It is said that globalisation is inevitable. Whatever the negative aspects, there is no alternative to it. This is mere imperialist logic as they must have a free flow of goods and capital throughout the world in order to intensify their neo-colonial domination and loot around the world. While themselves resorting to increasingly protectionist measures they seek to prise open the markets of the world by smashing all restrictive trade and investment practices. In India these policies of the imperialists are accepted as the gospel truth by the ruling elite — the manna for development. The WTO has been the battering ram of the imperialists, more powerful and effective than the cannons and guns of yore. The Indian ruling classes have willingly implemented all the policies adopted in the first Dunkel draft passed in 1995. Now, the second round of attack is being brought into play as a result of the Doha meet. For all the hoax of being called a ‘development’ round, and India’s so-called opposition to the West, in fact, the imperialists have been quietly pushing their own agenda, and the deadly Doha accord is all set to be implemented within two years, as per the dictates of the imperialists. There has not even been a whimper of protest against what is taking place behind close doors. Like in 1995, India will sign on the dotted line. The countdown has begun. Sovereignty be damned, India must become even more ‘open’ to the ravages of the TNCs, international speculators and the leeches of finance capital. If Dunkel was a disaster, Doha will mean death.

Whether it is inevitable or not we shall see later, here we must understand that trade and investment liberalization is a key necessity for the loot of countries like India by the imperialists and their comprador agents within the country, even if it results in the de-industrialisation and mass impoverisation of India. Though this is quite obvious to all after this decade of globalisation, it continues at a frantic pace under the banner of ‘second generation reforms’. Changing the Indian Patent Act, drastic reduction of import tariffs, removal of QRs (Quantitative Restrictions) on imports, liberalization of foreign banking, making the rupee convertible on current account and moving towards capital account convertibility, setting up export processing zones where Indian laws do not apply, giving huge export subsidies, continuous devaluation of the rupee, large scale outsourcing for TNCs, particularly in the IT sector, at labour costs that are a fraction of that abroad, removing all restrictions on foreign investment flows, scrapping of the public distribution system, and hundreds of other policies linked with the globalisation of trade in the economy, have already been enacted. Hundreds more are in the pipeline, which, after the coming into being of the Doha accord, will be even more lethal. All these policy changes are essential for the TNCs to extend their markets in India through import promotion and the take-over of all commerce, industry and finance within the country.

We have already seen its impact on investment inflows, we shall now turn to TRADE.

What does this mean for the Indian economy as a whole? This form of growth orientation means that for development, rather than depend on the expansion of the home market the economy is becoming dependent on foreign trade. And the expansion of the home market can take place primarily through the rise in the purchasing power of the masses, which would mean a reduction in their poverty levels. With an export-import oriented economy they could not care less if the masses do not come into the picture of the market — foreign trade and elite consumption at home becomes the chief orientation for market expansion. Such an approach is disastrous in numerous ways:

First, there is a limitation in this type of growth, which becomes highly vulnerable to the vicissitudes of international trade and commodity prices. With one-quarter of the GDP already dependent on foreign trade and services, any disturbance, like the present slowdown in the world economy, could have a devastating impact. Besides, with such a one-sided dependence, the imperialists can dictate terms to India, utilizing the threat of tariffs, sanctions, etc., to crush Indian exports, or can refuse to allow key imports, in order to blackmail and threaten the country to accept its policies.

Second, it further pushes the mass impoverisation of the people, while pampering the already rich elite; creating thereby extremes of rich and poor. It entails an approach to write-off over 70% of the population, which is barely able to reach the market (except for food and medicines), while boosting the incomes of the already rich. So while the PDS is scrapped, user charges introduced in health, water, etc. and other subsidies to the poor reduced, massive subsidies are given for exports and to the corporate world in general.

Third, with a flood of cheap imports, due to reduction of tariffs, indigenous industry and agriculture is pushed to the wall, leading to thousands of bankruptcies and enhancing rural stagnation.

And fourth, due to world competition, exports tend to be sold at cheaper and cheaper rates, resulting it huge losses to the country, even though the individual exporter may make large profits due to the big subsidies. The situation is so desperate, that even devaluation is now being idealized.

The foreign trade syndrome is therefore a panacea that furthers the disease; it gives an illusion of well being, and it turns an economy into one that is more and more dependant on the imperialists.

Though globalisation has led to a flood of imports it has had little impact on the nature of Indian exports. As in the pre-1990 period, Indian exports continue to comprise a mere 0.6% of world exports. And the desperation to sustain even this level has been achieved only by a continuous cut in export prices in dollar terms. Besides, the nature of exports continues to be much the same as existed at the beginning of the 1990s — i.e. primarily low-end manufactures and agricultural (and allied) products.

Inspite of all the hype on a leap in exports, India continues to export its traditional items that have low value-added. Over 70% of exports belong to this category. Agriculture, ores, leather, textiles, handicrafts and gems basically utilise sweatshop low-productivity labour to process our natural wealth, which is then robbed by the imperialists at exceedingly low prices. This is what existed earlier, it is what continues to this day. Globalisation has had no impact on this.

If one turns to imports, here too we see a similar pattern as what existed earlier. With the major item being crude oil, the bulk of the balance of the imports comprises capital and intermediate goods. All three items comprise the motor of industrial growth, which has become increasingly dependent on imports.

Crude oil is not only the major source of fuel in the country. It is also the source material for all petroleum products, like plastics, synthetic fibres, etc. Imports have leaped forward, while indigenous production has been actually declining. Though vast reserves are available in the country, our comprador rulers would rather make the country dependent on the powerful western oil monopolies that dominate the industry. Not only is production stagnant, in the last few years it has been falling. While crude oil production was 28.2 million tons in 1997/98, it fell to 24.5 mil. tons in 2000/01. Today, crude oil comprises nearly one-third of our total imports.

Besides this, India has continued to import a large quantity of gold. Bowing to the powerful gold lobby abroad, the government closed down the Kolar Gold Field in order that India continues as the duping ground for gold which is no longer being maintained as a reserve against currencies in the western countries. Of late, they have been emptying their vaults, and India has been a major buyer. No wonder nearly 10% of imports are ‘precious metals’, part of which is gold, the balance is precious stones for a growing elite population. The above chart does not show the vast amounts spent on the import of consumer durables, liquor, foodstuffs and an increasing number of items of elite consumption and only accounts for about 70% of the total imports. Besides all this, huge amounts are also spent on the import of defense equipment, but this will be dealt with later.

So we see, during the period of ‘globalistaion’ there has not been much change in the nature of foreign trade, only its quantum has increased.

Ideally, exports should exceed imports (i.e. a trade surplus), so that the foreign exchange surplus would be sufficient to balance any such exceptional expenditure. So far the situation has been somewhat saved by the huge amounts flowing into the country by workers earning abroad and sending their savings back to their families in India. This has varied between $10 and $12 billion each year. If this were to stop, the situation would be near disastrous. Yet, inspite of this amount, the current account deficit remains at $4 to $5 billion. This deficit is finally covered by the capital flows into the country in the form of foreign investments, NRI deposits, foreign aid, etc. In other words capital flows are used to cover daily expenditure on imports.

But, the Indian rulers suffer from the TINA (there is no alternative) syndrome. Having tied India’s trade to the imperialist chariot, any resistance to imperialist dictates now, can result in any one of the numerous reactions that can precipitate a crisis. So, they find it better to quietly acquiesce and take a small share in the spoils. Ofcourse, the alternative is there, but our compradors would prefer not to see it!!

We have already seen in Chapter II of this book the continuous changes in the EXIM (Export-Import) policies to bring India’s trade policies in line with that of the 1995 WTO Accord. This has resulted in reduction of import tariffs from about 400% to a mere 30%. It has resulted in the removal of all Qualitative Restrictions on imports. It has resulted in the opening out of export processing zones, which has created, defacto foreign territory on Indian soil. It has resulted in the amendment of the Indian Patent Act. It has disinvested the large public sector, selling off the country’s assets for a song to the big comprador houses and the TNCs. And it has changed the laws relating to foreign investments.

All these changes are in the interests of imperialism and not India. For example, the changes in the Patent Act will bring an extra $500 million booty to just the pharmaceutical companies. The benefits to TNC agri-business will be another bumper draw. The US attempts at patenting (robbing) our very natural genetic wealth, like basmati, neem, tumeric, and even items like brinjal, bittergoud (Karela) and Jamun, has taken such open banditry to an extreme. Yet, the process has not ended. On the contrary, further opening up is proceeding at a speed double that of earlier. ‘Economic reforms’ is like heroin to a drug addict. Once the India ruling-classes tasted this deadly drug, they have got so addicted that they crave for more and more. Of course, the chief drug pushers are the imperialists, particularly the US.

So we see that the stage is already being set in India for the Doha agreements, with this year’s EXIM policy stretching for 5 years from 2002 to 2007. Passed during this year’s budget, it sets the ground for the future sell-out. Let us take a look at this latest policy.

The new policy has removed the need for licenses and quotas for a number of diverse items like medical bandages, postage stamps, poppy seeds and some others of hardly any importance. The import of gold and silver jewelery was one of the rare items that had continued to be subject to quantitative restrictions requiring a Special Import License. Jewellery imports have now been liberalised and placed under Open General License. With this the import quota regime has been totally dismantled. The restrictions on imports would now be limited to items that are banned under various international conventions for environmental reasons.

The main thrust of the new policy is oriented towards export production and export promotion, with even greater facilities being granted to the special export zones. The cost of capital in these EPZs are being drastically curtailed by the introduction of offshore banking facilities. Both foreign and Indian banks can take advantage of this facility and provide cheaper finance to exporters from the zones. RBI regulations will not apply to banking in these zones. The exporters have now been permitted to repatriate all foreign exchange earnings. What little controls existed on such territory are being removed. Why do the rulers make such a hue and cry over Kashmir, when sovereignty over prime trade areas, such as the SEZs and EPZs, are being handed over to the imperialists?

In this new EXIM policy massive concessions have been given to the diamond trade. These include the removal of all customs duties on the import of uncut diamond, and added concessions for diamond cutting and re-export.

The Exim policy servilely follows its commitment contained in the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement. This agreement requires the signatories to move towards duty-free treatment in designated products. In pursuance of this provision, the policy lays down that more than 200 IT components would be covered by zero duty by 2005. In addition local enterprises manufacturing or assembling computers would be able to import capital goods as well as raw materials at lower duty rates.

Agricultural exports have been granted a number of incentives in the new policy. The most prominent element is the grant of transport subsidy for a large variety of agriculture products. Earlier transport subsidy was given to wheat and rice exports. Now freight subsidies would be available to horticulture, floriculture, poultry, dairy and processed grain exports. In addition, packaging restrictions on agriculture trade have been removed. Export quotas on a wide range of products have been lifted. The quantitative restrictions would still remain on a few sensitive items like jute and onions. Exports of branded primary and processed agriculture goods are being encouraged by a special 3 per cent DEPB (Duty Entitlement Pass Book) on packs of one kg or less. Credit facilities for exporters have also been improved. This will be a boon for the huge TNCs that are coming into this sphere of operation.

A programme has been launched for developing infrastructure in industrial clusters with high volume of exports. A beginning would be made with towns like Tirupur, specialising in the exports of hosiery, Panipat concentrating on woolen blankets and Ludhiana in woolen knitwear. Central assistance would be made available to the state governments under the Annual Plans for developing complementary and critical infrastructure like establishment of container depots and container freight stations. Traditional talent of the Indian people is now being fully geared for cheap sale to the foreigner, while crores of handicraftsmen, like the weavers, are dying of starvation. Yet, all funding will go for this small elite section involved in exports, while the subsidies and benefits to the others are being stopped.

No doubt the Indian rulers will capitulate totally, notwithstanding the noise they made at the Doha summit.

During the birth of capitalism, blacks were whipped, tied and exported from Africa to America. Nothing so crude is required in the era of imperialism. Outsourcing of work to India is gaining ground — some of this, as in the IT sector, is refined, others more crude. The ship-breaking yards; the trade in human organs; the use of Indians as experimental guinea pigs; and the use of Indian genes, human embryos and human blood for the growing bioinformatics industry, are a few examples of the extent to which the drive for profits can reduce the imperialists/compradors to a vampire-like existence.

We have already seen the extent of the outsourcing in the IT sector and other related spheres like Call Centres, etc. Here, an Indian programmer can be bought for $3,000 to $5,000 per year; a similar (white) programmer in the US would cost the same amount per week. And as the number of these IT trainees grows, the increased competition will result in a further drop in their wage rates. The huge savings in costs has resulted in the growing demand for IT outsourcing, particularly from the US and Europe. Earlier we saw how the major IT companies in India are nothing but glorified labour contractors. Besides this, foreign companies have themselves set up in India to exploit this cheap labour. A large number of such companies have set up shop here. Just one example is the London based Anglo-Norwegian engineering and construction company, Kvaerner. Much of its detailed engineering work for global projects is outsourced through Mumbai, where 700 engineers are employed. A second center in Pune works for the domestic market.

It is said that there could be no argument against such outsourcing, as, though the major benefits may accrue to the TNCs, the spill-off provides reasonably well-paid employment in India. Looked at narrowly this would indeed appear as the picture. But the problem, as elsewhere, is structural. With outsourcing, the major profits go towards growth and development in the source country, and does not in any way help the overall development of the Indian economy, and hence employment generation here. The super-profits extracted through outsourcing will be re-invested in America. Besides, for all the hype, barely a few lakh are employed in the IT sector as a whole, compared to the crores of educated unemployed. And even those Indian compradors that outsource labour use their profits for further business abroad. If the (now-sacked) Infosys vice-president, stationed in America, can be paid a yearly salary of Rs 2 crores, we can understand where its profits are diverted. .

If one turns to the crude forms of slave-type labour, one just needs to look at the huge ship-breaking plant in Gujarat — the largest in the world. Here the working conditions are medieval. Contractors employ labour at exceedingly low rates, with working hours stretching from 10 to 12 a day. The working conditions are atrocious, housing is poor, medical benefits are few and much of the work has to be done with cancerous-causing paints. There are daily deaths at this site, with most workers’ life span reduced 10 to 15 years. Disease, particularly TB, is rampant. Most ships are foreign.

Despite repeated exposures, the trade in human organs continues unabated, as the recent disclosures from A.P., Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka have shown. Also experimentation on living patients in private and public hospitals is widespread, with American research institutes being the prime pushers. The recent exposures of the John Hopkins Institute’s nefarious activities in India are just one example. Here the RCC hospital in Kerala utilized its patients for testing an American anti-cancer drug. Tests were carried out on patients not only at this hospital, but also throughout the country, in cities like Pune, Kolkota, Kanpur, Benaras and Jaipur. Recently, Dr.Reddy’s Lab (DRL)was caught in testing an anti diabetic drug for the Scandinavian company NovoNordisk on thousands of patients, with permission of the Drug Controller General of India. Now that these drug trials have been withdrawn as it was proved to cause cancer, DRL is refusing to disclose where these tests were carried out. In all this, what has come to light is the mere tip of the iceberg. Much more goes on secretively under various innocuous covers. In the period of globalisation a vast number of TNCs, like Monsanto, have entered India, in collaboration with various universities and institutes (including government ones) for such research and experimentation.

And in this field of experimentation, the most lucrative and widespread has been the new sphere of ‘bioinformatics’. The bioinformatics industry in India is already worth $500 to $700 million a year. Bioinformatics, entails the computer processing of DNA, RNA, cells and molecules of the human body, which has helped researchers discover new biological insights that hasten the drug discovery process. Stem cell research, involving the human embryo, sold by abortion clinics, is one major sphere. This research is purely in the interests of the US pharmaceutical industry that uses Indian scientists for its legwork and Indian blood samples, embryos, etc. as the raw material for research. As Bush has banned abortion in the US, playing up to the fascist and conservative lobby, India has become all the more important for such activities.

A vast pool of cheaply available English-speaking scientists, unquestioning and unlimited source of blood, genes, embryos, etc. and a totally pliant government, has turned India into a major center for such deadly research projects. It has been promoted by the government itself, by the setting up of the Human Genome Project, to which vast amounts of public funds have been allocated. And as much of the scientific work is technical — i.e. mere recording the computer data of the 32,000 genes, with 1.5 million proteins in each — cheaply available Indian scientists are ideal for the American research institutions.

It is then no wonder that nearly all the major comprador houses, in JVs with some US company, have entered this field. Some TNCs have also set up independently. We have already seen Reliance’s major inroads into this area. Then there is the Rs 450 crore JV of TIDCO and the US-based Genome Technologies for setting up a genomic and bioinformatics (BI) center at Chennai. The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has set up a major research center at Bangalore and the TCS (Tata Consultancy Service) has also entered the field. The Karnataka government is itself setting up an institute of biotechnology. The Pune-based Exogen, has already outsourced work by the US company Myriad Genetics. There are a number of other big players in this line, like DSQ Biotech, Biocon, GVK Biosciences, Avestha Gen, Dr.Reddy’s Lab, Kshema Technologies and Spectramind E-services, all of which are collaborations between India’s compradors and US TNCs. Moreover TNCs, like IBM and Oracle, have also directly set up labs in India to undertake research in bioinformatics. Educational bodies have also been pulled into the vortex, with the TIFR, Indian Institute of Science (Bangalore), Madurai Kamraj University, and the JNU, having launched specialist post-graduate courses in bioinformatics. These will create the necessary scientific personnel to man this growing network of imperialist-sponsored research.

Much of this research is of the type seen in horror films, kept totally secret, with even the scientists unaware of the overall project and its implications. These vultures prey not only on the living, but also on the unborn.