OPEN LETTER TO

Hon. Foreign Minister of Finland Mr. Erkki Tuomioja
and MOS for Foreign Affairs of India Sr. Anand Sharma

Respected Sirs,

1. We, as colleagues in movement for comprehensive democracy globally active in various fora like Vasudhaiva Kutmubakam and World Social Forum, would like to draw your attention to some of our major concerns. With this letter we like to address both of you at the same time as the India – EU Summit is taking place today in Helsinki, Finland.

2.Before we make any suggestions, we want to note with satisfaction that Finnish government has committed its support for India's candidacy for a permanent seat in the UN security council. We hope this act of Finland will motivate other the EU members also to support India’s legitimate claim for this role.

3. We hope that both India and Finland as well as India and EU will upgrade their efforts in a manner that smaller nations – in terms of demography, geography or economy – of do not feel constricted in various bodies of global governance. Both of you know well that it is a complex challenge as many of the smaller nations of the North exercise very disproportionate influence and control in the world bodies and power in shaping the policies of various multilateral institutions. Whereas many countries of Asia, Africa South America or Caribbean remain invisible and almost totally dependent local hegemons. We urge you to explore some formulations similar to Gujaral doctrine in South Asia, according to which the bigger neighbour does not expect exact reciprocity from the smaller ones in their relations.

4. In this open letter we are not taking up at length the issues of economic hegemonies and exploitive policies of the North pursued through the WTO regime or other bilateral free-trade agreement which are signed rapidly under the crude and direct pressure of world’s corporate sector and thus attempting to establish the new imperialist world order. The painful paradox of this new imperialistic world order is that local primordial and national interests and identities have been totally forsaken by the national elites. This kind of complicity of our elite in the South, the emergence of racist and xenophobic forces in the North and terrorism and political extremism in many parties in the South are all related to same phenomenon.

As far as our movement colleagues are concerned, they are campaigning quite vigorously on these issues of corporate imperialism. But in this ’open letter’ we want to draw your attention to the disastrous political implications these polices have for our identities, pluralities, democracies and ecological balance.

5. The next important concern we have is that there is alarming increase in the arms-trade globally. We strongly suspect that it is not only the arms based nation’s security model but also the national security anxieties created by the most important military power and its allies. The way they have first promoted dogmatism, fundamentalism and terrorism in the name of fighting “communist interventions”, and then attacked Afghanistan and Iraq, and then declaring Iran and North Korea as rogue states is fuelling political extremism world over. The extremisms are both using religious identities or falling upon political ideologies for example of Maoism. We are in no way apologists for religion of ideology based extremisms. But we want both of you to take some bold initiatives in this regard.

One very small step which will go a long way in easing the anxieties of nations’ security will be re-examination of nuclear doctrine of the countries, who posses nuclear powers. And we should bu ild public opinion against those nuclear doctrines that have elements of a hegemonic rogue state. We think this kind of political step requires a moral strength, which will inspire the masses globally against war and hegemony perpetrators. We know that both of you personally - and the political traditions you belong to - have the requisite moral and political resources to take some bold initiatives to democratise the world order.

6. To conclude, we urge both of you to try and innovate ways and means to search out to the masses of this planet. In this era of positive explosion of democratic energies and burgeoning aspirations, the formulation and shaping of international policy can not remain a preserve of the select elite in foreign policy offices and other elite think-tanks. Political workers from modest economic and social background and activists working among the marginalised majorities are also forging alliances. A positive kind of globalisation is taking place. The World Social Forum and the phenomenal response to it is a pointer to the fact that if people like you and your political colleagues are able to link themselves with this movememnt, then it is well within the realm of possible that a 'better world order comes into'.

We will be less than honest if we do not record our disappointment and strong disagreements with the way India, EU and Finland are pursuing their respective economic policies. If democracy can not guarantee dignified survival to fellow human beings on the planet, then one is reminded of the strong critique by Gandhiji of this form of democracy in which various organs of the state, even the political movements or parties, have sanitised themselves from the moral or popular pressures and aspirations of our times. Not just sanitised, but are also undoing the great civilisational achievements.

For example, Indian constitution gives statutory recognition to many of the customary laws and say of the tribals over their natural resources. But the lack of political will to resist the corporate-lead chase of the illusionary American Northern consumer paradise is displacing the adivasis (indigenous people) in millions. Gandhi had envisioned a polity which will morally empower the elite and masses alike, so that everyone could insist on the truth as one’s conscience sees it. As this happens to be the centenary year of satyagraha - Ganhiji's formulation of non-violent action for justice and truth – we should be encouraged to accept this challenge. Can our political leadership modify our politics and institutionalise mechanisms which make use of moral energies of all human beings?

National and international policies goes hand in hand. And in this era of corporate and technological globalisation, the Gandhian idea of the 'last person' or daridranarayan and his talisman should be applied. According to Gandhi the acid test to examine the worthiness of our policies is to see how they affect the last person. This needs to be made the litmus test for all our policies.

In the end, may we remind you of a historical fact that in 1927 in Brussels, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru and the Chinese delegation played a critical role in the proceedings of Anti-imperialist league. But now Indian and Chinese elite do not have the political will to distance themselves from the anti-democratic and anti-people economic policies being formulated by the EU elite. We only hope that some of our leaders will show the courage to change the course of history.

7. Finally it is of importance that EU and India take an initiative to create an institutional mechanism to advance the Gandhian principle of 'last person first' in international governance especially in the field of trade and investments. As a practical step towards this we would suggest establishment of Last Person First Foundation in Brussels. This Foundation should be set up by EU, India and China together with Least Developed Nations but funded by the three. Its task should be monitor and make policy suggestions regarding globalisation policies including the WTO. Political parties, civil society organisations and research institutions should be natural partners in the work of the foundation.

Sincerely yours,

Vijay Pratap, India
Marko Ulvila, Finland
Tord Björk, Sweden