President’s `proactive’ speech leaves the government shocked

The tone and tenor of the address and the blunt language used by Narayanan has surprised observers. Banquet speeches tend to be predictably effusive and full of praise for the country whose visiting dignitary is being feted.

Narayanan’s hard-hitting speech was a departure from this convention and came as a jolt in the midst of the bonhomie after the joint press conference by Clinton and Vajpayee earlier in the day. His choice of words, like “headman” to describe the role of the US in a post-Cold-War world and his critical reference to Clinton’s description of the subcontinent as the “most dangerous place in the world” are seen as unusual, to say the least.

The Government is particularly irked by Narayanan’s emphasis on the relevance of nonalignment. Official sources pointed out that nonalignment is not a pillar of this Government’s foreign policy and does not find mention in the ruling coalition’s National Agenda for Governance.

Those who know the President stressed that the speech does not depart in substance from what the Prime Minister has been saying or even what he said earlier in the day. “There may be a difference of language, that’s all,” they said.

They felt that Narayanan was merely expressing his concerns and apprehensions about the new world order and that he tempered his verbal missiles with plenty of goodwill for the future of Indo-US relations.

Government sources said, however, they were embarrassed by the speech which they felt was “too strident and shrill”. They saw it as another example of the proactive role the President has assumed for Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Not surprisingly, Narayanan’s speech was praised by the Left Parties today which came down heavily on the vision statement signed by India and the US yesterday. “The joint statement has more of US vision than that of India,” said a comment from the central office of the CPI.

Government sources said that the practice of vetting presidential speeches stopped during Shanker Dayal Sharma’s tenure. He appears to have been the torchbearer for a more independent role for Rashtrapati Bhavan. As a result of this, the Government now drafts and approves only the annual speech the President makes to Parliament at the start of the budget session.

Narayanan’s independent line on foreign policy comes soon after his strong public objection to the Government’s decision to appoint a Constitution Review Panel. The strong language of the banquet speech is also in keeping with the blunt words he used to criticise the liberalisation policy in his Republic Day eve address to the nation.