The Hindu : National : Prime Minister and The Prince

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Friday, Aug 18, 2006

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Prime Minister and The Prince

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took a chapter out of master strategist Machiavelli's noted work, The Prince, to buttress his arguments in favour of the pact.

"It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, not more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things," pointed out Dr. Singh, who — as initiator of economic liberalisation in India some 15 years ago as the country's Finance Minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao regime — is not new to such barbs as he was facing now.

"The reformer," the Prime Minister said, "has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit from the new order...

"This lukewarmness arising partly from the fear of their adversaries, who have the laws in their favour; and partly from the incredulity of mankind, who do not truly believe in anything new until they have had the experience of it."

Quoting further, he said: "Thus it arises that on every opportunity for attacking the reformer, his opponents do so with the zeal of partisans, the others only defend him half-heartedly, so that between them he runs a great danger," aptly describing his own present position. — UNI

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