Future Indian leader deserves more attention

• Source: Global Times
• [00:01 September 01 2010]
• Comments

Dear Sir,

Last week's row over China's refusal to grant a visa to India's General Jaswal and India's tit-for-tat response were emblematic for the continued uneasiness of Sino-Indian relations.

Despite growing economic ties between them, it seems unlikely that the two Asian giants will be able to engage in a strategic partnership in the short term.

Yet India has turned into such an important actor that China can no longer afford to be on difficult terms with the country that is bound to become the world's third largest economy in a few decades.

Now is the time to lay the groundwork for a harmonious and mutually beneficial partnership.

One individual the Chinese leadership needs to focus on is Rahul Gandhi, in all likelihood India's future prime minister.

When Rahul Gandhi celebrated his 40th birthday two months ago, political insiders in New Delhi did not discuss whether, but rather when the political heir of the Nehru- Gandhi clan would become Indian's top leader.

His great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi were all Prime Ministers, and Rahul looks set to inherit the throne once Manmohan Singh, the current Prime Minister, is ready to move on and assume the Presidency, a largely ceremonial post.

After some rather uninspiring years as a member of parliament, Gandhi has begun to market himself more aggressively, organizing his party's highly successful election campaign in 2009.

He has traveled more across India than any other politician, focusing particularly on the aam aadmi, the common man, who has increasingly defected to regional caste-based parties, weakening the Congress Party's standing among the underprivileged.

Yet, despite his growing presence on billboards across India, and his widely documented visits by helicopter to poor villages, virtually nothing is known about Gandhi's political views. Gandhi turned down a ministerial post in Singh's government and rarely comments on delicate political issues. He categorically refuses to give interviews and has never been tested in a live debate.