The Quint: New Delhi: Saturday, July 08, 2017.
The Indian
media has been agog with the prime minister’s maiden visit to Israel. Among
other things, the media has reported in detail about the gifts presented by
Narendra Modi to his Israeli counterpart. In the past, multiple applications
under Right to Information (RTI) have been filed with the Ministry of External
Affairs (MEA) seeking information about the nature and value of gifts presented
by the prime minister to foreign dignitaries.
The MEA, for
some strange reason, has been refusing to disclose such information citing an
exemption clause in the RTI act.
What Are
the Rules Governing Gifts Presented to Foreign Dignitaries?
The foreign
recipients of gifts are divided into five categories as per the response to an
RTI application by the MEA. The following people could be the recipients of
gifts.
- During Outgoing Visits: During the outgoing visits of the president, vice-president & the prime minister of India, gifts are generally presented to Head of State, Head of Government, their spouses, High local dignitaries, Governors/chief ministers etc.
- Incoming VVIP Visits: Gifts are presented by the Indian host to the VVIP, his/her spouse and the accompanying cabinet minister.
- Other Incoming Visits: Gifts are presented only to the leader of the visiting delegation.
- Outgoing Official Visits: During the outgoing official visits of the minister of external affairs, gifts are presented to the counterpart in the host country etc.
- Outgoing Visits of Officials: During outgoing visits of the officials of the level of secretary, gifts are presented to his/her counterpart.
Broadly
speaking, the five categories of recipients of gifts are Head of State,
Minister, Secretary, Official & Pool level. There are monetary ceilings for
the purchase of gift items for each category and these ceilings are approved by
the Ministry of Finance. These ceilings have been effective since May 2010.
But the MEA
has always refused to disclose information on these ceilings. The MEA believes
that disclosure of ceilings may cause embarrassment to both India & the
receiving government. The MEA does not stop at that and goes onto say that such
disclosure will affect bilateral relations.
'Cannot
Reveal the Value of Gifts Presented to Foreign Dignitaries'
MEA has a
standard response to all such RTI applications seeking information of the type
& cost of gifts presented by the Indian prime minister to foreign
dignitaries.
In response
to one application, MEA said that disclosure of the value of the gifts
presented by the PM would have unintended effects on foreign relations because
analysis/scrutiny and comparison between the quantum and value of gifts would
be undesirable. MEA adds that such a comparison would defeat the purpose of
generating goodwill between countries.
In response
to an RTI, MEA responded similarly refusing to disclose any information with
respect to the type/cost of the gifts presented by the PM.
Why MEA's
Stand Does Not Make Any Sense
MEA’s stand
on disclosure of gift-related information does not make any sense because many
countries have a policy of public disclosure of the gifts given and received by
their heads of state. In addition, the Government of India itself through press
releases discloses the type of gifts presented to foreign dignitaries.
Type of gifts
is already in the Public Domain: Refusing to reveal the type of gifts presented
by the PM is silly because such information is disclosed by the government
itself through various press releases.
The press
release about the gifts presented to Israeli Prime Minister is here. Similarly,
the details of PM’s gifts to the Supreme Leader of Iran were also released by
the government.
Other
countries disclose the value and type of gift: If the disclosure of information
about the value of the gifts presented by the PM affects bilateral relations,
then our relations with various nations must be already in trouble. This is
because many countries have a policy of public disclosure of the gifts received
by their heads of state including the value & source of the gift.
For example,
USA has a policy of disclosing the details (including the value) of the gifts
received by federal officials including the President. According to the
disclosure by US Department of State, below is the list of gifts with value
presented by Indian prime ministers to the president of United States and his
spouse. The data is available from 2002 to 2015.