Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 27/Sep 03:17

Foreign policy not fireworks

THE EDITOR: While India and Venezuela sit down to map out pilot projects in agriculture, pharmaceuticals and digital infrastructure, we in TT are left listening to a housing minister talk about nuclear war on Facebook live. Phillip Edward Alexander, a very junior minister, recently declared that India would “nuke” Venezuela to protect Trinidad because of our Indian diaspora. Even if he later claimed it was “hyperbole,” such talk is reckless and embarrassing. It is not the role of a housing minister to speak on foreign policy, far less on nuclear strategy. We have a Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry precisely to manage these delicate matters with professionalism. TT has built its reputation on careful diplomacy and non-alignment. That balance is not easy. Every stray word from a minister risks undoing years of steady work by our foreign service. Loose talk might score views online, but it costs credibility abroad. Unfortunately, this lack of discipline is not confined to one junior minister. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar herself once applauded a US strike on a drug vessel, even saying traffickers should be killed “violently.” That is not responsible leadership; it is incendiary rhetoric that does nothing to strengthen our position internationally. Foreign policy is not fireworks. It is the plumbing of statecraft – making sure medicines arrive, trade routes stay open, and the region sees us as a serious partner. India already supplies 40 per cent of Venezuela’s pharmaceuticals, and these new projects could reshape regional supply chains. That is where our attention should be – on practical opportunities, not on bacchanal pronouncements. Trinidadians can appreciate a good joke and a sharp line, but we also know when to get serious. On matters of war, peace and foreign relations, our leaders must show discipline. We cannot afford amateur theatrics in a world that takes small states seriously only when we act serious ourselves. MICHAEL DHANNY via e-mail The post Foreign policy not fireworks appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.