Interview
Ambassador Sen: New-found Confidence
Ambassador Aloke Sen of India has been one of Ankara’s best-liked ambassadors over the past three years, well known for his professionalism, modesty, thorough knowledge of the country and command of the Turkish language. It was in Ankara that Ambassador Sen began his diplomatic career back in 1978-1981. Having served in Bangladesh, Canada, Algeria and Uzbekistan as well as Delhi, he returned as ambassador twenty years later, in 2001. “I remembered much more Turkish than I expected,” he recalls, “It came back pretty quickly.” On the eve of his departure for a further ambassadorial position in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, Diplomat spoke to Ambassador Sen about his experiences in Turkey, the development of Turkey-Indian relations, India’s growing economy and its role in world affairs. The interview was conducted by Bernard Kennedy.
Q How does the diplomatic community in Ankara compare to other capitals where you have served?
A Ankara is an attractive capital on two planes. First, it has an extremely active diplomatic community. Secondly, interactions with the local people are very exciting, because they are so open-minded and so interested in people from other countries.
Q Which country has changed more over the past 25 years or so – India or Turkey?
A In Turkey there have been tremendous changes in the way the cities look, the growth of the population, the standard of living… But the friendliness and hospitality of the people has not changed at all and that is a good thing because these heart-warming traits are tremendous assets of the country. Of course, both India and Turkey have changed a lot in terms of the economy – one extremely relevant front where countries can and should change. I think Turkey had a head start on India. The reform process started here in about 1981 whereas in India we started ten years after that in 1991.
Q How have ties between the two countries developed in your time as ambassador?
A Relations are strong and intensifying. It would be quite meaningless today to speak of a political and cultural relationship without an economic relationship. I derive some satisfaction from the way the economic relationship is changing. This is not a flash-in-the-pan phenomenon and I think it will continue. When I was appointed the two-way trade volume was $427 million. This year we are posting $1 billion. We are entering the projects sector, mainly infrastructure, in each other’s country. There are institutional arrangements in place. There is an economic commission and a business council. Direct flights between Turkey and India have resumed after a long interval. It’s only a six-hour flight but in the past the journey could take up to a day. One result of this is that a lot of business people have started visiting and discovering each other. They are starting to set up offices and find agents and representatives. There is mutual participation in trade fairs. A second consequence is the growth of tourism. Many Indians go abroad on holiday, and Turkey is a tourist’s paradise. But until recently very few Indians came here on holiday. Now I am sometimes pleasantly surprised to meet groups of Indians going around places where I would not have expected to see them.
Q What about political and cultural relations?
A During my watch, the prime minister of India came here after a gap of 15 years, and the Indian foreign minister visited for the first time in 27 years. We expect these visits to be reciprocated in the near future. Among other high-level visits, India was the first foreign destination for the speaker of the Turkish parliament. Following the prime minister’s visit in September 2003, we set up a joint working group to combat terrorism. This is a mechanism which India has with select countries. It is an important political initiative. In terms of our understanding of important regional and international issues there is a lot of convergence. There is no irritant in our bilateral relationship. Cultural relations are the bedrock of India-Turkey relations. There are so many commonalities. There are about 6,000 words which are common to Turkish and Indian languages. The people of India supported morally and materially Kemal Atatürk’s initiatives to set up a Republic and bring in deep reforms. They collected money and jewellery for Turkey. I keep hearing very kind references to this from people here. Atatürk was in turn an inspiring figure for the leaders of India’s own freedom struggle including our first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Q India’s economic performance has been attracting much attention of late…
A We commenced our liberalisation process rather late in the day but since then everybody has shown the necessary will to keep it on the rails. Considering that there has been so much instability in so many key economies in our region, it is pleasing to note that India has stayed out of harm’s way and posted growth of around 6% year after year. I think this reflects an innate strength of the economy. It’s a large economy and meets its own requirements to a large extent in industry, science and technology. There is a new-found confidence. We can be proud of our performance in areas like information technology, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology - areas which require research and development support. India is traditionally an agrarian country, but 50% of our GDP is now coming from services. So while some of our neighbours are achieving prosperity as a result of their excellence in manufacturing, India seems to be undertaking its own experiment in prosperity principally through the services route.
Q How does this affect your relations with other Asian countries including China?
A We are trying to contribute to the economic groupings in our region, SAARC and ASEAN, in order to create synergy and develop and grow together. China’s success is an opportunity for India. China is an important partner for ASEAN and they are talking about a free trade agreement to come into effect by 2010. India is also seeking to strengthen its institutional cooperation with ASEAN. So both bilaterally and regionally I think there is room for us to work together and grow together.
Q Is India’s economic growth adding to its international responsibilities? How do you see India’s role in the world system?
A India has played a tremendous role over the years as a responsible member of the international community in support of peace-keeping operations, humanitarian efforts and the like. At the WTO we have taken a leading role, trying to ensure that changes are not one-sided but reflect the needs of all concerned. We are a large country with a strong economy. For all these reasons, we think the voice of India should be heard more seriously in international forums. We are a candidate for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Judging by objective criteria - such as population, size, economic potential, civilizational legacy, adherence to important values like secularism and democracy and contributions to the activities of the UN - India eminently qualifies for the job. We think our presence in the Security Council would make the international architecture more representative.
Q How do you regard the phenomenon of fundamentalism, which seems to occur to some extent in all major religions? What causes it and if it is a problem, what is the remedy?
A Fundamentalism is an issue that is alarming everybody. Why and how it happens are complex questions. It may be caused by social alienation, economic deprivation or similar factors. But what I am sure about is that none of this can justify terrorism. Fundamentalism is bad because it goes hand in hand with terrorism. I think democracy gives us the wherewithal to handle problems in a mature, peaceful way. The moment you try to address your grievances through violence, the moment you become intolerant of the beliefs and faiths of others, of their rights of action and thought, then you are on the wrong path and anybody who tries to do so must be stopped.
Q Are you looking forward to your next appointment to Phnom Penh?
A Yes. very much. It’s a very important part of the world for us and it promises to be a different kind of posting and I am quite sure I will enjoy it.
Q What will you miss about Turkey?
A I will miss the people. They are absolutely wonderful in the way they accept others into their society. They are very open-minded. I have made an extensive number of friends here and will miss them. I would like to come back again, at least as a tourist.
(DIPLOMAT - January 2005 - Ankara)