The Lady Doth Protest Too Much

The Lady Doth Protest Too Much G P D AS is her wont, the lady has thundered. The certainty with which she speaks is indeed admirable, We wish we had some of it ourselves. Unfortunately we don't. The reference is to our Prime Minister's statement to the BBC that India cannot be dominated by any superpower. She said With a confidence so typical of her that "we are not dominated at all". So the statement relates to the oresent situation, but also speaks of the foreseeable future, foreseeable by the lady and her theoreticians. We do not know who her theoreticians are. Perhaps she has none. She has only speech-writers who occasionally plagiarise from Pakistani economists, but that's another matter! We cannot think of any statesman in the third world who is so supremely confident. Across the border the Pakistani politician- generals are not confident of their positions, let alone of their views. In the tower of Babel that Asian politics has became, one voice stands out quite clearly. Its thrust is quite clear. It is unmistakable and perhaps the most coherent in what it has to say. It is Indira Gandhi's voice. It has only one thins to say to the West: "We are not' dominated at all." She may be right. .There are many people here and abroad who are persuaded by her logic that India cannot be dominated. We are a little sceptical. When a Third World leader indulges in bravado, one can Safely assume that the reality is cuite the opposite. But may be, this time it is different. After all, the number of capitals happy with the noises being made in Delhi is, if anything increasing. This much credit must be given to Indian foreign plicy, i e, to Indira Gandhi. To persale people from places as different as Moscow and London (if not Washington) to brieve that you cannot be dominated is no mall achievement..