The temptations of corruption are universal. My own country, Canada, experienced a serious political corruption scandal some years ago that contributed to a change of government in Ottawa in 2006.
Corruption in business, while deplored everywhere, has long been seen as a fact of life in large swathes of the world. Indeed, economists sometimes argue over whether some forms of the phenomenon are “enabling” in contrast to others deemed purely negative.
At times, to foreign observers, India seems neither better nor worse at fighting corruption than some other dynamic developing economies. But today, India's business and public sector climate is seen abroad as at serious risk from corrupt practices.
Strong institutions of the state promoting accountability — particularly robust audit capacities and transparency in government, parliamentary oversight of government spending and an alert judiciary — are key to combating corruption. A concerned citizenry, informed by a free and investigative media, is also vital. India possesses all of these assets in varying degrees.
India's foreign policy today, while seeking to protect the country's security, is driven uppermost by the promotion of the country's economic interests. The prevalence of corruption may seem far removed from a country's international relations. But in this globalised era, in which countries compete for investment capital, this is not true.
Thus, recent allegations of gross corruption, as in the 2G auction case, and of mismanagement possibly aggravated by corruption, such as that besetting the recent Commonwealth Games are relevant to India's standing on the global stage.
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