"Planning" is a dirty word in the lexicon of market-friendly reformers. The fiasco is Seattle should only add to their conviction that planning simply doesn't work. If only the WTO ministerial had been held in some part of the Commonwealth and the reports on TV had been anchored by some of our hoary Doordarshan/All India Radio cricket commentators one could have bet on the phrase "glorious uncertainties" figuring rather prominently in the reportage after the event. Of course, several luminaries - Bill Clinton, Somnath Chatterji and Kamal Nath not excluded - may have something to say on whether the uncertainties, as they were played out at Seattle, were particularly glorious.
Take Bill Clinton, for instance. He was caught with his pants down again. Of course, for a change, the expression was only figuratively valid on this occasion. He had it all well-planned (with apologies for the use of the p-word). The timing, the venue, the agenda -- it was all as perfect as it could get. There he would be on home turf, talking tough on his commitment to making the world a better place for labour and the rest of the world would just lie down and let him walk all over them. He would emerge from Seattle as a champion of labour rights, in the process also affording ample scope for protecting American industry from cheap third world imports. The Presidential race, then, would be not so much a race as a saunter in the park. As it turned out, that part of the world - Seattle - did prove a better place for labour in those four days than was expected. The unions had the city pretty much under control till the champions of the free world ordered a civil emergency, which nevertheless was not good enough to salvage the opening ceremony. Bashing on regardless, Clinton was shooting from the hip (no innuendo intended) when he spoke to the conference and called upon the WTO to strive for improved labour standards globally. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast had apparently not understood the script. Hence, no working group on the issue and certainly nothing for Clinton to boast about.
CPI(M) leader Somnath, who certainly does not believe the p-word is as dirty as it's made out to be, had it all worked out. The Government's shrewd machinations were all too transparent for him to be taken in. Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran would ultimately succumb at Seattle and honour the Indian tradition of taking instructions from the white man. That is why the government was so keen on involving the Opposition in the Indian delegation to Seattle. If the Congress were fool enough to fall for it, so be it, but Chatterji was no fool. Hence, no Seattle trip for him. Unfortunately though, for once the Third World called the US bluff and blocked the attempts to link labour standards with trade negotiations. Slightly difficult now for the CPI(M) to claim credit for that, isn't it, while Maran and company strut around boasting of how they stood firm.

Of course, Maran in turn is desperately hoping that nobody remembers newspaper reports prior to the ministerial suggesting that India would adopt a more flexible attitude and forge issue-based alliances rather than a cover-all Third World brotherhood. The reason - the Third World just would not stick together. So convincing did the Government make this pitch that Kamal Nath can hardly be faulted for his own brand of contingency planning. He too had it all worked out. As he said after the event, he had expected Maran and company to buckle to US and EU pressure and, in consultation with the other WTO expert in the Congress (Sonia Gandhi), had already prepared a statement condemning the government for compromising national interest. Since an inconsiderate bunch among the Third World robbed him of the chance to deliver a fire and brimstone condemnation, can we really blame him if he could not resist the urge to let the world know he had done his homework?