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New
Delhi, 08 October 2006
A trip to Cape Town
in S Africa and back, to attend a path breaking conference on Joint
Operations on 18 and 19 September was an eye opener. The speakers
discussed UN Operations in Sudan, Darfur, Congo and Rwanda in great
detail. Mrs Whelam, US under secretary for
Africa, spoke about the operations in
Liberia and all the
difficulties faced. The subject of sea basing and navies in the
Indian Ocean, especially the rise of the Indian Navy, came in for
spot light discussions. Coincidentally Indian Navy's guided missile
destroyer INS Mumbai was in port on a goodwill mission, for the
Africa Aerospace and Defence show and she was berthed right
alongside S Africa's new Meko 2000.
Seven Indian
companies including BrahMos team led by CEO Dr Sivathanu Pillai, BEL,
DRDO, all defence shipyards and ordnance factories displayed their
wares at the excellently laid out India pavillion. Surprisingly HAL
was absent but India made a mark and some 50 Indian reps from the
PSUs, IAF, Navy and Army led by Mrs Dr Chaddha JS( Exports) made an
impression. FOC-in-C West Vice Admiral SS Byce also arrived for few
days and S Afrcia got a very good taste of India's capabilities.
INS Mumbai also
went to Durban for PM Dr Manmohan Singh's visit which was a
resounding success. Indian Navy's flag showing exercise paid rich
dividends and many could not believe that the powerful INS Mumbai
with 16 Uran missiles, 3D Fregat radar, Kashmir SAM and Indian
sonars, was
India
built and so powerfully armed. The Indian sailors also made an
impression. The days of $500 and P forms when the Navy paid almost
no foreign allowances to its officers and sailors is history. S
Africa which made the atom bomb in the 70s and then shut all
facilities has changed its policy and now will support India in the
NSG. It may export uranium too to
India
and President Mbeiki and Dr Manmohan Singh hit it off as they had
met in Brasilia for the IBSA meet and in Havana. MEA too now
realises what good the Navy can do for Indian diplomacy.
Two years ago we
had posted a piece on ‘Realising the Indian Dream’. Now we learn
that Wharton India Economic Forum 2006 (WIEF), the premier
student-run business forum focusing on India, will take place on
November 11th, 2006 at the Doubletree Hotel in
Philadelphia.
Established in 1996, this year marks the eleventh year of the
conference and also coincides with the 125th anniversary of The
Wharton School. The theme of this year's conference is 'Realizing
the Indian Dream.' This year's conference at Wharton will host
important business leaders such as Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto
Ltd.; Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group; Captain G R Gopinath,
Founder and MD, Air Deccan; Rajat Kumar Gupta, previous Worldwide
Chairman, McKinsey; Sunil Kant Munjal, CEO and MD, Hero Cycles Ltd.;
Rajendra Pawar, Chairman, NIIT; Gunit Chadha, CEO and MD, Deutsche
Bank AG, India; Dr. Anil Khandelwal, Chairman and MD, Bank of
Baroda; Adarsh Kishore, Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Dr. Ashok
Lahiri, Chief Economic Advisor, Department of Economic Affairs;
Ambassador Raminder Singh Jassal, Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of
India; Rajeev Ratan Shah, Member-Secretary, Planning Commission; and
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and MD, Biocon Ltd.
The past decade saw
India
at the forefront of the global business, diplomacy, defence
cooperation and political landscape. Though the success was
attributed to a myriad of factors such as the country's focus on
information technology, favourable economic policies, and a growing
number of ambitious entrepreneurs, the common thread underlying all
of these initiatives is the Indian Dream. Although the Indian Dream
parallels the idea of the American Dream, it is necessary to delve
into what exactly constitutes India's ideal for success.
The nation must be
made to imbibe a Maritime Consciousness as CNS Admiral Arun Prakash
put it,
at Mumbai
on 4th October during his visit to
Training Ship Jawahar. He presented the SEa Cadet corps with the CNS
Standard. The parade, a show of naval semaphore and naval customs
was put on by the few hundred young Sea Cadets aged between 7 to 18
years, who don naval uniform to visit Jawahar or naval
establishments every Sunday to learn about the Navy and the Seas. It
was a moving show of India's youth and the Mumbai media gave due
publicity
––
Mumbaikars have some sea consciousness
––
but north India was content to report headlines on how India's civil
companies were rated most corrupt by Transparency International.
India must learn to
concentrate on the need for discipline, patriotism and integrity.
Hony Commodore Rabi Ahuja, following in the foot steps of his
illustrious father as head of the Sea Cadet Corps, showed how it can
be done for hundreds of children
––
Phiroze Godrej whose husband is a sailor needs to be congratulated
too for gathering funds for the Corps.
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