring fact that the sum total of the United States’ global interests and obligations is nowadays far larger than the country’s power to defend them all simultaneously.10

Indications are that the 21st century will witness the growth of the process of the democratisation of technology, notwithstanding efforts to limit the sharing of technology. The millennium summit on Sustain- able Development Goals (SDGs) held in the beginning of 2015 at the United Nations made it abundantly clear that the developed nations would be more forthcoming in sharing technology in key areas of environment and energy with developing countries. This has found articu- lation in the Paris Accord on Climate Change, whereby efforts are on to take fresh initiatives for generation of renewable energy particularly solar and wind energy. In such circumstances, the power equations are bound to change – the equation probably moving in favour of Asia as phenomenal rise in economic and military power in China as also of Japan and India indicate. Whether these developments will lead to the recapturing of Asia’s past glory, described by Stewart Gordon in his aptly titled book When Asia Was the World, cannot be definitely proclaimed. He wrote: ‘In the thousand years from 500 to 1500, Asia was an astonishing, connected, and creative place. It had the five largest cities in the world, all at the heart of great empires. A few, such as Delhi, Beijing, and Istanbul, remain major cities today. Others, such as Vijayanagara in southern India, exist only as ruins. It was in Asia that mathematicians invented zero and algebra. Astronomers there tracked the stars more accurately than ever before and invented the astrolabe for naviga- tion. Poets and writers produced literature that still touches the heart. Philosophers generated systems of thinking and justice that influence us today. These works, as well as translations of Greek and Roman knowledge, formed the core of vast libraries’. 11

8 PROLOGUE

By the end of the 21st century, there are likely to be new centres of excellence and innovation in Asia as rise in economic and military capability of some of Asian countries reveal coexisting with those in the United States and Europe, in Latin America and Africa. The direction of history, however, cannot be controlled by any one State or an individual. Several gifted individuals and their innovative ideas as well as political management skills will probably arise to dominate the global scene. The increase in economic strength and military power of a nation state would invariably have an impact on the balance of power in the neighbourhood and perhaps beyond it. In short, uncertainty in power equations will be a governing feature. As Bismarck observed, all powers travel on ‘the stream of Time’, which they can ‘neither create nor direct’, but upon which they can ‘steer with more or less skill and experience’.12

When facts change Such changes in power equations will probably make a profound influence on geopolitics, peace and stability. Such situations call for an effective institutional political architecture. There are no historical precedents for over 200 nation states living together under a shared global roof. We have some limited experience under the UN system and various power groupings aimed at main- taining peace and stability and sharing knowledge and goods. By and large, this has not created a spirit of universalism and any consciousness of collective humanity. Today’s means of instant communication and swift transportation facilitate interconnection. The world finance and trade systems, road, rail and air travel facilities, and also NGOs serve to bring us together. And yet, these very advantages also make the problem of solution finding very complex. In this interdependent world, these complexities can create divisions. We need to understand each other and respect the view of others. At present, all is not well in many parts of Asia and Africa. Many countries of the Middle East including Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen are in turmoil; the Taliban still rules in many parts of Afghanistan; Pakistan’s border regions continue to remain ungoverned; Syria, Jordan and Iraq are in a conflict zone; and North Korea’s plutonium production is aimed at augmentation of its nuclear weapons capability. On the other hand, elsewhere certain nation states have the potential for having major positive impact on world affairs. For example, Japan

9 PROLOGUE is expected to continue as a cohesive and important nation state in the 21st century. It has, however, to guard against its extreme nationalist past and take imaginative measures to solve demographic issues and also deal with the problems of its ageing population. An obvious answer for its demographic dilemma is for Japan to import both talented persons and those who can do semi-skilled labour. Policies adopted by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and other countries for some decades after 1945 may be of guidance. This could make Japan more relevant to global politics where both technology and military muscle are going to play important roles. It may be recalled that Japan modernised itself virtually twice in the last century and a half: first, during the Meiji era (1868–1912) when Japan emerged as a major Asian power. Its victory over Rus- sia in a naval conflict in 1905 and domination over China in the first three decades of the 20th century are worth mentioning. Second, after its crushing defeat in Second World War, Japan rose dramatically in a short period to become a global economic and technology power- house. It continues to rank among the world’s richest countries. In the same context, Russia has somewhat re-established its position since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. This was a big challenge both for the people of Russia and their leadership. While Russia has been unable to develop either its economy or its technological capabilities in proportion to its potential, the strength of its military and extent of its natural resources are such that it can improve its position as a world power in the years to come relatively easily. However, it seems unlikely that Russia will command the same degree of authority in global affairs that it enjoyed in the 20th century. Let me narrate an instructive anecdote. When I became Union Cul- ture Secretary in 1995, I called on Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao to discuss the role of the Ministry of Culture outside India. Prime Minister Rao specifically wanted us to expand our activities in the ASEAN countries and in Russia. He indicated that we should con- nect to Thailand by sending holy relics of Lord Buddha there as a contribution towards the celebration of 50 years of the reign of King, Bhumibol Adulyadej.13 Later, Prime Minister Rao called me to discuss Russia. In the Secre- tariat, we had already finalised the details of a celebration of India’s culture in Russia and I briefed him on this subject. As our discussion proceeded, he assigned me a task which was well beyond my remit as culture secretary. During the visit, he wanted me to develop thoughts on the future of Russia as a global power, observing that though he

10 PROLOGUE was quite aware of the version of diplomats in this matter – a fact he mentioned with a rare smile – but he wanted another opinion. When I travelled to Russia, I interacted with a large number of people, including our own diplomats. However, I could not get a clear answer to my inquiries. In Moscow as well, as is my wont, in my spare time I went to a book shop. This was a large shop having separate sections on classics, management, technology and so on. I saw young boys and girls clustering in different sections of the book shop. The largest number of visitors was, however, in the Classics Section. I watched the visitors closely and saw that they were primarily purchasing Russian classics, widely acknowledged as sources of not merely of national history, but also of pride. I felt this was an indication that Russia would not become a marginal power of no consequence, despite the hard- ships that the Russian people and their nation state were facing at that time. On my return, I gave my impressions to Prime Minister Rao. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from my colleagues and friends that Prime Minister Rao recounted the book shop incident to many others. He was apparently much impressed by the way Russian youth related to their past and its greatness. Even today, I continue to hold the same view of Russia and its future.14 Looking ahead, it seems that the Southeast Asian miracle will see its ups and downs. However, while the region may well remain an area of some prosperity, it is not likely to be of much influence in global political decision-making in the 21st century. The Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) and the European Union may continue to be somewhat significant players in global affairs, but not as major actors in the global geopolitical landscape. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – a group of nation states referred to as BRICS – has emerged on the international scene, and many people believe that they will proceed to build multipolarity in global power equations. Although BRICS shows some promise and has even moved in the direction of setting up a BRICS Bank for financial stability and development, this organisation is far less cohesive than ASEAN or the European Union, and probably would not collectively be a major factor in global affairs. Nevertheless, these nations are likely to play significant individual roles in the 21st century. The emergence of China as a major world power in the 21st century is certain; all indications are that it will further quicken the pace of its advance and become a major economic and political power. However, if unforeseeable political developments result in the weakening of cen- tralised authority, it in turn may hasten the processes of Balkanisation.

11 PROLOGUE

This phenomenon of break-up and disintegration is not uncharacter- istic of the country’s past. China’s dramatic rise in the economic sphere has enabled it to assert itself in regional as well as in global affairs. The political and economic architecture created after Second World War and the present- day global trading system have facilitated China enormously in this behalf. The recent claims of China over the entire South China Sea is significant in that it includes almost all the waters bounded by Vietnam to the west, Malaysia to the south and the Philippines to the east. These waters also contain some islands on which the Chinese have staked their claims. The South China Sea is, in fact, a region which has some of the most important shipping lanes in the world. Further- more, China has border disputes with India and Japan. It is generally believed that fresh Chinese assertions are directly related to its growing economic clout and modernisation in the defence sector. Besides setting up manufacturing units and defence modernisation, China has also invested very significantly in upgrading its infrastructure, health care and education. The Chinese would like others to believe in ‘Chi- na’s peaceful rise’. One hopes it will remain so in the coming decades of the 21st century and will not cause any major conflict.15 Lee Kuan Yew described the future of Asia with considerable insight and justification in his characteristic style:

The 21st century will see Asia recover its place in the world. Their progress in the last 30 years entitles East Asians including the Chinese to be optimistic about their future. Short of some major unforeseeable disaster which brings chaos or breaks up China once again into so many warlord fiefdoms, it is only a question of time before the Chinese people reorga- nize, re-educate, and train themselves to take full advantage of modern science and technology. China will quicken the pace of its development by using inputs from the industrial and newly industrializing countries to catch up with and become, first, a fully industrialized, and next, a high-tech society – if not in 50 years, then in 100 years. 16

India, too, shows considerable promise. It will realise its unfulfilled ambitions of emerging as a major world power. The dust and dirt of centuries, the subjugation of the country by foreigners and deprivation including the denial of education to large sections of people covered the

12 PROLOGUE inner beauty of the Indian people for long. It also dampened their spirit of enquiry and adventure that distinguished India and her brilliant sons and daughters in the past. Since the inauguration of the Democratic Republic, faith in India’s rise at the global level has gained strength and today it looks a clear possibility. There is little doubt that India, with strong and sensible political leadership both at the Centre and in the States can accelerate the pace of its economic and industrial progress. Of course, India’s immense diversity – multiplicity of religions, languages, castes and belief patterns – presents enormous challenges. It makes decision-making processes slow – the difficulty of arriving at a unity of approach necessary for implementation. This results, at times, in delaying concerted action on important national issues. However, this plurality is not such a disadvantage. The various cultural traits and practices as well as religious beliefs that have poured into India throughout the ages have created a kind of synthesis, which needs to be accommodated when political and administrative decisions are taken. If well handled by well-meaning leaders, the presence of diversity in our society can be utilised to bring about a rich and harmonious way of life. India’s march towards progress and celebration of diversity has been guaranteed by democracy and the rule of law. In fact, India’s political stability can be strengthened by a strong and decisive political leadership through its democratic institutions and pluralist ethos. Creative leadership igniting the minds of youth can accelerate both the pace of progress and the construction of an inclusive society in India. India has been a civilisation State since the beginning of the state formation processes. To many, it seems unlikely that the Republic would recapture the territory that made Mughal or British India a confederation of nation states along India’s historic boundaries during the 21st century.17 Towards the end of the 20th century, we saw how the energy of the country’s youth and the dynamism of its entrepreneurs were released. The aspirational class of young men and women in Bangladesh and Pakistan may support the idea of a confederation as a way of conciliation. At a deeper level, there may be a positive response to the call that civilisational oneness makes as against religion and ethnicity, and recently created political boundaries (1947 and 1971) and the will of the armed forces. If we look at the global scene, we find that in this part of the world interplay of ideas (a subject that has been extensively covered in Chap- ter 2 of this book), religion, culture and scientific advancement gives India and neighbouring States a unique position. India has been home to Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Sikhism and others for several

13 PROLOGUE centuries. In its neighbourhood, the people of Nepal profess Hindu- ism. Bhutan is a Buddhist State, so to a large extent are Sri Lanka and Myanmar. An overwhelming majority of people of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are believers in Islam. All these nation states have a history of civilisational unity within their geography and among them. During the last seven decades, the working of democracy in India has imparted new meaning and content to harmonious living among people of different faiths and ethnicities. In fact, in my view, democratic values have developed its own ‘soft power’. This is distinct from ‘hard power’ of the military (including the use of or threat to use force) and trade (including trade embargo). The ‘soft power’ today is the power of example and it constitutes the finest component of a people’s culture like its institutions, customs, values, beliefs, ideas and reputation. Democracy has also developed its own folklores and folktales, as also institutions of independent judiciary, media and other organisations of governance that go to ensure rule of law. Alongside the wave of democracy, we have the growing number of university graduates proficient in different subjects trained in India and in other neighbouring countries, as also at the centres of excellence in the United States, the United Kingdom and others. This is a new class. These young men and women have the ability to create new waves of harmony and convergence among different sections of their society and its leaders in terms of their civilisational prowess. Harmony between these newly acquired attributes of ‘soft power’ that democracy and modern education have given us with the traditional ones like arts, music, dance, drama, painting, sculpture, yoga and philosophical quest would go a long way in building common secular beliefs among people. If India’s civilisational heritage and secular ethos also of other countries succeed to a large extent, it may provide a new way of living for the people of this region and may also be of considerable relevance to the Middle East, Europe and the United States. I call this Bahudha (a subject that has been dealt with in Chap- ter 1 of the book). Would we have a renaissance in this region? Would this renaissance encompass political arena as well and tame forces of geopolitics and narrow nationalism? Would all these lead to cooperation among nation states outlined above culminating into a loose union of states? I attach considerable power to civilisational forces as also to democracy. There can, however, be no definite answer at this stage. Much would depend upon how things take shape in the coming decades. But, to me it is not utopian.

14 PROLOGUE

In this day and age, we are in the midst of major advances in science and technology, economy and politics, culture and human sensibili- ties, all set in motion by the globalisation process that began in the last decades of the 20th century. While the primacy of nation states will continue to dominate the political scene, some significant shifts in global power balances among nation states are likely. Side by side, multinational companies and NGOs will be important participants in society and economy and are also likely to have an indirect influence over polity management. Technology and its various expressions (including media and social media) will make deep impacts on systems of governance, on democracies, on conservation of ecosystems, on education and on ways of living.

Prospects Information Communications Technology (ICT), which I call a civilisational process, has already heralded a new phase in human history. The 21st Century will carry it further. It promises to be an exciting adventure.18 Thanks to the Internet, there will be greater interaction within civil society, within the nation and also between countries of the world. It may even lead to the emergence of an identifiable new class – the global elite. As interaction among people of various geographic regions intensifies, new ideas will take shape and determine both elements of production and ways of living. What is inevitable is that people will need to keep abreast of state of the art technologies. Nation states, too, will have to constantly promote an atmosphere in which the youth can think afresh about their day-to-day problems. Such an environment would help in innovation of new technologies and systems. We live in a world of contrasts where simultaneously the ancient, primitive, medieval and the modern are present not only in social and political structures, but even in the consciousness of a single individual. I have seen a sadhu on the bank of the Ganga putting kumkum on a particular stone and soon thereafter seen it being worshipped as a goddess – people began venerating it. I hold the view that legends, folklores, folktales and beliefs play important roles in shaping the life of the community intertwined as these are with its hopes, fears and aspirations. I have also seen from close quarters missiles, satellites and other marvels created by scientists and technologists. In order to deal with the future world in which we and our children will live, we must

15 PROLOGUE find a balance between these seemingly paradoxical elements, which induce a feeling of both conflict and awe. The 21st century will face the challenges of the eradication of poverty, elimination of dreadful diseases, equity and social justice, global peace and security and ecology. World leaders are well aware of and concerned about these challenges and are making efforts towards finding solutions. Concerted efforts are being made to achieve the targets defined by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in 2000. In the year 2015, the world leaders assembled again at the United Nations and resolved to further the development agenda and adopted 17 SDGs and 169 targets. This was emotively titled ‘Transforming Our World – 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. This, of course, means that the globalisation processes will not be reversed because technologies that have created globalisation will not disappear. It now seems quite probable that nation states will not pursue military conquest to become rich because trade, technology and the market are providing less costly and more durable means of achieving prosperity. At the same time, they will probably pursue their strategic interests and continue acquiring new military technologies and equip- ment. As I see it, globalisation and economic progress are rapidly altering the hierarchy of nation states. New powerful nation states will demand a greater say in the international political structure. While I do not see weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) being eliminated in the 21st century, there could be greater balance between nations. The global political architecture may undergo changes. The UN system will need to be strengthened in order to secure global peace and order. Markets will dominate economic thought processes and innovations, particularly in technology. There is a growing, yet still inadequate, awareness of the important role which religions could and should play in international relations. Notwithstanding these policy deficits, politicised religion will continue to make an impact on global affairs. The Afghanistan phenomenon has clearly indicated that a small country, by using the emotive power of religion can jeopardise the peaceful environment in different parts of the globe. The military intervention in Iraq by the United States in 2003 and civil war in Syria thereafter has further contributed to the creation of instability in the Middle East. The establishment of the Caliphate by the ISIS in 2014 has added to the enormity of the problem. It has exacerbated the schisms between Shias and Sunnis leading to ‘Muslims killing Mus- lims’. Perhaps, the answer lies in believers of different faiths and sects and diverse ethnic or national backgrounds coming together in a spirit

16 PROLOGUE of harmony and cooperation – highlighting the continuing need for dialogue, cooperation and peace. The dialogue among leaders of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia along with major powers about future course of political and military action will help facilitate the making of an informed choice that commenced at Geneva in February 2016 and will continue. This is hoped that moral imperatives are demanded from people and their leaders to move in the direction of making choices and indicating pref- erences. This, however, needs to be supplemented at two levels: one between leaders of Islam and Christian faiths; and the other among pontiffs of Shias, Sunnis and Kurds. It is for us to move towards a clash of civilisations or harmony among them; to allow killing of innocents at the hands of terrorists or to control it firmly; to indulge in wanton destruction of forests or to conserve them; to deny people a say in the formulation of policies which affects their lives or to allow oligarchs to control the destiny of future generations; to teach hatred or love; and so on. This broad and general framework informs this volume. I have tried to address issues of peace, democracy, ecology, education and values, good governance and the interplay of ideas, including science, spirituality and meaningful ways of living. These issues and concerns have been outlined in the following seven chapters of the book: (1) Building peace: the Bahudha approach; (2) Interplay of ideas: the Indian story; (3) Ecological issues in the Himalayan region; (4) Science, spirituality and ways of living: a plea for integrated education; (5) Democracy and its consequences; (6) Good governance: a narrative from democratic India; and (7) The emerging world: challenges and possibilities. I believe that the issues are interlinked and their analyses alone will help us unravel the challenges that we face and are going to encounter if we want to make this earth a liveable planet.

Notes 1 The pathﬁ nders of human civilisation like Buddha, Socrates, Confucius, Jesus, Mohammad and Guru Nanak, however, never wrote a book. 2 Sant Tulsidas, Ramcharitmanas , Mauji Ram Smriti Nyas, New Delhi, n.d., p. 1093. 3 At the age of 8, I got admission into Class VIII in Mahatma Gandhi High School of Bihat, my village, in January 1950. My admission happened in a dramatic fashion on that sunny morning. I had accompanied my grandfather for admission of my uncle and cousin to Class VIII who had passed out from Class VII. We were seated around the headmaster’s table. My

17 PROLOGUE

eyes were fi xed on the globe on the headmaster’s table (which I saw for the fi rst time), and I wanted to touch it. I succeeded in doing so once or twice. The headmaster rose and took me to a corner of the room, made me sit on a chair and gave me three sheets of papers. Each sheet had one question in subjects of Hindi, Algebra and English. He asked me to write the answers. I got engrossed in this task and my grandfather thought that since I was disturbing the headmaster, he gave me some work to do. After a while, I returned these three sheets of paper to the headmaster. He smiled after reading the answer sheets, pinned these and wrote on top of it ‘admitted to Class VIII’. My grandfather thought it was a divine instruction and that no one should interfere with it. I passed the exams and moved on to a college in neighbouring Begusarai in 1954 where my father was a practising lawyer. Here, along with my studies, I developed the habit of writing very fast. At the age of 16 1/2, I became an honours graduate in political science. I was fi rst from my college in the subject. For higher studies, I sought admission in post-graduate Department of Political Science in Patna University and was admitted. The Department had outstanding teachers of global standards: Dr. P. S. Muhar (Harvard), Dr. V. P. Varma (Chicago), Dr. Chatkar Jha (London School of Econom- ics and Politics) and Dr. Veena Majumdar (Oxford). Later, Prof. Brisbane of Harvard University joined the Department on deputation per courtesy of the Ford Foundation. There were several bright classmates, as well. In fact, this was a new awakening. I soon became aware of my inadequacies of my school and college education. I started working in right earnest to meet the new challenge. My being youngest in the class was an advantage as I received affection and support of my teachers. My colleagues after initial months started cooperating with me. Many of them would occasionally come to see my class notes for updat- ing their own, as I had developed the capacity to take down almost every word uttered by the professor by long hand. I did well in the MA exams and stood fi rst in the class breaking all previous records in the subject. 4 Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and The Last Man, The Free Press, New York, 1992. See the introduction of the Book entitled ‘By Way of an Introduction’ (pp. xi–xxii) which explains this argument admirably. 5 Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order , Simon and Schuster, New York, 1996, p. 28. 6 Balmiki Prasad Singh, India’s Culture: The State, the Arts and Beyond , Oxford University Press, New Delhi, Third Impression, 2014, p. xv. 7 Source: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ September 11 attacks). 8 Balmiki Prasad Singh, Bahudha and the Post-9/11 World , Oxford Univer- sity Press, New Delhi, Fifth Impression, 2010. 9 Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers , Random House, New York, 1987, p. 224. 10 Ibid, pp. 514–515. 11 Stewart Gordon, When Asia Was the World , DA Capo Press (Perseus Books Group), Philadelphia, 2008, p. vii. 12 Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers , Random House, New York, 1987, p. 540.

18 PROLOGUE

13 Details are available in the paperback edition of my book – India’s Cul- ture: The State, the Arts and Beyond , Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2010. 14 Kathrin Hille in her essay “What Russians Really Think,” published in The Financial Times, 10 April 2015 (https://www.ft.com/content/505bfd22- de2e-11e4-8d14-00144feab7de), mentions two incidents which go on to conﬁ rm what I had envisaged much earlier. First, Irina Orekhova, who has been teaching foreign students Russian at the Pushkin Institute in Moscow since 1976, sees her responsibility as nothing short of a mission. ‘We are not just teaching a language – we are teaching a culture,’ she says. ‘I want to show our students our civilisation, the Russian world. This is my motherland, my great love.’ Second, many Russians who have travelled or lived abroad have experienced a collision of narratives. For example, law student Adel Zabbarov, 20, spent a year at a Californian high school when he was 16. She writes: ‘When we meet in a Moscow coffee shop, I am struck by how positive he still feels about America – something that has become increasingly rare in Russia. “I want to be an advocate of Western values in Russia and to contribute to making them better understood here,” he says enthusiasti- cally. But even he was taken aback when his history textbook featured a table comparing Stalin and Hitler as examples of totalitarian rulers. “I had never heard people mention Stalin in such a context before,” he says. “Stalin was our wartime leader, and for every Russian the second world war is an issue so close to the heart because every family lost someone in that war.” Is not Russia being guided by its history?’ 15 In August 2013, the Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera’s informed that ‘China has made more and more advancement into the seas’. In his view, ‘When China did not have as much military capability as it has now, China tried to promote dialogue and economic cooperation, setting territorial rows aside’. However, as China’s military strength today is second only to the United States (and as it sees a chance), it is pur- suing expansionist policies. (See Agni, “Studies in International Strategic Issues”, The Journal of the Forum for Strategic & Security Studies , Vol. 16, No. 2, April–June 2014, p. 3). Some scholars, however, believe that China is behaving just as other rising powers have behaved in history: it is laying down new markers, drawing new lines in the land, air, water, sand and snow all around its periphery, seeking to expand its territorial and maritime frontiers, reform- ing and forming institutions to serve its interests and coercing others to fall in line. (See Indrani Bagchi, “India’s Subtly Reshaping Relations with the Dragon”, The Times of India , 8 June 2014, p. 12). 16 Lee Kuan Yew, The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World, Interviews and Selections by Graham Allison and Robert D. Blackwill with Ali Wyne, Belfer Center Studies in International Secu- rity, The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2013, p. 16. 17 It may be recalled that in the Rigveda there are references to Persia – the Per- sians were called ‘Parshavas’ and later ‘Parasikas’. History goes on to estab- lish that from the Mauryan and Ashokan era down to the Mughal period there was free movement of ideas and goods from India to Afghanistan,

19 PROLOGUE

West Asia and to Iran. Jawaharlal Nehru has put it appropriately when he writes in The Discovery of India: ‘. . . The Moghul rulers of India kept up the closest of contacts with Iran and there was a stream of scholars and art- ists coming over the frontier to seek fame and fortune at the brilliant court of the Great Moghul. . . . Then came the British and they barred all the doors and stopped all the routes that connected us with our neighbours in Asia. New routes were opened across the seas which brought us nearer to Europe, and more particularly England, but there were to be no further contacts overland between India and Iran, and central Asia and China. . . . This sudden isolation from the rest of Asia has been one of the most remarkable and unfortunate consequences of British rule in India. . . .’ (See Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1981, pp. 148–149). The partition of India in 1947 has virtually closed all the major land routes for India. Now, India has a very narrow corridor in the Northeast to Myanmar and from there to other Southeast Asian countries, and from Tibet to China. In terms of present geopolitical realities, India has to operate largely through sea and air routes. 18 The origins of the Internet reach back to research commissioned by the United States in the 1960s in order to build robust, fault-tolerant communications via computer networks. Related efforts took place in the United Kingdom and France. However, the modern Internet only became a reality by the mid-1980s. The funding of a new network by the National Science Foundation by the United States in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial backbones, led to worldwide participation in the development and merger of new networking technologies. By the 1990s, it became fully commercial and global in its reach and today it inﬂ uences virtually every aspect of human life (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet dated 14.9.2013). The Internet has enabled people to reach out to others across and around national boundaries faster and cheaper.

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