Miles to go: on change in Manipur, the road to normalcy : source THE HINDU
The Union Government finally attempts change in Manipur, but faces hurdles
After months of trying to wade through an ethnic crisis by maintaining the status quo, the Union government finally got its act together and removed the N. Biren Singh-led government in Manipur from power and imposed President’s Rule, hoping that the change would be the harbinger of good tidings.
The fact that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party could not manage to find a replacement for its outgoing leader reflected not just on the internal divisions within the party but also on the preponderance of the ethnic divide in the State. Considering this, the imposition of President’s Rule seemed to be a viable way of bringing back normalcy in a State suffering badly from ethnic strife. After the imposition of President’s Rule, the government has sought to gradually seize control over instruments of violence that seemed to reign with impunity in the last two years.
It did so by giving a deadline to non-State groups to give up weapons that they had acquired from constabularies. It has tried to ensure free movement between the hill and valley districts by removing the blockades set up by these groups on highways in the State. These steps have not gone down smoothly. Only a portion — nearly a third — of the 3,000-odd weapons that are still missing have been returned, with the bulk of the missing weapons being those that were stolen in and around the Imphal Valley.
The attempts made by the central armed police forces to enforce the free movement of all vehicles in the hill district of Kangpokpi resulted in violence with one killed and more than 40 people injured.
A civil society organisation claiming to represent the Kuki-Zo community has warned against the moves for the free movement of people by demanding Union Territory status or a separate arrangement for the Kuki-Zo areas as a precondition. This is a dangerous ploy as any such move will only deepen the ethnic strife and will also be resisted by the Naga communities, living in the hill districts of the State. The government must continue to seek talks with representatives of both communities while sternly rejecting any threat of violence and isolating those making impossible demands in order for peace to be restored.
Steps need to be intensified to recover the remaining missing weapons and to thwart any entity seeking to take the law into its own hands. The government must put out the compelling message that only the State has the legitimate claim over arms, which must resonate across the hills and the valley. But this cannot be a step that is limited to the Governor.
The Centre, more specifically, the Union Home Ministry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, must appeal directly to the communities for a restoration of peace, and for dialogue to help the displaced return to their homes. Data show that Manipur has suffered more than any State due to the recent inflation and economic woes in the country and it would take yeoman steps by the senior leadership of the Union Government to bring back normalcy.
Trump’s transactional approach to diplomacy is a driving force on the world stage : source ECONOMIC TIMES
Donald Trump, the real estate developer turned commander in chief, is laying bare his style of diplomacy in the early weeks of his new term: It’s a whole lot like a high-stakes business deal, and his No. 1 goal is to come out of the transaction on top.
The tactics are clear in his brewing trade war with Canada and Mexico, in his approach to Russia’s war on Ukraine and in his selection of the first country he will visit in his second term.
“President Trump approaches diplomacy and engages in a very transactional manner, with economics as the foundation and driving force behind international affairs,” retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, the president’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, explained at an event in Washington this past week.
For Trump, it’s about leverage, not friendship; dollars as much as values; and hard power versus soft.
It’s not just a matter of negotiating style. At stake is the post-World War II international order as Trump’s actions raise doubts about American leadership around the globe.He’s shaping a foreign policy that’s more inward looking and conscious of the bottom line, dismissing American soft-power levers such as the U.S. Agency for International Development as dubious and riddled by waste and suggesting that the United States might not defend fellow NATO members that aren’t meeting defense spending benchmarks set by the alliance.
Politics and presidents to a certain degree are all transactional. But Trump, who helped make himself a household name by burnishing an image as an intrepid real estate dealmaker, is taking it to another level as he navigates an increasingly complicated world.
The Republican president, in his previous life as a real estate titan, saw every deal as one in which there were clear winners and losers. In his return to the White House, he is more demonstrably injecting a what’s-in-it-for-me approach to his dealings with both friend and foe.
Money talks Edward Frantz, a University of Indianapolis historian who has studied the American presidency, said Trump’s “ledger” approach might not be the most practical way to conduct diplomacy.
Frantz observed that Trump, 78, a baby boomer and football fan, seems inspired in his foreign policymaking by the ethos of legendary pro football coach Vince Lombardi, who famously said, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”
“But diplomacy, especially in a more complicated world, might be more like soccer,” Frantz said. “Sometimes you just need a tie. Sometimes you need to just survive and move on.”