Obama's Visit to India

President Obama is in India today courting one of the world’s growing economic powers on issues of trade, counter-terrorism and nuclear proliferation. The image of President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, signing agreements and addressing the “defining challenges of our time” are supposed to be a signal of international cooperation and democratic values but I can’t help but wonder how the most widespread issue facing the vast majority of people in both countries is off the agenda?

According, to the Hindustan Times of India,

“India has been ranked among top 10 global countries on income gain but widening disparity between rich and poor and gender inequality have been identified as major challenges in a United Nations report released on Thursday. The Human Development Report 2010 said India gained 15 positions on global Human Development Index (HDI) because of a high income growth since 1970. However, on overall HDI, Nepal, being the second fastest HDI gainer globally, did much better.”

India is not alone. As corporate profits soar and the burden of economic recovery is placed onto the backs of workers and the unemployed, the gap between the rich and poor is growing in nearly every country around the world including the United States. If wages internationally are declining and unemployment rising as corporations heighten exploitation and roll back social protections, then the only logical expectation is greater social instability, conflict and death at the hand of treatable diseases. In other words a decline in human well-being even if economies grow slightly.

The United States and India should be trying to bridge the rich-poor divide in their own countries and cooperating to ensure greater accountability among multinational corporations who skirt labor and environmental standards. Manufacturers, petroleum companies, and investors operating in North America and South Asia should be forced to follow unified codes of conduct that puts the breaks on ruthless competition. There should also be a coordinated attempt to promote fairer trade agreements between the two countries that create quality jobs in both nations and raise incomes.

There are a number of very important issues on the table during the President’s visit in India. But unfortunately, the most critical problem has been overlooked.

The End of Global Free Trade? Not Quite

In the past, globalized "free-trade" has generated enormous hostility and intense social protests between the poor and the intergovernmental organizations who they perceive as primarily serving the interests of elites and multinational corporations. These protests have only increased during the current economic crisis. But is the global free-trade regime in any significant danger? The masters of the free-trade universe are already in panic-mode.

In the name of "ensuring that trade flows as smoothly and freely as possible" among countries, organizations like the WTO and OECD seek to prevent governments from implementing policies that regulate trade to promote national interests or benefit vulnerable citizens (workers, farmers, etc). The OECD has recently released a report called, Trade-Separating Fact from Fiction, in which the organization warns against widespread questioning of the benefits of trade and free markets during the current crisis.

Freer flows of trade are part of the solution to the current economic crisis... Still, there are calls from some to protect industries and workers against imports by raising tariffs, imposing quotas or resorting to various non-tariff barriers. We would all pay a high price for heeding such calls.

The WTO is making a similar case for continued faith in globalized free-trade, warning governments not to make "protectionist" trade policy changes in response to greater unemployment. Governments risk catastrophic social unrest if they fail to offer some relief to constituents who are most vulnerable to shocks in the global trading system. In the so called BRIC countries such as India, China, and Brazil popular outrage about increasing pauperization, unemployment, and social service cuts are challenging the stability of their societies. Over 50,000 Indian farmers for example have mobilized in recent days against the WTO and demanded that the Indian government offer more defense against the organization's dictates.

For now, many developing countries are locked in a delicate balancing act between meeting the immediate needs of their citizens, and opening new markets for their exports in wealthier nations. The contradiction between dependency on external markets for exports and meeting domestic needs suggests that there is a significant trade-off under the current economic development strategy pursued by emerging economies. A structural shift among the largest emerging economies would appear to be highly unlikely in the near future.

I predict that ultimately, the BRIC nations will side with their pocket-books and seek to continue the path toward high-speed economic growth under the status-quo in the "Doha Round" WTO deliberations. So far, it appears that BRIC governments are merely paying lip-service to the aspirations of the poor---many of whom have asked for a complete break with the WTO altogether. However, we can expect to see some coordinated push-back against future rulings that explicitly limit freedom of action on trade policy by Brazil, India et al. and while this is not the complete reorganization of the global trading system the poor need, it is a long overdue step in the right direction.

Delayed Indian Monsoons Highlight Growing Water Scarcity

What is water scarcity? Imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, intersectoral competition, interregional and international conflicts, all contributes to water scarcity. - FAO Water Unit

After weeks of delay, the Indian monsoon is finally showing signs of arrival advancing toward crop regions that grow sugarcane and coffee. The Indian Meteorological Department is expecting that pre-monsoon rains are on their way to the capital New Delhi, later this month and the monsoon will officially begin the first week of July. The slow pace of the monsoons have been particularly damaging as India has also been caught in the grip of a severe heat wave which took the lives of 100 people and led to water and energy shortages.



Indian government officials have proposed greater irrigation, water conservation and a number of other potential strategies in the future to protect India's agricultural produce. It is reported that 60 percent of the arable land there is completely dependent on rain water.

Water scarcity is likely to push up food prices and require more government spending to support farmers. So far, much of the discussion about global climate change has fallen short of addressing the water crisis. The water crisis has already began in much of the world and poses a serious threat to the future of rural development and poverty eradication. The World Health Organization has produced a fact sheet on water scarcity around the world. For years now scientists and policy-makers have been predicting major shortages in the supply world's freshwater. The case of the Indian rain short-fall is yet another example of why the world's governments desperately need to work toward a integrated development policy on water.

For more information on water scarcity and its relationship to the world's poor, check out the (Food and Agricultural Organization) FAO Water Unit website here.

Indian Inequality Fuels Maoist-Insurgency

"The conflict between industry and farmers reflects a wider battle in India, where efforts to modernise the densely populated country have often met with violent backlashes from villagers who make up more than half the country's 1.1 billion plus population."

The government of West Bengal, India has initiated a new counter-insurgency campaign with the hopes of eradicating a Maoist-led "liberated zone". Historical conflict between India's poor farmers and large industrial businesses has fueled a growing Maoist insurgency, which the Indian government considers the country's "greatest internal threat". The insurgency began as a peasant rebellion in the Indian village of Naxalbari in 1967. Since then, the Maoists have been known throughout India as the Naxalites. There have been decades of military actions designed to squash the Naxalite movement, but all have failed.

But the Naxalites maintain widespread popularity reflecting discontent with India's uneven economic development model, which has earned it the position as one of the world's most unequal societies. Despite one of the fastest economic growth rates in the world, India has more poor people than any other country, with a third of the global poor there. To give a perspective, there are more people now living under the poverty line of $1.25 in India (425 m), than there are the entire population of the United States.

Aligned with the Naxalites are scores of landless farmers and tribal groups that are willing to risk their lives in order to gain a more decent life. As long as such miserable social conditions persist in India, radical movements for economic change are likely to continue.

This amazing video by Journey Man Pictures details the untold story of India's growing Naxalite movement and the issues of poverty and maldevelopment which continue to plague India. The video features commentary by one courageous author and advocate Arundhati Roy, who continues to speak truth to power on behalf of the poor and oppressed of India.