India takes care of its own- Crisis brings country together as never before Government quick to offer help to ailing neighbours
Toronto Star-MARTIN REGG COHN ASIA BUREAU
Jan. 17, 2005. 08:31 AM
NEW DELHI - The India that Prime Minister Paul Martin will see when he touches down here tonight is a changed country.
Indeed, it hasn't been the same since the Dec. 26 tsunami.
It's not just that tidal waves tore apart much of its coastline. What's different is how the devastation has brought the country together, galvanizing national pride as never before.
Within minutes of the disaster striking, navy and air force units swung into action - not only to rescue survivors on India's devastated east coast and remote islands, but also to help other affected countries from Sri Lanka to Indonesia.
By the time foreign governments and aid groups rushed in with traditional offers of help, India was ready with an answer: Thanks, but no thanks.
Nor was India in a mood to let foreign dignitaries make a fuss about the damage. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan was politely turned down when he requested a visit to the affected coastal state of Tamil Nadu, and Canada's Prime Minister was also discouraged from making the trip.
Those dual responses - the swift deployment of its rescue forces, and a rapid rejection of outside help or inspection tours - mark a historic turning point for India, nearly six decades after independence from British colonial rule.
Long seen as a country in perpetual need - afflicted by perennial cyclones, droughts and earthquakes - India is emerging as a regional power with pretensions to global influence. The support India seeks from countries like Canada is no longer financial, but political - as New Delhi tries for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council to match its heightened regional clout.
India's ambitions have been in the making for some time, thanks to robust economic growth, high-tech achievements and a higher cultural profile. But the country's go-it-alone stance and humanitarian responsiveness at a time of crisis have clearly set it apart - and foreign governments are taking note. India has redefined its place in the world, and the world's place in India.
"They were trying to send a signal and it has gone out loud and clear," says political scientist Zoya Hassan. "India is doing better and has the requisite financial and administrative resources to deal with it."
India teamed up with the United States, Australia and Japan to form a "core group" of countries to coordinate the international response in the early stages - a testament to its rising status. The group was later disbanded when the U.N. belatedly took over those responsibilities.
Hassan and other analysts say the government's behaviour was dictated both by facts on the ground and a desire to reshape India's image abroad. Long before Canada deployed humanitarian troops to Sri Lanka and well in advance of the U.S. Marines, Indian naval vessels were docking in port and fleets of air force cargo planes and helicopters were flying rescue missions across that island nation.
New Delhi was not only taking care of its own, but also projecting Indian power in its own neighbourhood ahead of anyone else in the Indian Ocean.
"It's for good reason that it's called the Indian Ocean - and India's influence in the region is now obvious," says Hassan, who teaches at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
"It was a very conscious decision," adds Saumitra Chowdhary, chief economic adviser at credit rating agency ICRA. "If we can't do it 55 years after independence, that doesn't speak well of us."
For a country of 1 billion people, with an economy that grew 8 per cent last year, the progression seems perfectly logical.
"Who is better placed than us? We have the army, we have the navy, we have the financial resources," Chowdhary said. "Twenty years ago we lacked the confidence to say `Thank you very much, we can manage ourselves.'"
It wasn't just the government that came up with quick cash. Local fundraising soared to unprecedented levels as India's expanding middle class, socially conscious corporations and ordinary people dug deep into their pockets.
The Prime Minister's National Relief Fund has collected more than $120 million in donations so far, setting a new record for national generosity.
"This is the real story - there has been an extraordinary outpouring of contributions," notes Hassan. People not only have more cash in hand, they're more plugged in thanks to all-news TV channels beaming images from the devastated areas.
"You can watch virtually nonstop coverage in any language you want," says Grant Cassidy, who coordinates fundraising in India for aid group World Vision.
"There's a change in how people feel about their country - they feel more united."
Not everyone is enamoured of New Delhi's deportment, especially its reluctance to allow foreign aid groups into the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands, which are closer to Indonesia than the Indian mainland. Aid groups like Oxfam have chafed at the restrictions and questioned whether more lives could have been saved.
More than 10,000 people died across the country and some 6,000 are deemed missing - most of them in the island chain, where there is little hope they will be found alive.
But India insists that bringing in foreign aid at the outset wouldn't have saved any lives. The challenge was not finding extra supplies, but trying to coordinate and manage the delivery of aid in the initial stages; for the subsequent rebuilding phase, India remains open to assistance from foreign agencies.
The financial tab for the crisis - estimated at more than $2 billion - can be absorbed by the Indian economy without much trouble, analysts say.
Significantly, India is not about to let the tsunami get in the way of annual Republic Day celebrations scheduled for Jan. 26, when the country showcases its military might in a massive parade in the capital. Both the government and opposition have agreed that even after the storm, the show must go on.

A big thank you [ to all] for supporting the fundraising event
	Flora Marlow <floramarlow@yahoo.ca> I would like to thank everyone who participated in every way, to help out in the fundraising efforts for the tsunami disaster relief. There were approximately 400 people at the event on Saturday the 8th of January. We raised $ 23,176.00 in total. We gave the cheques and money to the Canadian Red Cross on January the 10th to Mrs. Ginette Archambault.
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On behalf of the Canadian Red Cross, I would like to thank everyone for all their help. Every action made for the good of our fellow man will make this world a better place. Flora Marlow President of The National Association of Canadians of Origins In India ( NACOI ) Tel: (450) 477-9949 855 Des Roses, Mascouche, Quebec J7L-2Z8