NEW DELHI: India just does not matter to the world notwithstanding the Indians great talent for self-delusion and self-importance, says an Indian journalist, Saeed Naqvi.
Writing bitterly of his experiences and observations in “Pioneer”, Naqvi recalls that Indian ambassadors in foreign lands get confronted with the fact of India’s insignificant place on landing. Newspapers and politicians pay no attention to India or its leaders. Recently when Prime Minister Narasimha Rao went to Japan, the journalist notes, he received less media attention than the foreign ministers of Mongolia and Thailand India’s self-importance received a big drubbing. Yet, wonders the journalist, it did not get dismissed. Sometime ago Rao went to Germany. Chancellor Kohl could not spare much time for the prime minister. Inspite of the Indian prime minister’s efforts, the German leader refused to meet Indian journalists accompanying Rao. When Atal Behari Vajpayee went to China in 1978, that country invaded Vietnam. That was exactly what Vajpayee had gone who advise the Chinese not to do. Recently Indian president Venkataraman visited China and while he was there, the Chinese exploded the biggest nuclear device without dropping a hint to the guests. The Chinese explosion and its reactions was a lead story on the world media but no one took notice of the presence of the Indian president in China. The only occasion the U.S. newspapers splashed photograph of India’s then ambassador, Vijay Laxmi Pandit, was when she had gifted a baby elephant to a zoo. The arrival of the elephant and its being lifted by arcane for delivery to the z00 was an occasion for news photos and the U.S. newspapers carried the elephant’s photographs along with the ambassador.
Prime Minister Morarji Desai visited Dacca in 1991 when — Bangladesh was going through its routine food shortages i wanted to make a gift of wheat and to announce it on that country’s television network.
But the television show was cancelled and the Indian delegation was told that a public meeting would be arranged which would be televised, But that meeting too was cancelled. It was announced that the Indian prime minister would make the announcement at his farewell press conference, That press conference was never held. Thus India had to hand over wheat without any fuss,”
Article extracted from this publication >> July 17, 1992
