[kitchencabinetforum] ASHTON JUNKETS TO INDIA

Catherine Ashton junkets to India on 16-17 January for a bilateral visit. She will co-chair the EU-India Ministerial Meeting and meet representatives of the Indian government. Kleptocrats are often taking very expensive junkets, taking advantage of their positions and access to public funds to undertake pleasure trips thinly disguised as being of political importance. For example, a keptocrat might travel to Greece, claiming to attend a conference there, but leaving plenty of days to explore the Greek islands and Greek delights at leisure. http://venitism.blogspot.com

Ashton says: The European Union is committed to strengthening the strategic partnership with India. My visit comes at a time when both India and the EU are facing important challenges. I hope the visit will strengthen our political and economic ties and create opportunities for synergies in addressing regional and global challenges, including for example in the field of security.

Kleptocrats, accompanied by their kith and kin, are going to junkets because they cannot miss a good party at taxpayers' expense. The worst thing that could happen in a junket is running out of caviar and hookers. Many junketeers use military jets that cost 10,000 euros per hour! Deputies of the European Parliament (EP), aka Eldorado of Prostitutes, love junkets!

When kleptocrats meet each other on junkets, they exchange gifts paid by their
taxpayers. The most expensive gifts, and secret cash under the table, are
given by the Royal House of Saudi Arabia. That's why so many Eurokleptocrats
are eager to meet the Saudi princes! The ridiculous awarding of medals among politicians should be banned. It insults the intelligence of citizens. Medal swapping is as disgusting as wife swapping! http://venitism.blogspot.com

James Roberts points out the traditional power base of the ruling Congress Party
is benefiting from the corruption. This includes 700 million people in rural
India who are involved primarily in farming, many of whom benefit from generous
government subsidies and are therefore tolerant of graft in these programs. But
as more people move from farms to cities in search of middle-class jobs, that
power base shrinks.

In contrast, the middle class faces daily demands for bribes to process
government-mandated documents ranging from $45 for a driving license, $110 to
be admitted to hospital, $130 for a marriage certificate to $100 to a customs
officer at Mumbai Airport because a wife's name did not match her husband's in
their passports. In addition, beyond insult from petty bribery, there is
injury from more sordid corruption.

On 16 January, Ashton will co-chair the EU-India Ministerial Meeting with Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna in Bangalore. These discussions will also prepare the ground for the 12th EU-India Summit due to take place on 10 February in New Delhi.

Derek Scissors points out that tapping into rising middle-class anger, former
Indian soldier-turned-activist Anna Hazare used hunger strikes and other
Gandhian tactics to try to change politics as usual. Citizens are better
educated and better informed (e.g., via Twitter), and they are demanding changes
in business as usual. Hazare is pushing for the creation of an anti-corruption
watchdog to be called Lokpal, from the Sanskrit lok (people) and pal
(protector), which would have jurisdiction over all government officials. Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh initially rejected the proposal on grounds that it
could undermine parliamentary democracy.

Scissors notes versions of the Lokpal legislation have existed for decades but
foundered on special-interest opposition and constitutional questions.
Reflecting the expansion of the middle class, Hazare has had more success with
his version of Lokpal, and some variant is likely to pass the legislature in the
next few months. Indians remain divided on Hazare's approach, with some viewing
it as an emotive and misguided attempt to promote a utopian one-step solution.
No matter one's view of Lokpal, it does not get at the most important issue.
Lokpal targets corrupt entities within the state, but the problem is the very
notion of state activity!
The black market is also directly connected to recent headlines claiming that
India has lost more than $400 billion due to illegal capital flows. Some of
this is the result of ill-gotten gains from crime, which were illegally earned
and ideally would never have existed. Other funds are lost either because they
fled domestic restrictions or because India restricts capital movement.

Among the issues on the agenda will be security and trade as well as foreign policy issues. Ashton will underline the importance of developing cooperation between the EU and India in the field of security as a sign of stronger political engagement between the two partners. She will also reiterate the EU's commitment to conclude as soon as possible a comprehensive and balanced Free Trade Agreement between the EU and India.

Scissors points out that despite progress in the reform era, India retains tight
capital controls even by the standards of emerging markets. What would count
elsewhere merely as citizens and companies investing overseas — and bringing
benefits back home in terms of financial returns, resources, corporate assets,
and so on — is not permitted in India. As in all economies throughout history,
people follow their self-interest and invest abroad anyway, but no benefits flow
back to India, because the investments are deemed illegal by an interventionist
state.

In some incidents of corruption, the Indian government's guilt is directly
apparent. The Commonwealth Games, for example, were plagued by lack of
competition in contract awards. In other cases, the harm comes to the state, not
the people, which should not be defined as corruption or any sort of problem in
the first place.

India is wrestling with how to deal a decisive blow against corruption. Scissors
asserts the answer is plain: Deal a decisive blow against state interference in
the economy. To help, the U.S. should offer a proposal for a bilateral
investment treaty (BIT) that liberalizes Indian investment. This would sharply
reduce the incentives for corruption. It also might serve as political cover for
future Indian governments that want to make the difficult choices needed to
defeat corruption in its many forms.

During her trip, Catherine Ashton will also meet other representatives of the Indian government, including Minister of Defence A. K. Antony and National Security Advisor S. S. Menon. Basil Venitis, venitis@gmail.com, points out the largest kickbacks originate in the military industry. Military procurement is a corrupt business from top to bottom. The process is dominated by advocacy, with few checks and balances. Most people in power love this system of doing business and do not want it changed. War and preparation for war systematically corrupt all parties to the state-private transactions by which the government obtains the bulk of its military products. There is a standard 10% kickback to kleptocrats for military purchases.

Venitis notes participants in the military-industrial-kleptocrat complex (MIKC) are routinely blamed for mismanagement, fraud, abuse, kickbacks, and waste (FAKW). All of these unsavory actions, however, are typically viewed as aberrations, malfeasances to be covered-up, while retaining the basic system of state-private cooperation in the trade of military goods and services and the flow of kickbacks. These offenses are in reality expressions of a thoroughgoing, intrinsic rottenness in the entire setup.