In this Idea Exchange moderated by DK Singh of The Indian Express, minister of state for external affairs Preneet Kaur speaks about the proposed Bluestar memorial, the drug menace in Punjab and Indo-Pak relations

DK Singh: What do you think of UK?s decision to engage with Narendra Modi?

I think the decision is a business decision and it is the prerogative of every country and its embassies to interact with people. These days, diplomacy has become economy-centric and one looks for the best places to increase their economic activity. We have ambassadors coming to Punjab and to other states. Gujarat has a good port and it has a lot of business activity. A lot of out foreign trade is through diamonds, diamond cutting, textiles?Gujarat is a hub for those.

DK Singh: Is this the beginning of the end of Modi?s international isolation?

I don?t think he was ever isolated from the UK. He has travelled to UK privately and as CM, if I recall correctly. The denial of visa is from the US.

NP Singh: How do you react to the ministry of commerce wanting to set up a foreign service of its own and post commercial officers in embassies who will not report to the ambassador but directly to the ministry?

I?m afraid I have not heard about this but anybody who is posted in an embassy has to deal through the embassy. If there is already a foreign ministry and a foreign service, then I don?t think there can be a parallel one. In some places, we have commercial attaches or defence attaches but that doesn?t mean that the defence ministry has put up a parallel ministry.

Maneesh Chhibber: There have been ups and downs in our relationship with Pakistan. What is the latest now? Is the Prime Minister going there any time soon?

The Prime Minister had received an invitation from President Zardari when he came here on that unofficial visit (to Ajmer Sharif) and he said he would be delighted to go at a time when it was convenient. He?s made it clear that the atmosphere and the climate between the two countries has to be absolutely right for him to go. Once the sensitivity to our public?s perception and reactions towards the ongoing trial for the Mumbai attacks is addressed, once something positive is done on that, I?m sure that something will materialise.

Shubhajit Roy: Recently, Gen KS Brar was attacked in London. He has alleged that Khalistani militants attacked him. When he travels overseas, will the MEA liaise with the security agencies of the foreign country to ensure his security?

The attack on him is condemnable and we are happy he is back home. I think proper information about his going there was not passed on to us. If he wants to travel, he must inform the MEA and we will request the host country to make security arrangements for him.

Maneesh Chhibber: Many people, even within the Congress, feel that the attack is connected to the revival of terrorism in Punjab. It is alleged that the state government is helping or at least abetting the rise of radical elements. What is your view?

General Brar has alleged that the people who attacked him had terrorist connections, primarily because he was involved in Operation Blue Star, which was a very dark and unfortunate event. Terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon and India has been targeted very badly?Mumbai, Pune, etc. Terrorist links from across the border is another problem. The Punjab government claims that there is no terrorism in Punjab. We welcome the claim. We hope it is substantiated because none of us, regardless of which party we?re from, wants to see a revival of that.

DK Singh: How do you view recent decisions of the SGPC, such as building a memorial and calling it a temple, and the celebration of acts of terror like honouring the killers of General Vaidya.

Firstly, I don’t think it?s a war memorial. After Operation Bluestar a lot of healing has taken place. There’s a new generation and it is time we move forward, not backwards.

DK Singh: What is the real intent of the SGPC and the Akali Dal?

The SGPC is a wing of the Akali Dal. I have no hesitation in saying that. It should not be so, it is a Sikh body. However, it?s good if the Akalis want to maintain a distance from the SGPC, we welcome that. We want SGPC to propagate our religion and not Akali Dal politics.

Maneesh Chhibber: During the last Punjab Assembly polls, everybody expected the Congress to win. So how did the Akali Dal manage to come back for the first time in 30 years?

Let?s just say that their micro-management was very good.

NP Singh: On the question of Pakistani Hindu migrants coming into India, how is the government reacting to them? Is it likely to be different from how we are treating Bangladeshi immigrants?

I think it would be different because there is a difference in their numbers and there is a difference in the kind of people who are coming. There is no policy to settle migrants here. Secondly, the migrants who come in have to request to be settled here. The MEA received no formal request and besides, this is dealt with by the Home Ministry.

Dilip Bobb: Rahul Gandhi has said 70% of Punjab?s youth have a drug problem. What is your take on that?

I totally agree with Rahul Gandhi. A menace has been created especially in the last seven to eight years. They have gone from small ointment and Benadryl cough syrup to smack and heroin. This has been largely during the Akali regime and then they say it is not our problem, it?s the problem of the Centre. That is their standard line. Rahul Gandhi had every right to bring this up because our youth are becoming totally defunct mentally and physically because of these drugs which are so freely available. And what are the police doing about it? Are they involved because it is spreading everywhere?

Maneesh Chhibber: The controversy surrounding Robert Vadra?s assets saw the Congress jump to his defence even though he is not a Congressman. So, why not let him defend himself?

He has defended himself. My assessment is that had he been just Robert Vadra and not married to Priyanka, this issue would not have arisen. They have targeted him because he is married to Sonia Gandhi?s daughter. That is why we have defended him. However, it is a private transaction and if anybody has a problem, let them have an investigation as would happen with any citizen.

Tushar Kulkarni (student, EXIMS): As a former chairperson of the standing committee on female foeticide, what were the challenges you faced?

When I was chairperson, we set into motion checks on where prenatal tests were done. We put into motion raids and tracked the patients who came and went to a clinic?what stage of pregnancy the lady went in, whether that pregnancy went to full term or was it terminated before delivery. The changes introduced by the Central government through various Acts on the rights of the girl child, the rights of women will go a long way in helping us to reduce this sex ratio problem.

Sourabh Ketkar (EXIMS): What about corruption charges against the Badals who have business interests in cable TV, transport and whose family members have allegedly occupied the majority of the government posts?

I think 26-odd portfolios are divided between the CM, Deputy CM and the Food Minister. It is an open secret. One newspaper ran front-page stories for three days running on the transport business and how they made the rules to suit their transport business. And mining is going on. It has been stopped but it is illegally going on, totally managed by them. Land is being totally managed by them. The cable business was one of the worst things they did. The most unfortunate part of their corruption is that they have created a system where the SHO and the police thana are directly under the control of the elected representative. So, the policemen in the thanas have become Akali Dal activists or workers. This is pure murder of democracy. You switch on any news channel, especially their PTC, there is nothing but them. There is no objectivity. And here they are with the BJP, taking up corruption. If I start listing the corruption issues involving them, we will never finish.

Yogesh Rajput (EXIMS): Recently, a few ministers of state said they don?t have a say in decision-making and strategising policies. Do you face such situations in the ministry of external affairs?

As far as the decision-making goes, it is the Cabinet that takes decisions and we do not in Cabinet meetings. What we do is to help to implement the policies. I have no complaints. I have enough work and I am very happy with the minister, the ministry.

DK Singh: Many of your ministerial colleagues are facing corruption charges. Does this constrain your governance?

This is a process that we don?t shy away from. The investigation processes go on and they will reach a logical conclusion because we do believe that if something comes up, it should be investigated, it should come to light. But till the investigations are complete, we have a right to wait and see.

Praveen Raman (EXIMS): India has the chairmanship of BRICS this year. Could you explain what the MEA is doing to improve relationships with China and the other BRICS countries?

On China, we have a multi-pronged strategy. As the PM says, the world is big enough for China and India to co-exist. We have commonalities on issues like climate change and at the BRICS summit, there is a consensus. The issues that are contentious are LoC issues, the Line of Actual Control. Now, in many areas without lines of control, they have been marked out. We have about 16 interactions with the people concerned to try and work this out. Till it is worked out, it is agreed that a peaceful atmosphere should remain. If there are skirmishes, those are dealt at the local level. So, there isn?t a major issue on that. As far as Arunachal Pradesh is concerned, India firmly believes, declares that is is an integral part of India, just as Jammu and Kashmir is.

Maneesh Chhibber: There is a feeling that China has made huge roads into Africa and India is lagging behind. What is the Government of India policy on that?

India has a very clear policy for Africa. We have a partnership policy with Africa. We want to partner them to develop their own human resources so that they can look after their own wealth. We have had two Africa-India summits. We had given a $5 million credit pack at the first summit and at the second, we gave a second $5 billion line of credit for agricultural development institutions, e-medicine, e-learning programmes, etc. It was, actually, split into two?capacity building and human resource development. We give them almost 22,000 scholarships to India. We train their people. We set up institutions for them in Africa. We don?t dictate to them. They come with project plans and then we give them credit.

Subhomoy Bhattacharjee: When Indian companies go abroad, they say they don?t get a cover from the MEA. There are a lot of areas where they work in very difficult conditions. What sort of a role do we see the MEA playing to give a cover to companies when they are abroad?

Part of our diplomacy is economic. I have taken business delegations to Rwanda, Turkmenistan, Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia, etc. The other ministers do likewise. The MEA and our missions have a very big role to play in the process. The mission is always available for anybody who has any problem, to help them out. One example: in Libya, there was an Indonesian company with about a 1,000-strong Indian workforce working with them in Benghazi. Over 100 of them were from Punjab. The company went bust. These people were in dire straits. This was just before the conflict began in Libya. And they had no money for food, water, medicine, nothing. Benghazi is 1,200 kilometres away from Tripoli. They got in touch with us. I spoke with the minister for overseas affairs and our ambassador. A man would go from Tripoli once a week to give them money. Now, this was government money. Tickets for 117 of them were provided by the ministry of overseas affairs because I requested them to. Through our diplomatic efforts, through the MEA, through our mission, we got them all transported back to India. So, if there is a problem, if they get in touch with the mission, we will help them to the best of our ability.

Ifrah Mufti (EXIMS): The women?s reservation bill has been long in the waiting. What is your stand on the women?s reservation bill?

All I can say is our party is going to keep on and on trying and we will try to succeed one day. Hopefully.

Transcribed Aditi Vatsa & Jayant Sriram