THE LEADERS
HomeMovie LibraryAbout Uslinks

<< Back|1|2|3|
interview with Omar Abdullah

The IndiaCIA The World Factbook

YI: India has always played an important part in global affairs. Today, its phenomenal economic rise makes it more prominent than ever. What are its foreign policy priorities?

Abdullah: I can't speak for the government, in as much as what it is doing. But I know what it should be doing, and that is to concentrate on those areas that we have largely neglected. I served in the government under Prime Minister Vajpayee where we coined the 'Look East' policy, which was that we needed to pay more attention to our neighbors on the East rather than on the West, greater interaction with ASEAN, closer interaction with China, more strategic relations with Japan. At the same time, India has traditionally been a great friend of the African nations, of the Middle East countries. The common complaint about India in Africa was that we only ever remember the African countries when there is a vote either in the World Trade Organization or in the United Nations. That's when send out emissaries to get their vote, but once we got their vote we forgot about them. Our idea in government at that time was that we needed a constant engagement, like Africa, so they wouldn't feel neglected. And with our growing economic clout, we also needed to benefit them, in terms of aid development programs. We have a lot of tried and tested technology that works in poverty-stricken countries. You cannot import this sort of western technology into sub-Sahara Africa and expect it to work. But you can certainly import what India has done, in term of the green revolution for food production, in terms of the white revolution for milk production; the sort of rural financing you have in Bangladesh, the Grameen bank And make that work in parts of Africa. So, the idea was to focus on those regions that we neglected, that we never really looked at. American and parts of Europe continue to remain important. In fact, we pay them far too much importance. We need to pay more importance to some of our less fortunate friends.

YI: With regards to the Look East policy, what should be its focus?

Abdullah: I think trade will lead to all this. The people to people exchanges are rather pointless because that's largely tourism, which is fine. It's good to fly the flag but it doesn't really cement relationships. If trade increases, everything else falls into place as well. Now that we have increased the level of trade with the ASEAN countries, with China, it's amazing how many Indians are traveling to these places. I used to keep remarking more in jest than anything else when I was a minister, that if you could get the Indian film industry to film in one particular country, you can rest assured the Indian tourists will follow. I know for a fact that when I visited Indonesia with the Prime Minister Vajpayee on a state visit, Kush Kush Hu Ta He was the new movie out and almost everybody in Indonesia could sing that song, whether they understood the words or not made no difference but they were happy to sing along, even for the state banquet that was hosted for Prime Minister Vaypayee. It's an amazing feeling to see that impact, because we all know what Hollywood does, but to see Indian moves have that sort of impact was a great feeling.

YI: Do you believe that Bollywood is a big export to Indonesia, and has been for a long time?

Abdullah: It is, and it does a lot for terrorism as well. Indian movies started filming in Switzerland, and Indian tourists traveled there. Indian movies went to Mauritius, then you suddenly have Indian tourists there. A few movies have also been produced in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur and lo and behold, there were Indians getting themselves photographed in front of the Carcoza. So there is a sort of symbiotic relationship between all this things: trade, economic activity.

YI: What about China? India and Chinese used to be competing, like in the areas of security, politics and even the world stage. Do you agree with the concern of many Southeast Asian critics that China could be a threat to the region?

Abdullah: I don't think just in the region. Globally, China now has the capacity to cause it a threat if she so chooses. And while we continue to focus on the possibility of a military threat, I think more focus should be paid on the economic threat, in the sense that China today is the largest holder of US currency and treasury bonds. Imagine a scenario where China was to suddenly flood the international market with dollars and treasury bonds. The US dollar would crash, if this would happen it would take half the world's economy with it. You just can imagine what kind of scenario that would create. It may or not may be in China's interest to do that, but the possibility always exists. China, for better or for worse, is part of that second wave. And I think it would be foolish not to keep these factors in mind when we talk about China. I doubt a situation would arise wherein such threats would actually realize themselves. But you always have to plan the scenarios that are at least likely.

YI: The fact that China must feed more than one billion people, consume so much oil, scares people.

Abdullah: Sure. The way in which China is sucking up natural resources these days is phenomenal. It shows no signs of slowing down. With India's economy speeding up, India is also a huge consumer of oil and natural gas, which makes it even more imperative that we start looking for alternate sources of energy. I don't know whether we would be able to generate enough to satisfy the demands of countries like China and India, but it will have to happen.

YI: On a more personal note, with such a busy schedule, what do you do to relax?

Abdullah: I spend as much time as I can at home with my wife and kids. I'm not a very social person, so to speak. You won't find me in very many parties in Delhi. You will find me curled up in the sofa watching movies with my kids. I read as much as I can, listen to a lot of music. I go on holidays a couple of times a year and I enjoy adventure sports as much as possible. If I get the time I go skiing, scuba diving or even dirt bike driving. It keeps my head on my shoulders and makes me realize there is a world outside the world of politics which is so easy to forget. Otherwise, politics is such a 247 profession. And it's become more so now that everyone has a mobile telephone. And you're not expected to have your phone switched off in India. So when party colleagues or workers, or even voters call me on my mobile phone and it's switched off, there's hell to pay. I have to explain why I had my mobile off. So, it's good to get away once in a while.

YI: What's your favorite book?

Abdullah: It's difficult to say. One book that I really enjoyed a few months ago is a book about Bombay called Santarap. I went to college in Bombay, and this book is basically fiction but based on a real live story about a guy who escapes from Australia, then settles in Bombay and gets sucked in with the underworld. It was all about the places I used to visit as a college student. And suddenly you see the same places again in a completely different light because next to your table, is a possible drug dealer going down, or someone is organizing a hit on a rival gang member. You sit back and think, 'My God, I think I was in that restaurant and to think the guy next to me was possibly doing just that. It gives you a whole perspective of what the city was like.

YI: How often do you go to Kashmir? Do you go on holidays there?

Abdullah: No, I work there. Now that parliament is in session, I'm in Delhi about five days a week. Otherwise I'm in Srinagar from Monday to Friday, I fly from Delhi on Friday afternoons. On Monday morning, I catch the first flight back to Delhi.

YI: You have children?

Abdullah: I have two boys.

YI: Are they in any way directed or groomed to follow in your footsteps?

Abdullah: No, no. I wasn't directed or groomed either. If my mother had her way I would have never been in politics. My father said that he wasn't keen, but he really never stopped me. I hope I retire before my kids have the option of joining politics. I think it's time we give it a break. Three generations are enough. I think we need to get away from this. If they do, I hope it will be at a time when I'm no longer in politics. Then they can do whatever they like. I think they need to get away from this thing of a family that considers itself to be a recipient of a birthright.

YI: There are many such families in India.

Abdullah: We do. But as I said, in a democracy, it doesn't matter. You get dynasties in the US, considered to be one of the great democracies. There are no such dynasties in the UK yet. It's strange, given how old the parliament has existed. They already have a royal family, I guess they don't need dynasties. It works.

On that note, we would like thank you again for being with us.

<< Back|1|2|3|
>> Page Top
|HOME|MOVIE LIBRARY|ABOUT US|WEB LINKS|
Copyright © The Leaders all rights reserved.