An Opening in India

Last week, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, the 80-year-old stalwart of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), resigned ahead of a reshuffle in the cabinet of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The reshuffle took place on Sunday morning, bringing in a younger face (at 59 years old) in the External Affairs post, as well as ushering in a few more cabinet members close to expected Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi. This is important, and hopefully this will precipitate changes along similar lines that will progress the country. This commentator is particularly concerned with foreign policy, especially the unresolved conflict over Jammu and Kashmir, but not excluding the development of sustainable, productive relationships with China and the United States.

Youth is an influential factor in foreign policy-making. Krishna was notorious for his gaffes, such as his reading of the Portuguese speech during his speaking time while at the United Nations, and generally lacked the energy required to represent a country rising in economic and political stature. While Krishna is an intelligent man, he is 80 years old! Stagnancy has become the norm in Indian politics (which is not unexpected, as India runs slowly), and the best way to wake India up and move it in the right direction in international relations is with an infusion of youth. The younger generations that have been less exposed to the traumatic wars and slow politics of the 1950s through the 1980s, and will likely enter their position of governance with a cooler and clearer collective head.

The Indian government chugs along, and it remains to be seen what actual effect this reshuffle will have on Indian policy formation. However, a mildly more energetic Minister, as well as a change in the dynamic, will necessarily get the juices flowing as the country transitions to a new generation of leadership. On foreign policy, the way to jolt India forward is to shift the policymaking process to the younger generations. This is hard in Indian society, as elders are naturally favored and students make their way into influential positions at least a decade later than one would see in the United States. However, this cabinet shuffle provides hope that the process of change toward the new generation is possible, even if incidental.