This April, India organised a moonlit diplomatic tea party at the Makaibari estate in Kurseong, West Bengal. Makaibari is perhaps the only legacy tea estate in the country that is devoid of a strong Raj influence. Barring a brief period of ownership by an Englishman, the estate has been run by Indians. The Modi government chose the Makaibari estate for the second G20 tourism working group meeting. Like the Boston Tea Party of 1773, this one, too, was somewhat about a political stirring. Not a rebellion, but a radical idea-of taking diplomacy beyond the confines of the national capital.
With 200 meetings across 60 cities, the G20 meetings have been a 'Discovery of India' exercise. From Sardar Patel's Statue of Unity at Kevadia to the Mahatma Gandhi museum at Dandi Kutir (both in Gujarat), the venues have been chosen to project Brand India, Modi style. "Foreign policy has been the Modi government's big success story," said retired diplomat Gurjit Singh. "Modi is one of the senior-most leaders of the G20, along with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. The upcoming summit is among the biggest diplomatic events that India can host."
A working group meeting on tourism was held in Srinagar in May-inarguably a diplomatic win for India, even though China and Turkey chose to stay away. Goa, too, hosted a tourism meeting. Kumarakom, in Kerala, was chosen for a G20 sherpas' meeting. Jodhpur hosted the first employment working group meeting, while Kohima was the venue for the meeting on multilateral business partnerships in agriculture and food processing, tourism and IT. Indore hosted the first agriculture deputies' meeting; Nagpur was selected for a civil society meeting, and Patna has been chosen to host a labour engagement group meeting.
Denne historien er fra July 23, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra July 23, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
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RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
