I fear what future holds for India. First it was the Mitrokhin archives and now the Paul Volcker report. While corruption in arms and petrol pump deals have are as frequent as the deals themselves, these take the country to a new low. Never before has the saleability of Indian foreign policy (which till recently was said to be 'independent') been so publicly displayed. As if these dealings with the likes of Saddam Hussein were not enough, we have been witness to desperate, embarrassing attempts by the said the foreign minister to save his chair. First Natwar Singh(NS) questions the integrity of the head of the UN commission, Mr. Paul Volcker. Its strange that Manmohan Singh(MS) didn't comment, being the RBI head when Volcker was Fed Reserve head he should know better. Then NS goes on to talk about American imperialistic designs and their hatred for NS the anti-imperialist crusader. When someone spoke about the contradiction between this stand of his and the support his government has given to the Iraqi govn propped up by the US 'imperialists', he goes on to dismiss the new Iraqi govn as one 'without credibility'. To endear himself to the left, he mourns the 'unfortunate' collapse of the Soviet Union. I am sure the Czech president (who is in Delhi as of today) will have a lot to say about how 'unfortunate' his countrymen think the loss of Soviet control over the Czechs is. He goes on to say that India should reverse its vote on Iran in the IEAE. Wasn't this same minister gloating over how India's vote had actually saved Iran. He proposes a India-Africa axis to contain American imperialism. Whatever happened to the nuclear deal we signed with the US? Consigned to the flames of NS's whims?

What should a PM do to a minister who uses something as sacred and crucial to a nation as its foreign policy as a weapon to fight his personal battles. He should dismiss him. And what does MS do? Takes away his portfolio to make him a Minister-without-portfolio(MWP)! Why? Of what use is a MWP? How much salary does he get paid, how many secretaries does he get and how much do his perks cost the national exchequer? And why is this money gonna be payed at all, when he is not gonna do any work? To top it all MS's aides 'leak' his thoughts to us. We are told that the PM wanted NS out, that he is outraged, that he would have preferred a CBI inquiry to the judicial one ordered. What is expected from us? Should we celebrate the fact that our PM cannot even dismiss a minister from his own party? Are we expected to sympathize with MS for his complete lack of spine?

To add to all this, this self-confessed Nehruvian relic keeps harping about the support he has from Sonia Gandhi. Really? Has Mrs. Gandhi's 'inner voice' abandoned her? Does this oil deal go down deeper than NS? Hopefully, former Chief Justice of India RS Pathak will have the answers within my lifetime.