Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Slow to respond' that was published in Newsband

Slow to respond

Indian sailors Sunil James and Vijayan were released by the authorities in Togo. Both sailors were arrested in July this year. They had simply disembarked in Togo to report a pirate attack on their oil tanker. The Togo police charged them with the grave offence of aiding piracy. Criminal proceedings were initiated against both. They were released after the Indian High Commissioner in neighbouring Ghana met the President of Togo to present their case.

Meanwhile, Mr. James’s son, who was just 11 months old, died of illness earlier this month. The plight of the jailed men was taken up in earnest only after the death of Mr. James’s son came to the attention of the media and public.

Indian diplomacy has been too slow to respond to crises. The Ministry of External Affairs had intervened in Khobragade’s case at once. Why did they show laxity in resolving the open-and-shut case involving the sailors?

As the global and business profile of India increases, it is only natural that more Indians find themselves in legal and diplomatic crosshairs around the world. It is high time our government resolved their concerns effectively and promptly.

The case of the two sailors is a clear example of the Indian administration's operating methodology which is filled with apathy and inefficiency. To have waited six long months before the case of the two sailors were taken up shows the External Affairs in a very bad light. As the world has globalized and Indians are moving out to different corners of the globe, it is vital to have a responsive and efficient methodology to deal with such concerns.

Probably our strategy of behaving like the 'Good Guy' by internationalizing issues and not stepping in aggressively to solve them time and again is taking its toll on a bunch of innocent Indians. No nation would have dared to do such a thing like this with China or even Pakistan.

Indian bureaucracy is famous for apathy, lethargy and lack of involvement. Ask anyone who has had to deal with our babus. They will have an unpleasant story to narrate.

With the modern world transforming at breakneck speed, there is a crying need for Indian administration reforms. The media and general public are very vocal about corruption and inefficiency in political system but hidden cozily deep down in this din is the equally corrupt and inefficient administrative system.