T&T politicians need not be so confrontational in the discharging of their duties, whether in government or the opposition. This is the observation of outgoing Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad & Tobago, His Excellency Malay Mishra, who ends his tour of duty at the end of this month. Saying he will always cherish the memories of Carnival and Divali, the career diplomat, who spent four-and-a-half years on this assignment, disclosed that no longer would convicted criminals be allowed to contest seats in the Indian Parliament.
Q: Mr High Commissioner, you will soon be riding out of Port-of-Spain at the end of your tour of duty. What would you say was the most troubling aspect of your assignment?
A: (At his Victoria Avenue, Port-of-Spain, High Commission, office) Troubling aspect? Well, for a diplomat, there is no real trouble, and if there is trouble it can always be smoothened out. But overall my stay here has been very good, intense...and it has been a very new experience for me in terms of my posting.
Why was this a new experience? This was your seventh posting.
(Crossing his legs, a posture he adopted for almost the entire interview) It wasn’t new, but for me it was a good study, a study of a society in transition; your society is young, it’s a plural society, you have amazing diversities within a very short time and over a small land, and the way people have absorbed this diversity in their normal day-to-day life...
Do you find, Mr Mishra, that T&T and India have some similarities which at times can be uncanny?
Yes. Very much so. In fact India is a land of diversity also, but our diversity has been formed over a millennium, our civilisation has been built over thousands and thousands of years of coexistence; mingling of different cultures, different races mixing with each other. But T&T, you got all that over a span of just 200 years.
Although it has somewhat simmered down in the very recent past there was this debate as to whether there should be an Indian Arrival Day holiday in this country. What’s your take on that?
It is important for the people to know the future and the present. Every community has to give respect to their origins, their ancestors, because they have brought so much to their society, and they should be thankful for that.
During your stewardship, Mr High Commissioner, our Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, paid a state visit to India. Did this trip result in any tangible benefits to T&T?
The results of that visit are flowing, and it is not something you can touch with your finger and say “This was it” and “That was that.” No. The visit, to me, was a paradigm shift in our relations.
You diplomats are not supposed to put your mouths in the domestic affairs of the host country. But some of this Government’s detractors are saying that we have not really benefited anything tangible out of that trip?
Tangibly there have been some investments that have followed; there have been some Indian experts in the field of coconut who came to T&T, who did a very good job in dealing with diseases affecting your crop here. There was another coconut delegation from India, who is working with coconut growers in south Trinidad.
Surely, Mr High Commissioner, the coconut industry is not the only sector that India can…?
We have focused a lot on agriculture, and we are now offering the services of rice experts who have already been identified. We are also working on an MoU for solar energy, which is now at an advanced stage; similarly, we are looking at SMEs (small and medium enterprises). There is an MoU on the table which is now ready to be signed, and another important area of co-operation is in traditional Indian medicines.
There has been a debate, Mr Mishra, in several countries about the effectiveness of generic Indian products.
India is one of the very important exporters of generic products…pharmaceuticals; we are very strong in that and a good part of your CDAP generic medicines are being sourced in India. There are some vested groups who are propagating this kind of myth so that people are all the time glued to branded-name medicines which cost five times more than generic versions. India is one of the countries which possesses nuclear power... (quickly adding) for useful purposes.
We are a very small country, but do you see T&T benefitting at all in this respect?
(Sharply) No. I don’t think there is any talk of nuclear energy so far with us.
From your position do you think it is at all feasible?
I have not really gone into this aspect at all in terms of renewable energy. I think they are looking at solar and water in so far as talks with T&T are concerned and basically, you have such a strong energy sector yourself, and you are looking at diversifying your energy sector, which is very obvious. But even your Government has not looked at nuclear energy so far, and I think they are still with solar and water.
Coming from the world’s largest democracy, what sort of advice can you impart to our brand of politicians keeping in mind what I told you about diplomats shying away from the domestic situations of host governments?
When I look at T&T in terms of its size and its population it is 1,000th part of India, which means if you look at the canvas of India and put T&T, when we can manage our country with such a big population (1.3 billion) and here in T&T with just over one million people, politically there could be a cohesiveness in government.
Politicians of all hues and colours for a small society like this could sit together and work out many things for the benefit of your beautiful country. I see so many bills coming up in Parliament which are discussed for days and nights, which are not really worth that, in my view. They could be settled in joint parliamentary committees, which can eventually provide for a smooth handling of some of these measures.
Have you been able to discern, during your stint here, whether our politicians are too confrontational in the practice of their craft?
(Scratching his right eyebrow) You see, in a small society it is geared towards that, because you have no bigger issues to confront one another on. So If I were to answer your question without...I don’t want anybody to say “Oh, the Indian High Commissioner (laughing) was answering Mr Raphael and he makes a controversial statement.” I don’t want to say anything like that…to put myself in hot water.
But it obviously means that because you are not blind sitting here, and I am a diplomat who always mingles with the people, that is the way I look at society. If we don’t study the society, then we don’t do our jobs properly. You just don’t sit at your desk writing papers for my government. You have to observe things and people around you, and obviously the answer to your question is yes.
Why?
But, why yes? Why should it be like that (perplexed expression). Why can’t it be more complementary and co-operative?
Your Excellency, I am sure one of the most unpleasant moments you had here was that incident at the Piarco International Airport where you had that matter with an immigration officer, where you called for the matter to be investigated. How far has that reached?
Well, I am told that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did have an enquiry and thereafter I did not ask what happened, but after that there has been no untoward incident as far as I am concerned. They must have taken some measures, I am sure.
Some of your most enjoyable moments?
Carnival, number one. Divali, second. It’s an amazing celebration you do for Divali. These will go as part of my psyche, and when I remember T&T these two will hit me directly…and many other things.
Finally, Mr High Commissioner, this is something that has always aroused my curiosity…how come your Parliament is partly populated by convicted criminals, including killers?
(A heavy sigh with a contemplative pause) It is a difficult question. However, recently our Supreme Court has disallowed politicians who have records of conviction of any kind of crime. They cannot stand for election. There has been an awakening in our society at large that certainly we cannot allow ourselves to be governed in some way or to be represented in some way in our Parliament by people who have such records. This takes effect from our next general election, which is carded for 2015.