Indian Ocean Community: Uniting nations on path of progress (Author: S. Kalyanaraman)
SE Asian nations’ summit precursor to Indian Ocean Community?
THURSDAY, 20 DECEMBER 2012 00:38 KUMAR CHELLAPPAN | CHENNAI
Thursday’s summit in New Delhi featuring heads of nine South East Asian nations could be the precursor to the formation of Indian Ocean Community of nations, says a Chennai-based Indologist. Citizens from India could find jobs and do hassle-free business in 59 countries lying along the Indian Ocean.
Citizens from these countries too would be eligible to work and do business anywhere in India. This is not a Utopian dream but a near reality.
“The countries lying along the rim of the Indian Ocean could come together and form a community like the European Union. These countries can together generate $6 trillion per year and can give a US and the Europeans a run for their money,” Dr S Kalyanaraman, former Asian Development Bank executive writes in his new book “Indian Ocean Community: Uniting nations on path of progress”.
The book is a road map to the formation of the Indian Ocean Community by countries like India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Vietnam, Cambodia and others which share a common shoreline with the Indian Ocean. “Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had proposed Mudra as the name to the common currency for such an entity,” said Dr Kalyanaraman.
To cynics who raise their eyebrows about the possibility of such an entity, Dr Kalyanaraman points out that the European Union was formed by countries that fought two World Wars against each other. “National boundaries and mighty walls got vanished when people understood the benefits of coming together irrespective of the kind of politics which had separated them. What happened to countries like Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Soviet Union is an ideal example,” he said.
The book “Indian Ocean Community” took him two years and painstaking research to complete. The basis of the book was the findings by Angus Maddison, the British economist who showed to the world that India and China together controlled 60 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product in the first century. According to Maddison’s study, this took a nosedive as a result of colonialisation. While the colonial powers steadily increased the GDP to their advantage, both India and China ceded ground to them and were relegated to the bottom of the table.
“Preceding the EU was a successful cooperative enterprise called the European Coal and Steel Community. European Atomic Energy Community created shared market for supply of electricity to European countries. Before the European Community gained its form, shape and content, an institution called the Organisation for European Cooperation and Development (OECD) was set up to provide the framework of trade,
investment and development projects in various socio-economic sectors,” Dr Kalyanaraman writes in his book.
To drive home the feasibility and strength of IOC, Dr Kalyanaraman quotes history, culture and common heritage which bind these nations. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim majority nation has many Indian links. “Gus Dur Abdul Rehman Wahid, former president of Indonesia, who was requested to attend the consecration of a mosque in Surabaya City in Jawa asked the organisaers to arrange for a Hindu pundit from India to perfom the Vigneswara Pooja before the recitation of Quran by an Islamic priest. A Hindu tantrik was flown in from Kerala exclusively for the purpose,” writes Kalyanaraman.
He mentions that Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia told Swami Ranganathanandaji of Ramkrishna Mutt that every night he reads at least two pages from the collected volumes of Swami Vivekananada before going to bed. “He also told the Swamiji that his father, a devout Muslim, named him after the legendary Karna of Mahabharath because he wanted his son to be as brave and philanthropic as Karna,” writes Dr Kalyanaraman.
Sukarno named his daughter Meghawati at the instance of Biju Patnaik who was with him when a messenger brought him the news about the birth of his daughter. Meghawati (full of clouds) went on to become the president of Indonesia. The present President Sushilo Yudhoyono stands for warrior of good character.The Indonesians, claim themselves to be Muslim by religion but Hindus by culture, said Dr Kalyanaraman.
This is not confined to Indonesia. Dr Kalyanaraman says all South East Asian Nations have strong bondages beyond the present differences. “World’s largest Vishnu Temple is not in India bit in Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Lord Hanuman is the official mascot of Military Intelligence in Indonesia. The Malaysian President takes oath of office in the name of the dust of Rama’s footwear (Urusan Seri Paduka Beginda) and takes Ganga Snanam before ascending the throne.
http://dailypioneer.com/nation/116775-se-asian-nations-summit-precursor-to-indian-ocean-community-.html