O P I N I O N S

guest column
US ties pegged on Indian appetite for technology
The aim of India-US dialogue is that as India rises and seeks an adaptation of existing rules, it does so in a concerted manner with the US.
Kanwal Sibal
Our ties with the US have improved remarkably. The number of dialogues that the two countries are holding — on energy, education, agriculture, health, development, science and technology, environment, trade, defence, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and high technology — far exceed those with any other country.

Touchstones
The way to go — Humayun Tomb restoration
It is a heroic effort of the team of architects, researchers and workers, who focused on ensuring that all restoration work matched the original.
Ira Pande
Among the scores of tombs that dot the landscape of Delhi, Humayun’s Tomb stands in a class of its own. Architecturally, it is believed by many to be the precursor to the Taj Mahal and its double dome, the first ever constructed by the Mughals in India, was later the model for the awe-inspiring dome of the Taj Mahal.

ground zero
Will Modi please spell out the ABCD of his agenda
It is time Modi spelt out what he intends to do if he became PM. His track record on development in Gujarat may get him an A-plus, but there is a big question about his ability to keep India united in its great diversity and not polarise communities.
Raj Chengappa
An impish smile plays on the lips of Nitish Kumar, Bihar’s Chief Minister, every time he mentions Narendra Modi. At a lecture organised by the National Minorities Commission in Delhi on Friday evening, Kumar was sarcastic about the “Modi wave” in the wake of the Gujarat Chief Minister’s formal nomination as the BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate for 2014. Kumar termed the wave as “a lot of hot air from a blower” and stated, “Yeh blower ki hawa is desh ki kudrati hawa ka mukabala nahi kar sakti aur kudrati hawa ekta ki hawa hai.” (These artificial winds can never match the natural wind, which always blows for unity in diversity).

guest column
US ties pegged on Indian appetite for technology
The aim of India-US dialogue is that as India rises and seeks an adaptation of existing rules, it does so in a concerted manner with the US.
Kanwal Sibal

Our ties with the US have improved remarkably. The number of dialogues that the two countries are holding — on energy, education, agriculture, health, development, science and technology, environment, trade, defence, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and high technology — far exceed those with any other country.

The objective is to build Indian sectoral capacities with US technology and know-how, a process that would help India grow and provide the US greater opportunities in an expanding Indian economy.

The US position on India’s permanent membership of the UN has evolved positively, indicating that the US is inclined to open the strategic space that India claims for itself. The US has also committed itself to promoting India’s membership of the existing four non-proliferation regimes.

The US attaches importance to bilateral dialogue on global commons — air, space, sea and cyberspace. The aim is that as India rises and seeks an adaptation of existing rules, it does so in a concerted manner with the US. Freedom of navigation and securing the sea lanes of communication are areas where the US has particular interest in partnering India, given India’s dominating position in the Indian Ocean and the steady expansion of its navy.

Cybersecurity is a matter of urgent international attention and India’s emergence as a major IT power, along with the vast expansion of its telecommunications network, makes it a partner of choice to establish new rules of the game.

India’s defence ties with the US in the last decade signify greater mutual trust. In the last few years, the US has bagged orders worth about $9 billion, but it expects a greater share of defence procurements.

India is holding numerous joint military exercises with the US, especially elaborate naval exercises in the Indian Ocean area. These convey an important strategic message in view of massive trade and energy flows through these waters.

The US has described India as a lynchpin of its rebalancing towards Asia. China’s growing muscle-flexing requires the US to strengthen its presence in Asia to give confidence to its allies who may otherwise seek accommodation with China. Because of its attributes, the US clearly sees India as a vital partner in the years ahead.

India, however, is wary of this re-balancing strategy as it doubts the capacity and inclination of the US to contain China beyond a certain point because of the huge economic and financial interdependence between the two countries.

On the issues of terrorism and religious extremism, while bilateral cooperation in the area of counter-terrorism has progressed, the ambivalence of US policies undermines Indian interests.

The US decision to talk to the Taliban disregards India’s strong objection to any political accommodation with it without insisting on the red lines laid down by the international community. The US decision to leave Afghanistan in 2014 in conditions permitting an orderly withdrawal with the help of the Pakistani military creates a potential security problem for India.

The Iranian issue has created wrinkles in our bilateral relationship as US sanctions have interfered with India’s energy security, forcing India to reduce its oil intake from Iran quite drastically and blocking Indian investments in attractive long-term projects in the hydrocarbon sector in Iran.

The last decade has also seen a significant expansion of India-US economic ties, with trade in goods standing at $62 billion and the total exchanges amounting to over $100 billion, making the US India’s largest economic partner.

The prospects of nuclear cooperation with the US have dimmed because of our nuclear liability act. The US is pressing for signing a “small works agreement” between Westinghouse and NPCIL to register some progress to fulfil India’s commitment to order 10,000 MW of nuclear power from US reactors at two sites.

Other issues have contributed to a distinct lowering of enthusiasm for the India relationship in the US, such as perceived Indian protectionism exemplified by our Preferential Market Access decision to force foreign companies to set up manufacturing facilities in the telecom sector; Supreme Court judgment on the patents issue which has exacerbated concerns about IPRs; and retroactive application of tax legislation as in the Vodafone case. The US corporate mood towards India has soured, and this needs to be reversed.

The US is pushing for a Bilateral Investment Treaty. On climate change and WTO issues, India and the US have differences.

On the Indian side, we have problems with the new Comprehensive Immigration Bill that will put more restrictions on the movement of personnel from India to the US in the IT sector, the increased cost of H1B and L1 visas that will impose sizeable costs on the Indian IT sector.

The general view is that the relationship is now suffering from the fatigue factor.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama will be grappling with these issues when they meet shortly.

The writer is a former Foreign Secretary of India.

Touchstones
The way to go — Humayun Tomb restoration
It is a heroic effort of the team of architects, researchers and workers, who focused on ensuring that all restoration work matched the original.
Ira Pande

Among the scores of tombs that dot the landscape of Delhi, Humayun’s Tomb stands in a class of its own. Architecturally, it is believed by many to be the precursor to the Taj Mahal and its double dome, the first ever constructed by the Mughals in India, was later the model for the awe-inspiring dome of the Taj Mahal. Humayun’s Tomb lies in what is possibly the largest historical necropolis in the capital. There may be several reasons for this, but the main was that the nearby tomb of the great Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya provided the sanctity that kings and princes sought for their bones after death.

In those far-off times, this area stood on the banks of the Yamuna and along with the picturesque vista provided by its blue waters, the Tomb was framed by the backdrop of the Raisina Hills that rose behind it. Over time, the Yamuna shifted and moved away to degenerate into the filthy sewer it is now while the Raisina Hills were flattened and New Delhi, the capital for the British sarkar, became the new focus of attention. The magnificent tomb and its surrounding Char Bagh also slowly lost their sheen. The dark crypts in the tomb became a sanctuary for bats and the delicate ‘jaalis’ that wove a web of lace over its interiors as the sun moved over the structure, were broken and lost their magic. Lovers and vandals left their names inscribed as hideous graffiti on walls that watched helplessly at this vulgar desecration.

And then, a few years ago, the Aga Khan Foundation decided to revive the entire Nizamuddin Basti area. All encroachments (the ubiquitous ‘pinture repaar’ kind of shacks) and illegal taxi stands were cleared, the denizens who lived in a park across the Nizamuddin West area were sent packing and the area was cleaned up.

The Char Bagh around the tomb has also been cleared and provided clear water. PTI

Last week, the restored Humayun’s Tomb was unveiled and although I have not been able to visit it since, I am told that it is an unbelievable transformation. A special team of architects, masons and landscape artists, have put in nine years of hard work to make this possible. Ratin Nanda, a renowned conservation architect, the leader of this team, was aided by an enthusiastic team of researchers and workers. He focused his team’s efforts to ensure that all restoration work matched the original. So, instead of using cement and concrete, they used lime and mortar and even egg whites to provide the polish that gave the floors their special sheen. Workshops conducted by the famed Iznik tile makers of Turkey trained the masons entrusted with making tiles to cover the missing ones. The result is that the brilliant turquoise blue, the hallmark of that period, we now see is the exact replica of the original mosaics. The Char Bagh was similarly cleared and replanted to provide the environs with channels of clear blue water with fountains, lined with cypress and other plants favoured by Mughal horticulturists. It is a heroic effort and while the team of architects, masons and horticulturists must be lauded for their efforts, one must not forget that but for the generous funds provided this may never have been possible.

The Prime Minister, who along with the Aga Khan and Ratan Tata, presented this restored wonder to the nation, expressed hope that corporate funds would be available for such restoration work elsewhere. I fervently hope that this becomes a reality. One still reels from the memory of the irate letters sent by scholars and historians after the ASI (or was it the CPWD?) was let loose on the Red Fort a few years ago to repair and restore it. There is also the memory of similar ‘work’ done in the Lodi Gardens area, where the smaller tombs were ‘restored’ by the ASI by cementing over the broken stone-work, so that they now resemble mini-Sulabh Shauchalayas. God preserve us from such ‘preservation’ work!

And now to another treasure that has come back recently to our country after a long absence. The National Museum is currently holding a special exhibition to showcase the return of the Yogini. The Yoginis were part of a tantric cult (an offshoot of a Shaivite tradition) that worshipped the special powers in goddesses with secret rituals and rites. All over the Bundelkhand region, in Assam and even the Himalayan region, there are temples where you may see these goddesses with strange faces. Their voluptuous bodies are those of women but their faces are often those of animals. But what I wish to draw your attention to is a matter of another concern.

This Yogini was stolen from a small temple in the Jhansi area in Bundelkhand and sold for an undisclosed (but doubtless huge) amount to a French collector, whose widow donated it to the Indian embassy after her husband passed away. Why she chose to do so intrigues me. After all, if her conscience smote her at buying a stolen idol, surely she could have spoken earlier or not allowed her husband to buy it. Or, she could have sold it to another collector if she disliked it. Why did she return it? We may never discover the mystery behind its purchase and sale but this is my personal take. Some ‘idols’ and some tombs come with the insurance of a curse. We have the example of the tragic deaths of the archaeologists who led the expedition to uncover the secret of Tutenkhamen’s Tomb in Egypt. I know of a friend who picked up a votive tablet in Ladakh to decorate her home and had such a spate of illnesses visit her family, that she went all the way back to put it back where she had taken it from.

Perhaps something similar lies behind the return of this Yogini. Photographs of her in the newspapers convey the power of the sculpture and the energy her body seems to radiate. I plan to visit her soon to discover whether I can feel those vibes.