PM: To aid research, may consider declassification

Taking off from where he had left a couple of months back, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh used another book launch ceremony

Taking off from where he had left a couple of months back, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh used another book launch ceremony today to disclose that he will look into the possibility of de-classiflying official documents after a 50-year period, if not earlier, to enable proper research and informed decision making.

Singh also pointed out the need to resolve the question of 8220;unsettled boundaries8221; with neighbouring countries, as such a situation only accentuated security concerns and was an 8220;invitation to outsiders to intervene8221; in matters of the subcontinent.

Clearly, the Prime Minister, who is grappling nowadays to find a solution to the Siachen dispute as well as the India-China boundary question, was calling for creative diplomacy to resolve issues of the past while giving strategic reforms another push.

On February 15, while speaking at the launch of the Indian Foreign Affairs Journal, the PM had departed from the text of his speech to point out that there was a 8220;dearth of long-term strategic thinking in our country8221; and said it was important to have strategic experts who have a 8220;long-term stake in the system8221;. He re-emphasised this today.

8220;In this age of competitive politics we have all become short-term maximisers. We have, in fact, no class which we can call as an establishment. By establishment, I mean a group of men and women who are secure enough to think about long-term issues,8221; he said while releasing noted diplomat Jagat Mehta8217;s book 8216;Negotiating for India: Resolving problems through diplomacy8217;.

He build on this to address the issue of access to official documents. Drawing from his own academic experience, he pointed out that other democracies do have a system of de-classifying information that would be helpful in making better decisions in the future. But, in India, the closest accounts come from personal memoirs and that he would like to replace this dependence on 8220;memory and personal notes8221; with a record of policy making.

8220;I think time has come for us to have at least a 50-year rule, if not a 30-year rule, that allows scholars and researchers free access to declassified official papers. I would like to have this issue examined so we can take an early and informed decision.8221;

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Having set the stage for a possible visit to Pakistan this summer through his speech at the recent launch of the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service, the PM had reason for raising the issue of unsettled boundaries. Moreover, this is also the India-China friendship year and high-level visit by him as well as Chinese President Hu Jintao are on the cards.

8220;Unsettled borders in the West and in the East and in the North is something which worry me,8221; he observed, adding that 8220;this unsettled state is an invitation to outsiders to intervene in the affairs of this subcontinent in which we live8221;. While recognising the 8220;obvious imbalance8221; of India8217;s size in relation to its neighbours poses a challenge, the Prime Minister underscored the value of diplomatic negotiations and saw in the method a way to move forward.

8220;How can we work together? How can we put our past behind us? How can we overcome the burden of history and march forward? I suggest that there are no answers that lie beyond human ingenuity and diplomacy. Enlightened leadership in South Asia has no option other than diplomacy to deal with the challenges at hand.8221;