We have stepped into the New Year. And in many respects we have reasons to entertain hopes of a better year ahead. Many unfinished tasks and unresolved issues from the year that have just gone by have spilled into 2008. But the good thing about all those issues is that we are more willing than before to debate them and probably, also decide the best course that the country should adopt. The country has never debated a foreign policy issue as seriously as during the course of 2007 — on Indo-US relations in general. We can hope that the contentious agreement with the US on the nuclear issue would reach a conclusion during the year in accordance with the country’s best interests. In view of the country’s growing economic importance, we have reached a point from where we can more confidently hope to take advantage of this strength to play our role in shaping a better world. Closer home, our immediate neighbourhood is not really in good shape in more ways than one. That only underlines the need for India to work harder for a better neighbourhood environment which benefits everyone. Perhaps, a silver lining in the rapid rise of extremist and terrorist elements in Pakistan is that it could prompt that country to work with India more than ever before to deal with this common threat.

At home, the stated objective of inclusive growth and development remains unfulfilled even as for the third year in a row India has registered a growth rate of over 8 per cent. The violent disturbances in places like Jagatsinghpur in Orissa and Nandigram and Singur in West Bengal have sensitised stakeholders in industrialisation to the need to also involve local populations as stakeholders in development projects. People have also questioned if the government was not favouring real estate developers in the guise of developing Special Economic Zones. These developments can go some way in promoting political accountability. The year 2008 could be a decisive year for the next parliamentary elections.

And, in the midst of the growing relevance of anti-incumbency factor, the people of Karnataka will elect a new state government this year. After almost four years of political instability and virtual non-governance, there is, therefore, hope that the voters in the state will give themselves a government that works and addresses pressing issues, including those of its capital city, Bangalore.