PAPER TIGERS ARE ROARING

In other words, better editing and a more representative choice of sectors would have made the book richer. However, the academic segment of four papers and discussions around them are excellent. What makes the book impossible to put together is the non-academic component, comprising a panel discussion featuring Arun Shourie, Ronen Sen, Frank Wisner and Jagdish Bhagwati (moderated by Panagariya) and a dinner speech by Kamal Nath. These don’t normally figure in conference volumes and the transcriptions make the book more interesting. Here is Bhagwati from the panel discussion: “The success of the Prime Minister up until now in getting things moving in these directions appears to have been limited. It is tempting to think that the alliance with the communists is at the heart of this problem… The men who gather around Mrs Sonia Gandhi, and detract from the reforms, appear to be the displaced socialists who went out of favour with the reforms starting in 1991.” Shourie’s take is, “Everything turns on the Prime Minister. We should not merely go on the reputation of the Prime Minister as being a reformer. Academics, because of their personal friendships, are often misled by this. In the end, will a person stake everything on an issue, on a step that he or she has taken?” However, there are far too many typos in the Shourie tapes.

On Indo-US relations, Sen says, “If Indian investments in the US pick up rapidly, and agreements like the one on civil nuclear cooperation continue to materialize, the implications will be much greater. It will have an impact on investments in high technology, defense cooperation, and other areas where the basic element is in terms of long-term predictability in cooperation.” Wisner adds, “But as I look around the room at those who represent the Indian-American community, I would encourage the audience not to forget to write your representative in Congress sometime between now and early November and let them know that your next vote will matter if they vote the right way on the Indian-American civil nuclear agreement.” When Bill Clinton appointed Wisner ambassador to India, he rung up John Kenneth Galbraith and was told, “Frank, welcome to a life sentence.” The panel discussion has such juicy tidbits and is more fun. And understandably, its primary focus is Indo-US relations. In contrast, the academic component is economy-centred and more serious.

This leaves Kamal Nath’s speech as the last element of the non-academic segment. In terms of selling India and the Indian growth story to rest of the world, this does extremely well. There is just one sentence that leaves one scratching one’s head. “And when we talk about the India story I’m reminded of what Albert Camus once said — that great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant’s revolving door. All good things have a ridiculous beginning.” This is a reference to the 1991 reforms, the balance-of-payment crisis and India having to pledge gold to avoid default. Hence, the Camus reference is fine. But why did the commerce minister use the word “ridiculous”?