MP Manish Tiwari said at the launch of his book in Chandigarh
Punjab Newsline, Chandigarh-
Member Parliament from Chandigarh and senior Congress leader Manish Tiwari said Sunday that the ongoing Middle East conflict was a result of larger game at play of which unfortunately Iran is mere collateral damage.
He said a pattern would emerge if one were to go beyond the headlines that pointed towards the continuation of US resource domination and to ensure that the dollar remains the reserve currency of the world. Tewari was speaking at the launch of his book, – A World Adrift– in Chandigarh. Organised by the Punjab Lit Foundation, headed by the renowned author Khushwant Singh.
Conversing with former chief secretary Punjab about his book- Tiwari said, “India’s time in the world will come, but in another two and a half decades. India will sail through but it’s important to remain alert and sharp. We need to feel the stones beneath our feet and walk carefully. We also need to shed delusions of grandeur because these only delude us and no one else. We need to maintain our strategic strengths carved over decades,” said Tewari.
Talking about the possible role India needs to play in the ongoing conflict Tiwari said, “when things are in motion around you, it is better to stand still.”
Talking about India’s relationship with neighbours, Tiwari said, “we need to walk the extra mile, failing which India’s neighbours would bend towards China, something which was already happening.” He added India needed to constructively engage more with Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh.
On the question of how river water claims will be playing out in the future, Tiwari said the question had the huge inflection for the future, of relations with the neighbouring countries especially China.
“Going by the manner in which China is building huge dams over Brahmaputra, India’s riparian right will be hostage to China. We have been trying some water coercion to Pakistan and the same can happen to us,” he said.
Tewari added that the border dispute between India and China is a constant stresser, “China has resolved the majority of its land dispute with its neighbours but chooses not to resolve it with India. This is because China and India are two rising South Asian powers and it serves China to keep us under pressure.” He pointed out that it was not so much the actual line of control but about Tibet. He said that China has “extra legally occupied Tibet and though we acknowledge the ‘one China’ policy, we continue to host the Dalai Lama. In realpolitik this is well played by us.
On India’s relations with Russia Tewari said that our defence trade relations with the then Soviet Union was complimented by a shared belief in socialism and ideological compatibility. “But now all that remains is a cut and dry relationship in defence. Our economic relationship has drifted towards Europe and USA- which leaves us traversing a dichotomous divergent unbridgeable valley,” said Tewari.
Speaking on the occasion Khushwant Singh introduced the Punjab Lit Foundation’s flagship programs– Peoples Walk Against Drugs and Mothers Against Drugs and sought support for these programmes.