Shams Ahsan

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH – Expectations of Indian workers concerning recent developments due to the Nitaqat law have in all fairness been addressed somewhat satisfactorily, said Indian Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid here on Sunday.



Khurshid, on a four-day official visit here, told Saudi Gazette in an interview that reasonable arrangements have been worked out making both sides happy.



“The Saudi government gets the compliance of its laws, and at the same time the workers here get a chance to regularize their papers so they don’t need to live in constant fear and pressure.”



Khurshid’s visit, first in five years by an Indian foreign minister, comes at a time when thousands of Indian workers are racing against a fast-ticking deadline to get their status regularized or to get emergency certificates to fly back home for good.



Will the grace period be extended? What will happen to those who can’t outpace the ticking clock as paperwork takes its own time? These are the questions occupying the minds of every worker waiting in long queues outside the missions in the sweltering sun.



“Let’s take one step at a time,” said the minister, addressing their concern.



“Our job is to ensure that within this period, those workers who come to us get registered and those who don’t have documents get emergency certificates. Let the data be available, let it be transmitted as it is being done to Saudi authorities. And then we will see where we stand. “There should be no slackness on our part.



“We will cross the bridge when we come to it. Let us first fulfill what our responsibility is: which means both on part of the missions and on part of the persons who would be affected,” Khurshid said, exuding hope and promising help.



He was all praise for the Saudi authorities and their generosity. “They (the Saudi authorities) have humanitarian approach. They have a positive view of dealing with our labor force.”



He said the Civil Aviation Ministry in India has been alerted of the expected huge rush of workers heading home. They will need seats and additional flights.



As far as rehabilitation of these jobless workers is concerned, Khurshid said state governments are responsible for and entitled to address such issues as employment, housing and social welfare.



Surprisingly, contrary to perceptions most of the workers applying for out-passes to go home are not from Kerala but from Uttar Pradesh, a state Khurshid hails from and represents in parliament.



“I have alerted all chief ministers that they may need to pull out all stops to assist these people once they return and are not allowed to be neglected.”



But he added that a lot of these people applying to go home are from the parts of Uttar Pradesh which are not the area he comes from or represents.



“There are a lot of Members of Parliament from that area. The MPs have a number of schemes. Wherever there is a social humanitarian need the central government makes exceptions and if something is sought from us which is reasonably possible, we would do it. But the assessment has to be made by the state governments.” 



No mid-term polls



Echoing other members of the ruling Congress party, Khurshid was categorical in saying that the government will complete its full five-year term in office.



Then what do the timing and size of the “India Story” campaign allude to and what is the significance of issuing a report card at this time? “The report card was for the end of four years and the prime minister has more than once said that we will complete our five years. There will be a final report card given at the end of five years which will also be part of our manifesto for the next five years,” explains Khurshid.



As regards the timing of the “India Story” campaign, he says: “We have done substantive work and the negative that one was being subjected to in the public space was not being fair to the achievements that we have on the ground. It was important that we make those achievements most specifically apparent to the consumers of our welfare programs. “It was important that the truth be known.”



But what if the government’s outside supporter Mualyam Singh Yadav pulls the plug?



“In democracy there is a fixed term. But it is dependent upon having enough support in parliament. If not, then theoretically you have to be ready to face elections any time. But it’s the practical consideration that you have to keep in mind. Our assessment and understanding is that it does not benefit anybody to have an early election which is why we have not had an early election,” said the foreign minister, who also served as the chief of the Congress unit in Uttar Pradesh.



Robin Hoods of corruption



Khurshid, whose Congress party is facing accusations of corruptions and scams, differentiated consequences of corruption as good and bad for the common man.



“What is the consequence of corruption? The consequence of corruption hurts the aam admi (common man), it also helps the aam admi. If you have a Robin Hood you can’t equate him with some ordinary thief. You should see contextually,” he reasoned.



Elaborating his views, he said that 2G spectrum, the policy of which was being touted as a policy of corruption, was the largest telephony network in the world at most affordable cost.



He also defended his colleagues who have resigned in the wake of various scams. Defending Ashwani Kumar, who resigned from the Cabinet as law minister for allegedly vetting the draft investigative report by CBI on the coal allocation scam, Khurshid said that as law minister he was doing a job that he thought was right for the benefit of the party. “I don’t think he was doing anything as a law minister other than keeping himself informed of what an important agency of the government wants to say to the court. There is a difference between not being an agency of the government and not being follower of the government. You have an office and that office should be independent. Autonomy leads to honesty. But my position is that honesty leads to autonomy. If you want to see him (Ashwani Kumar) as Robin Hood, it’s fine.”



Ties with Pakistan



The Indian foreign minister said: “India looks forward to a relationship with Pakistan characterized by peace, friendship and cooperation. India is committed to a peaceful settlement of all outstanding issues with Pakistan through bilateral dialogue; however this requires an environment free from terror and violence. The deplorable incident of the killing of two Indian prisoners that included Sarabjit Singh while in Pakistan’s custody, and the gravely provocative incident of beheading and mutilation of our soldiers, are unacceptable. It is our expectation that all such incidents will be investigated and the Pakistani authorities will ensure that they do not recur.”



Khurshid did not agree that Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s recent visit to India and his request for increased military aid from India was going to dampen Nawaz Sharif’s heightened peace overtures toward India.

“Our relations with Afghanistan stand on their own footing and are independent of our relations with other countries.”



Relations with China



As regards a question whether his recent visit to China and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s tour of India on his first visit abroad as prime minister signify a policy shift vis-à-vis China, Khurshid said that India had a very clear policy toward China which has been followed with over several decades. This policy aims at engaging China and expanding cooperation in the areas of economy and trade, science and technology, culture and people-to-people exchanges, political and security cooperation. “We continue to engage China in the search for a boundary resolution. While this process is under way, both sides agree that it is important to maintain peace and tranquility in India-China border areas. We have continued this policy. Therefore, I do not see any policy shift.”



He also categorically denied that India has agreed to raze the bunkers on its borders with China. “Let me categorically assert that this is a falsehood. Chinese troops had disturbed the status quo ante along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of the India-China boundary in mid-April 2013. At our insistence, the status quo ante has been restored.”