THE REPUBLICcentred on finding a new leader of the National Front after Deve Gowda
had yielded to pressure and relinquished his claim to leadership. A likely
candidate for the post of prime minister was the veteran Congress
politician Moopanar of Tamil Nadu, now president of the TMC. But the
leftist parties within the National Front considered him to be too
‘Congress-friendly’ and stated this openly. He was peeved and as a result
the TMC left the National Front.
The search for a new prime minister then entered its final stage. None of
the chief ministers staked a claim for this post and thus Inder Gujral
emerged as the new leader. He had never been in state politics and had
always served at the centre, first as Indira Gandhi’s information minister,
then as ambassador in Moscow, as minister of external affairs in V.P.
Singh’s cabinet and then again in Deve Gowda’s cabinet. His good
reputation as an experienced minister and as a man of integrity made him
the obvious choice after various power brokers had left the scene. He now
has to survive as the prime minister of a precarious minority government
and with the Congress Party breathing down his neck, ready to topple him
at the slightest provocation. To prevent a new crisis the prime minister and
the Congress president are supposed to hold regular consultations and to
coordinate their policies. One may call this ‘coalition at a distance’. It will
be interesting to watch how this innovation of the Indian political system is
going to work.
External affairs: global and regional dimensions
In his famous Arthashastra the wily old Kautilya had outlined the
rajamandala (circle of kings) in which the neighbour is usually the enemy
and his neighbour, in turn, the natural ally of the first king. But he did not
stop with that simple pattern. He also mentioned the more powerful
‘middle king’ who could decide a contest by coming down on the side of
one neighbour or the other. He had to be wooed or diplomacy had to aim
at keeping him neutral. Then there was the ‘heelcatcher’ whom one had to
watch because he would take the opportunity of attacking from the rear
while one was engaged in fighting someone else. Helpful, however, was the
‘caller in the back of the enemy’ who would raise an alarm if the enemy
prepared for an attack. Finally, there was the ‘outsider’—a mighty ruler not
enmeshed in the rajamandala whose interventions were, therefore,
unpredictable and who had to be watched with great care.
The republic of India is familiar with all these types, the superpowers
playing the roles of the ‘middle king’ (Soviet Union) and the ‘outsider’
(USA). India’s political leaders have gained a good deal of experience in the
conduct of foreign affairs in the years since 1947. Of course, they could
have learned from the British, who expanded and defended their Indian