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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 20 October 2018 (L'affaire Khashoggi)

L'affaire Khashoggi

Mains Paper: 2 | IR
Prelims level: Jamal Khashoggi
Mains level: There are limits to Saudi Arabia’s defiance even within the ambit of narrow national interest

Context

The gory, gruesome and ghastly details of the last few moments in the life of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
As reported in the government-controlled Turkish media, have reaffirmed the continuing validity of the universal truth: the pen is mightier than the sword.

Tokenism in reactions

Saudi Arabia is defiant. It has warned all those who may be thinking of isolating or even moving sanctions against the regime with dire consequences.
Some token action is being taken by some western governments such as demanding a thorough, impartial inquiry into the incident.
The chief of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has cancelled her participation at the ‘Davos in the Desert’ Conference, in Riyadh.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary has joined the boycott.
The outrage is universal in the developed world, though the developing countries seem to have decided their own counsel.
The Bretton Woods institutions will still need Saudi funding.

India’s deck of cards

India does not have the kind of money to throw around as the Saudis have.
If India needs their oil, they also need to sell it.
They need to sell as much oil as they can to continue with their disastrous misadventure in Yemen.
If India is forced to reduce the import of Iranian oil to zero in the next few weeks, India does not have to worry about alternate sources of which there are plenty, as the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas has assured us.
Saudi Arabia has no choice but to continue to make up the shortfall, first, because it needs to sell its oil, but second and more important, it must do all in its power to weaken and destroy its mortal enemy, the leader of the Shias of the world.
As King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told the U.S. a few years ago, “the head of the snake needs to be cut off”. If it becomes useful to befriend India in its relentless campaign against Iran, it will be a small price to pay.

Way forward

There is yet one more weapon that India can selectively use.
The U.S., France, Russia all have only one interest in India to sell their extremely expensive war material.
They not only earn money, they even earn our gratitude.
The principle of national interest can run into conflict with respect to other higher principles especially in democracies.
Thus, the Khashoggi affair might eventually result in action in the U.S. Congress which the President then will have no option but to abide by.
This is what happened in Congressional action against Russia and which Mr. Trump then had to follow. Vox populi will on occasion trump narrow national interest.