Next Two Years Will Be Crucial For India's Foreign/Intelligence Departments

The next two years are crucial for India in terms of foreign policy and intelligence operations. Why? Because in the next 1-2 years there will be a change in leadership starting with India itself, US, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some 2-3 more countries. So should India’s intelligence agencies be caught with its pants down? No! India should in earnest start collecting data and information on the likes and dislikes, policies, stance, national and world view of the new aspirants and the parties they represent in the respective countries. India, starting today, should put its foreign office and external intelligence agencies on high alert and should direct them to gather all possible information---personal, professional, social, public---on the candidates and the parties which are likely to come into power in these countries. This information gathered will be useful for India to articulate its stand and policies when the time is ripe.

CAN THERE BE AN ASIAN CENTURY? There has been talk that the 21^st century will be Asia's, just as the 20^th century was America's and the 19^th century was Britain's. The 20^th century was America’s not by default or accident but by design because it willfully crafted a world strategy for global dominance by building crucial alliances and associations. So we saw the formation of NATO, the Asia-Pacific alliance, and so on. But does Asia have such alliances in place? Not by the looks of it. The only Asian body in operation is the Asian Development Bank. There have been regional associations that have flourished but nothing on a pan-Asian level. Is it necessary? I can't say, because Asian countries are ideologically diverse. In this context, India should strengthen the SAARC,  BIMSTEC, Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation, etc. We should seek to have a influence and be able to shape events in a radius of 4,000-5,000 km from our shoreline and land borders.

WELL THOUGHT-OUT REFORMS NECESSARY: The economic reforms of 1991 have definitely helped many people in India become wealthy. However, the second wave of economic reforms should be designed to bring riches to the poor, give a boost to MSMEs and generate large-scale employment, build a strong middle and lower middle class, improving the human development indices levels and bringing more people out of the poverty index. Reforms are badly needed in the labour sector, the administrative sector, the police sector and policies must be made attractive to draw FII and foreign investments. Goods and Services Tax and pension reforms should also be implemented at the earliest. What happened to SEZs? No one is hearing about them. The setting up of SEZs and their becoming operational and functional must be speeded up to boost manufacturing in the country. In the manufacturing sector, a focus should be on small and medium sized enterprises.

DATA, INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE CENTRE: India’s politicians are hopelessly and inadequately informed. Parliamentarians, legislators and councilors are not getting the right information and advice to implement far reaching changes. Legislators are politicians in India who have scant regard for learning and knowledge. But we should always remember that the 21^st century is a data, knowledge and information age. Our legislators are woefully ill equipped to handling, storing, processing and analyzing data, information and knowledge. Each councilor, legislator, and parliamentarian at the municipal, state and national level must have an office of 6-7 experts on economy, business, industry, education, health, security at the municipal, state and national level and this team should give our legislators sound advice which can help them frame policies and take the necessary action for the welfare and good of their respective municipalities, state, district or the nation. Officers of the Indian Information Services along with experts from the private, public and civic life should man these services.