The art of Artful Dodging

Minister of State for external affairs, the inimitable Shashi Tharoor mentioned… err… tweeted today,

Rajya Sabha debate on MEA ends. Minister Krishna’s reply broadens the terms of argument by covering whole of fp & not just one narrow issue

The “narrow” issue being debated was the fallout of the India-Pakistan joint statement issued at Sharm-el-Sheikh, notably the de-linking of terror from dialogue and the mention of Balochistan.

Messrs. SM Krishna and Shashi Tharoor are both extremely urbane gentlemen. And I reckon they certainly know how to nip out of a tight spot. After the PM Dr. Manmohan Singh put up a weak defense of his actions at Sharm-el-Sheikh, while responding to the debate in the Lok Sabha, it was upto the two external affairs ministers to carry on the debate in the Rajya Sabha.

And what did they do? SM Krishna expanded the scope of the debate to cover the full ambit of India’s foreign policy. Now there has always been a general consensus about the foreign policy. Debating the general foreign policy might be seen as a schism in the Indian polity over the issue. So obviously any criticism that the opposition might have about Sharm-el-Sheikh gets pre-empted and the debate peters out into nothingness.

Generalizing the debate obfuscates the specific concerns/criticisms, some valid, others only noise. The much-needed debate is dodged, albeit artfully. Too bad, India lacks an opposition party it deserves.