Tags:
Journalism of Courage
MEA speaks in one voice to Norway,another to Italy making Delhi look confused and silly
There is a vast pool of Indian citizens working and living across the world,subject to the laws of the nations they live in. When does the Indian state choose to involve itself,to argue their case with a foreign government,or provide assistance? That is a diplomatic judgment call,but it still needs to hew to some objective principle.
On the other hand,the MEA is intransigent on the matter of the Indian fishermen killed by Italian marines and insists that Indian laws apply in international waters though Italy argues they were simply its navy marines defending their ship. In this case,the MEA has flopped down to the Kerala governments pressure to act against the Italian soldiers. But in both cases,it has simply flopped down to other forces,and taken contradictory positions,rather than acting from any strategic sense. One case certainly weakens the other. It is not about the merits of the Norwegian case and the Italian one but the fact that the MEA needs to present some sense of being a unified,coherent body,bound by some operating principles. It is certainly its mandate to look out for Indian citizens,but jumping at random expat scandals just because they hit the headlines or have domestic traction and then turning them into diplomatic confrontations is just silly.
