India’s crusade for real independence
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/08/25/india%E2%80%99s-crusade-real-independence.html
Published in Jakarta Post on 25th August 2011
As Indians, we are proud of great things India has achieved. We are proud to have practiced biggest (and almost) uninterrupted functional democracy in the world. We have maintained a healthy economic growth while remaining a nation free from any major debt! We are proud of Vikram Pandit, Indra Nooyi, Booby Jindal, Nikki Haley and Lakshmi Mittal, the biggest steel producer in the world! But generally we are much lower.
But then suddenly we became the “World Champions” thanks to our elites and their honchos stashing the highest amounts of stolen cash in foreign banks! The amounts are so big that they must be written in “exponential” form!
But our government seems least disturbed by this. Even after these banks have given details of who has stashed how much, our government has so far refused to divulge these names, as if it is remaining silent using “Fifth Amendment”.
But then a frail, saintly man of 73 with no assets, no wife or family, started a crusade against corruption that he calls “Struggle for Real Independence” and the whole Diaspora of Indians all over the world rushed to support him!
Anna (elder brother) Hazare has gone on an indefinite hunger strike till the “Jan Lokpal Bill” that will reduce if not prevent corruption is passed by the Parliament in place of an inadequate Lokpal Bill tabled by Government.
Now a few of the elites are in custody for questioning and are enjoying the hospitality of the Indian Government in Tihar Jail! But they know too much and could incriminate their powerful & influential “bosses” and so common man is afraid of their “walking” free! All the “stolen wealth” belongs to honest Indian taxpayers, who can barely make the ends meet.
I think Indian Government is blissfully ignorant of the depth and intensity of people’s wrath! If the government doesn’t wake up to the writing on the wall, it will turn the Ramlila Maidan
into Tehrir Square! Why our own government is denying permission for fasting to Anna, something even the British Raj hadn’t done in its
waning days? Anna is correct in saying we never got Independence in 1947! We simply replaced the “White Brits” by “Brown Brits” and these “Brown Brits” are denying permission to the New Mahatma!
This movement has brought people of all religions together like never before bringing prestige to the word “secular”! Not only Delhi and other Metro cities or second-rung cities but even the villages are participating in these demonstrations.
The whole atmosphere is so charged that all it needs is a spark and nobody knows what would then happen. Anna has repeatedly stressed that this crusade will be totally no violent. I hope it stays that way if, God forbid, something happened to Anna!
The Delhi police put 22 pre-requisites for granting approval for Anna Hazare’s crusade for “security reasons”! What risk was Anna posing to the security? And now the Police are removing these very pre-requisites, making them look really dumb! The Central Government is hiding behind the Police making me wonder who the boss is!
Instead of chasing the terrorists, police is after this frail, old man whose only strength is his clean, spotless character and unwavering determination. It is time our Prime Minister quits to join this crusade spearheaded by Anna Hazare. If our Prime Minister does that, he will forever be in the hearts of all Indians. Anna Hazare is the pride of India!
K. B. Kale
Jakarta
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Nature of the Indian voter
Nature of the Indian voter
15th June 2004
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2004/06/14/nature-indian-voter.html
The outcome of the recent election in India was certainly surprising -- more so than the 1977 election, when Indira Gandhi was ""dethroned"". I would, in fact, compare it to Atlee's victory over Churchill, back in the late '40s, wherein, to quote Churchill, he was "ordered off the turf".
Surprise though the result may be, has the Indian electorate shown maturity or have they been rather unwise in casting their votes? Or is the result simply evidence of the great divide between the haves and the have-nots?.
The divide is certainly not an urban-rural divide: In the cities, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was routed. Neither is it a north-south divide, as the NDA was defeated in Andhra Pradesh as dismally as it was in Uttar Pradesh. The NDA did everything to ensure a landslide victory -- it brought out a dream program to woo the middle class, by making computers cheaper, air travel cheaper, etc.
It tried to woo industrialists by announcing industry and corporate packages, it brought the election timetable forward a few months to cash in on their spectacular victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (they had lost in Delhi only), and gave so-called campaign wizards like Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jetley a chance to campaign. Opinion polls from late March to early April predicted the total demise of the Congress Party and Sonia Gandhi.
Then, something mysterious happened -- something that will take months to unravel, and Indian voters showed that they keep their intentions to themselves, and as such, electoral movement became very difficult to predict.
The road ahead is difficult: Mohan Singh is saddled with an unenviable job with some major coalition partners who are poles apart and oppose the very idea of liberalization. How long will this government last? Logically speaking, just a few months.
However, the elections are so expensive that the legislators elect would likely be uninterested in another election anytime soon, so they will play a game of nerves. But eventually, some party will yield, exactly as one did during Narasimha Rao's rule.
In the process, will the business of running the country efficiently and effectively be the last priority? Only time will tell.
Observing this, one could compliment Indonesia for choosing the principle of Presiden pilihan rakyat (president chosen by the people), wherein at least the job of the head of state does not depend on the vagarious loyalties of legislators.
K.B. KALE, Jakarta
15th June 2004
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2004/06/14/nature-indian-voter.html
The outcome of the recent election in India was certainly surprising -- more so than the 1977 election, when Indira Gandhi was ""dethroned"". I would, in fact, compare it to Atlee's victory over Churchill, back in the late '40s, wherein, to quote Churchill, he was "ordered off the turf".
Surprise though the result may be, has the Indian electorate shown maturity or have they been rather unwise in casting their votes? Or is the result simply evidence of the great divide between the haves and the have-nots?.
The divide is certainly not an urban-rural divide: In the cities, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was routed. Neither is it a north-south divide, as the NDA was defeated in Andhra Pradesh as dismally as it was in Uttar Pradesh. The NDA did everything to ensure a landslide victory -- it brought out a dream program to woo the middle class, by making computers cheaper, air travel cheaper, etc.
It tried to woo industrialists by announcing industry and corporate packages, it brought the election timetable forward a few months to cash in on their spectacular victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (they had lost in Delhi only), and gave so-called campaign wizards like Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jetley a chance to campaign. Opinion polls from late March to early April predicted the total demise of the Congress Party and Sonia Gandhi.
Then, something mysterious happened -- something that will take months to unravel, and Indian voters showed that they keep their intentions to themselves, and as such, electoral movement became very difficult to predict.
The road ahead is difficult: Mohan Singh is saddled with an unenviable job with some major coalition partners who are poles apart and oppose the very idea of liberalization. How long will this government last? Logically speaking, just a few months.
However, the elections are so expensive that the legislators elect would likely be uninterested in another election anytime soon, so they will play a game of nerves. But eventually, some party will yield, exactly as one did during Narasimha Rao's rule.
In the process, will the business of running the country efficiently and effectively be the last priority? Only time will tell.
Observing this, one could compliment Indonesia for choosing the principle of Presiden pilihan rakyat (president chosen by the people), wherein at least the job of the head of state does not depend on the vagarious loyalties of legislators.
K.B. KALE, Jakarta
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
RI and India can collaborate
RI and India can collaborate
27th Sept. 2005
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2005/09/27/ri-and-india-can-collaborate.html
A recent letter by Kamath has triggered this response. I have been championing the idea of extensive Indonesia-India co-operation through my previous letters in The Jakarta Post. India and Indonesia are democracies and secular states. All Indians are proud that with 80 percent Hindu population India has a most admired Muslim, Abdul Kalam, as its President and a Sikh, Man Mohan Singh, as its Prime Minister.
I think the time has come for the Indonesian leadership to take a fresh look at India not as a ""developing"" country but as a ""developed"" country.
India today launches satellites, its INSAT is among the world's largest domestic satellite communication systems, has ability to build supercomputers and has a new supercomputer capable of one trillion processes per second. Only four other nations have this capability.
Since independence, India has laid great stress in the field of education and has the second largest pool of scientists and engineers in the world after the U.S. thanks to its universities, research institutions and higher-education institutes turning out 200,000 engineering graduates and another 300,000 technically trained graduates every year. I understand that 36 percent of NASA scientists in U.S. are India-educated. India today is the largest English-speaking nation in the world.
India can be a good partner in the educational field thanks to its huge pool of trained teachers. Quality of education in Indian-run international schools in Jakarta is second to none. And perhaps because Indians are already multi-lingual in their own country, they learn Bahasa Indonesia very fast.
Indian government has been highly successful in providing free and/or low cost education to its masses. Indonesia can learn a lot from India in this type of mass-schooling projects as education in Indonesia is very expensive for an average wage earner.
Indonesian leadership and our embassy may take note and take necessary steps for closer collaboration between the two countries.
K. B. KALE, Jakarta
27th Sept. 2005
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2005/09/27/ri-and-india-can-collaborate.html
A recent letter by Kamath has triggered this response. I have been championing the idea of extensive Indonesia-India co-operation through my previous letters in The Jakarta Post. India and Indonesia are democracies and secular states. All Indians are proud that with 80 percent Hindu population India has a most admired Muslim, Abdul Kalam, as its President and a Sikh, Man Mohan Singh, as its Prime Minister.
I think the time has come for the Indonesian leadership to take a fresh look at India not as a ""developing"" country but as a ""developed"" country.
India today launches satellites, its INSAT is among the world's largest domestic satellite communication systems, has ability to build supercomputers and has a new supercomputer capable of one trillion processes per second. Only four other nations have this capability.
Since independence, India has laid great stress in the field of education and has the second largest pool of scientists and engineers in the world after the U.S. thanks to its universities, research institutions and higher-education institutes turning out 200,000 engineering graduates and another 300,000 technically trained graduates every year. I understand that 36 percent of NASA scientists in U.S. are India-educated. India today is the largest English-speaking nation in the world.
India can be a good partner in the educational field thanks to its huge pool of trained teachers. Quality of education in Indian-run international schools in Jakarta is second to none. And perhaps because Indians are already multi-lingual in their own country, they learn Bahasa Indonesia very fast.
Indian government has been highly successful in providing free and/or low cost education to its masses. Indonesia can learn a lot from India in this type of mass-schooling projects as education in Indonesia is very expensive for an average wage earner.
Indonesian leadership and our embassy may take note and take necessary steps for closer collaboration between the two countries.
K. B. KALE, Jakarta
RI can learn from India
RI can learn from India
25th Nov. 2005
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2005/11/25/ri-can-learn-india.html
It is a matter of pride and joy that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has chosen to visit India just after the conclusion of the APEC meeting in South Korea. It is also a matter of pride that every president of Indonesia from Sukarno to SBY will have paid a state visit to India.
As per reports in The Jakarta Post, SBY has sought cooperation from India in the IT and defense sectors. India today is a super power in the software industry, but in the defense industry we are still a small player.
But maybe we are the right size for the defense needs of Indonesia in terms of spare parts, etc. While these two sectors are important to Indonesia, and India can surely become a strong and useful long-term partner, I also hope that SBY finds time to study the great success of India in mass education.
Today, through low-cost (sometimes no-cost) schools run by municipalities and governments, no willing Indian is denied education irrespective of his income. How India has achieved this could serve as a very important guide for a country like Indonesia, where education is expensive and a lot of parents are burdened by the inevitable loans needed to enable them to put their children through school. Cheap books could be another area of cooperation.
A further area of interest is the cost of medical treatment in Indonesia, which is so high that the man in the street finds it very difficult to get proper treatment at reasonable cost and instead has to turn to traditional medicine.
The Indonesian government could study the drug price control system in India that makes it possible to get most essential drugs at reasonable prices. The prices of all medicines are printed on the package and one does not need to pay more than that price.
There are also a large number of dispensaries and there is healthy competition among them. Many dispensaries even provide free home delivery. By comparison, we have to spend a lot of time and money to get medicines in Indonesia. A small Indonesian group could visit India to study this issue.
Though the quality of service may not be 5-star, the ordinary Indian citizen can nevertheless get reasonably good treatment free of cost in many hospitals run by municipal corporations and governments.
While these may be low-profile areas compared to IT and defense, they may be closer to the heart of the man on the street in Indonesia.
K.B. KALE, Jakarta
25th Nov. 2005
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2005/11/25/ri-can-learn-india.html
It is a matter of pride and joy that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) has chosen to visit India just after the conclusion of the APEC meeting in South Korea. It is also a matter of pride that every president of Indonesia from Sukarno to SBY will have paid a state visit to India.
As per reports in The Jakarta Post, SBY has sought cooperation from India in the IT and defense sectors. India today is a super power in the software industry, but in the defense industry we are still a small player.
But maybe we are the right size for the defense needs of Indonesia in terms of spare parts, etc. While these two sectors are important to Indonesia, and India can surely become a strong and useful long-term partner, I also hope that SBY finds time to study the great success of India in mass education.
Today, through low-cost (sometimes no-cost) schools run by municipalities and governments, no willing Indian is denied education irrespective of his income. How India has achieved this could serve as a very important guide for a country like Indonesia, where education is expensive and a lot of parents are burdened by the inevitable loans needed to enable them to put their children through school. Cheap books could be another area of cooperation.
A further area of interest is the cost of medical treatment in Indonesia, which is so high that the man in the street finds it very difficult to get proper treatment at reasonable cost and instead has to turn to traditional medicine.
The Indonesian government could study the drug price control system in India that makes it possible to get most essential drugs at reasonable prices. The prices of all medicines are printed on the package and one does not need to pay more than that price.
There are also a large number of dispensaries and there is healthy competition among them. Many dispensaries even provide free home delivery. By comparison, we have to spend a lot of time and money to get medicines in Indonesia. A small Indonesian group could visit India to study this issue.
Though the quality of service may not be 5-star, the ordinary Indian citizen can nevertheless get reasonably good treatment free of cost in many hospitals run by municipal corporations and governments.
While these may be low-profile areas compared to IT and defense, they may be closer to the heart of the man on the street in Indonesia.
K.B. KALE, Jakarta
Indo-U.S. friendship
Indo-U.S. friendship
15th March 2006
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2006/03/15/indous-friendship.html
The signing of various deals in New Delhi during the visit of President Bush to India was an important event. Here were two democracies, one the strongest and the other the biggest, shaking hands in friendship.
This friendship has come out of mutual respect. It was neither because of Indian's nuisance value in the geopolitical equation, nor was it based on issues like support against the global war on terrorism -- genuine or phony. It was in recognition of Indian's economic performance and its intrinsic ability to achieve so much while remaining a genuine, if occasionally somewhat chaotic, democracy.
I feel India should stop lobbying for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and instead concentrate on getting stronger and stronger until the UN Security Council feels that it is better off with India inside it than outside, and asks India to join as a permanent member. And then India should gracefully accept the request, but only if it comes with veto power.
From a hungry nation in the 1950s and 1960s when it waited for the arrival of wheat from the United States, to a nation which gratefully rejected the post-tsunami, post-earthquake aid, India has come a long way.
At the end of the visit, it was clear that India ate the cake and kept it too. It kept out what it wanted to be kept out and got what it wanted. Its civilian nuclear installations will get fuel and will be open to inspection by the IAEA, while its military installations will be on their own.
The U.S. secretary of state stated more than once that the U.S. now could take the name of India without taking the name of our honorable neighbor. Both have their own places in U.S. foreign policy, she said.
India has miles to go before it is accepted as a developed nation by the present group of developed nations and is admitted to the G-8 (or G-10 or G-11). But come President Kalam's magic year 2020 and India will be up there and continuing to march ahead.
Accepting the deal signed in New Delhi is in the interest of both the countries and so it is hoped that the American congress will ratify it without delay.
Viva the Indo-U.S. friendship!
K. B. KALE, Jakarta
15th March 2006
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2006/03/15/indous-friendship.html
The signing of various deals in New Delhi during the visit of President Bush to India was an important event. Here were two democracies, one the strongest and the other the biggest, shaking hands in friendship.
This friendship has come out of mutual respect. It was neither because of Indian's nuisance value in the geopolitical equation, nor was it based on issues like support against the global war on terrorism -- genuine or phony. It was in recognition of Indian's economic performance and its intrinsic ability to achieve so much while remaining a genuine, if occasionally somewhat chaotic, democracy.
I feel India should stop lobbying for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and instead concentrate on getting stronger and stronger until the UN Security Council feels that it is better off with India inside it than outside, and asks India to join as a permanent member. And then India should gracefully accept the request, but only if it comes with veto power.
From a hungry nation in the 1950s and 1960s when it waited for the arrival of wheat from the United States, to a nation which gratefully rejected the post-tsunami, post-earthquake aid, India has come a long way.
At the end of the visit, it was clear that India ate the cake and kept it too. It kept out what it wanted to be kept out and got what it wanted. Its civilian nuclear installations will get fuel and will be open to inspection by the IAEA, while its military installations will be on their own.
The U.S. secretary of state stated more than once that the U.S. now could take the name of India without taking the name of our honorable neighbor. Both have their own places in U.S. foreign policy, she said.
India has miles to go before it is accepted as a developed nation by the present group of developed nations and is admitted to the G-8 (or G-10 or G-11). But come President Kalam's magic year 2020 and India will be up there and continuing to march ahead.
Accepting the deal signed in New Delhi is in the interest of both the countries and so it is hoped that the American congress will ratify it without delay.
Viva the Indo-U.S. friendship!
K. B. KALE, Jakarta
The price of medicine
The price of medicine
7th Dec. 2006
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2006/12/07/price-medicine.html
Both of the letters in The Jakarta Post from Philip Townsend were quite interesting. He blames the middleman in one, the physicians in the other, and no one else.
To eliminate overcharging, the pharmaceutical companies should print the maximum retail price on each medicine. This is obligatory in India.
One wonders why a tube of Canesten, a skin ointment, costs the equivalent of U.S. 5 cents per gram in India but 25 cents per gram in Indonesia. Both versions are manufactured by the same multinational company.
Similarly, 500-milligram tablets of Glycophage cost five times more here then their equivalent, Glycomet, does in India. Daonil in 5-milligram tablets costs 17 times than its Indian equivalent. Pioglar 15 costs 6.5 times more.
Interestingly, the generic Metformin and Glibenclamide both cost about the same here as the branded variety in India. Why is there so much difference between the costs of generic and branded medicines? And why do Indonesian doctors not prescribe generic medicines as Townsend suggests?
Thanks to the printed prices on the medicines, Indian pharmacies sell medicines at the proper prices. On the other hand, the Indonesian customer is blissfully ignorant about what the price of the medicine should be.
We desperately need to determine who is primarily responsible for the higher costs of medicines. Some NGO should take up this issue. The government should also step in to curb the retail prices of medicines.
Indians will remain ever grateful to the late Indira Gandhi, who forced the pharmaceutical industry to print and charge fair prices. By and large, all the pharmaceutical companies in India are still doing well.
I feel President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will win another, bigger landslide victory in his quest for a second term if he earns the gratitude of millions of Indonesians who cannot afford medicines.
K.B. KALE, Jakart
=======================================
ost Comments | Comments (1)
Capt.R.W.de Jong, Bogor | Thu, 16/12/2010 - 19:12pm
I do think that that is NOT the task of the President,but the Health Minister,on which he depends to be fully informed,with elas in this large country is very difficult and if informed-too late......
=======================================
7th Dec. 2006
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2006/12/07/price-medicine.html
Both of the letters in The Jakarta Post from Philip Townsend were quite interesting. He blames the middleman in one, the physicians in the other, and no one else.
To eliminate overcharging, the pharmaceutical companies should print the maximum retail price on each medicine. This is obligatory in India.
One wonders why a tube of Canesten, a skin ointment, costs the equivalent of U.S. 5 cents per gram in India but 25 cents per gram in Indonesia. Both versions are manufactured by the same multinational company.
Similarly, 500-milligram tablets of Glycophage cost five times more here then their equivalent, Glycomet, does in India. Daonil in 5-milligram tablets costs 17 times than its Indian equivalent. Pioglar 15 costs 6.5 times more.
Interestingly, the generic Metformin and Glibenclamide both cost about the same here as the branded variety in India. Why is there so much difference between the costs of generic and branded medicines? And why do Indonesian doctors not prescribe generic medicines as Townsend suggests?
Thanks to the printed prices on the medicines, Indian pharmacies sell medicines at the proper prices. On the other hand, the Indonesian customer is blissfully ignorant about what the price of the medicine should be.
We desperately need to determine who is primarily responsible for the higher costs of medicines. Some NGO should take up this issue. The government should also step in to curb the retail prices of medicines.
Indians will remain ever grateful to the late Indira Gandhi, who forced the pharmaceutical industry to print and charge fair prices. By and large, all the pharmaceutical companies in India are still doing well.
I feel President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will win another, bigger landslide victory in his quest for a second term if he earns the gratitude of millions of Indonesians who cannot afford medicines.
K.B. KALE, Jakart
=======================================
ost Comments | Comments (1)
Capt.R.W.de Jong, Bogor | Thu, 16/12/2010 - 19:12pm
I do think that that is NOT the task of the President,but the Health Minister,on which he depends to be fully informed,with elas in this large country is very difficult and if informed-too late......
=======================================
India: The perfect partner
India: The perfect partner
6th Jan. 2007
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2007/01/06/india-perfect-partner.html
I refer to the Indian Ambassador's enlightening comments ( The Jakarta Post, Dec. 11) in which she advocated a strategic partnership between Indonesia and India.
I have been a staunch advocate of meaningful cooperation between Indonesia and India in my previous letters to the Post. There are many positive reasons to consider this idea seriously. Both countries are genuine democracies and genuinely secular states. And while it is a genuine (and occasionally chaotic) democracy, India's economy is galloping at a growth of about 8 percent.
I think the time has come for the Indonesian leadership to take a fresh look at India as a strategic partner. Apart from pushing for increased trade, Indonesia should learn how India made good with what it had. In the absence of adequate foreign exchange reserves, mainly due to India's non-aligned foreign policy, Indians had to find ways to keep their country and industry going without imports. Each company in India had an omnipresent ""import substitution cell"". Indonesia should learn from the hardships and scarcities India struggled through before it launched itself as an industrial power.
India has been highly successful in providing free or low cost education to its masses. Indonesia can learn a lot from India about these types of mass-schooling projects, since education in Indonesia is very expensive for the average wage earner. India could be a good partner in the educational field thanks to its huge pool of trained teachers.
Indonesia could use medical professionals from India, whose dedication to their work and patients is world-renowned. Multi-lingual by necessity, Indians seem to be born with a special ""language chip"" in their genes, and can learn Bahasa Indonesia in about six months.
Apart from high-tech areas like information technology and space, Indonesia could collaborate with the Indian pharmaceutical industry to produce high quality, affordable medicines. Alternatively, Indonesia could import these medicines from India at 25 percent of the prevailing prices here.
India is probably the only country in the world which voted 100 percent electronically in 2004. The results were out in a few hours. This is another potential area of collaboration.
With the keenness of India's new ambassador to forge a strategic partnership, things should move quickly in that direction.
K. B. KALE, Jakarta
6th Jan. 2007
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2007/01/06/india-perfect-partner.html
I refer to the Indian Ambassador's enlightening comments ( The Jakarta Post, Dec. 11) in which she advocated a strategic partnership between Indonesia and India.
I have been a staunch advocate of meaningful cooperation between Indonesia and India in my previous letters to the Post. There are many positive reasons to consider this idea seriously. Both countries are genuine democracies and genuinely secular states. And while it is a genuine (and occasionally chaotic) democracy, India's economy is galloping at a growth of about 8 percent.
I think the time has come for the Indonesian leadership to take a fresh look at India as a strategic partner. Apart from pushing for increased trade, Indonesia should learn how India made good with what it had. In the absence of adequate foreign exchange reserves, mainly due to India's non-aligned foreign policy, Indians had to find ways to keep their country and industry going without imports. Each company in India had an omnipresent ""import substitution cell"". Indonesia should learn from the hardships and scarcities India struggled through before it launched itself as an industrial power.
India has been highly successful in providing free or low cost education to its masses. Indonesia can learn a lot from India about these types of mass-schooling projects, since education in Indonesia is very expensive for the average wage earner. India could be a good partner in the educational field thanks to its huge pool of trained teachers.
Indonesia could use medical professionals from India, whose dedication to their work and patients is world-renowned. Multi-lingual by necessity, Indians seem to be born with a special ""language chip"" in their genes, and can learn Bahasa Indonesia in about six months.
Apart from high-tech areas like information technology and space, Indonesia could collaborate with the Indian pharmaceutical industry to produce high quality, affordable medicines. Alternatively, Indonesia could import these medicines from India at 25 percent of the prevailing prices here.
India is probably the only country in the world which voted 100 percent electronically in 2004. The results were out in a few hours. This is another potential area of collaboration.
With the keenness of India's new ambassador to forge a strategic partnership, things should move quickly in that direction.
K. B. KALE, Jakarta
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