（社説）インド総選挙 発展の果実を草の根に

May 19, 2014
EDITORIAL:　India’s new leader needs to bring economic growth to the grass roots
（社説）インド総選挙　発展の果実を草の根に

The ruling party will change in India for the first time in 10 years. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist party led by Narendra Modi, won a landslide victory in the recent general election, unseating the Indian National Congress from power.
　インドの政権が１０年ぶりに交代する。総選挙でナレンドラ・モディ氏の率いるインド人民党が地滑り的な勝利を収めた。

There was no serious controversy during the casting and counting of ballots, and the Congress party calmly conceded defeat.
　投開票に大きな混乱はなく、敗れた与党国民会議派も淡々と結果を受け入れた。

There were more than 800 million eligible voters for the election, a fact that shows why India can take pride in being the world’s largest democracy.
Let us first pay tribute to the country’s performance in practicing democracy on such an enormous scale.
　有権者数は８億人を超す。世界最大の民主主義国の面目躍如である。壮大な実践に、まずは敬意を表したい。

As chief minister of Gujarat, Modi has provided powerful leadership for infrastructure development and succeeded in eliminating power outages in the western state. He has also stoked economic growth in the state by attracting foreign investments, including those by Japanese businesses.
　モディ氏は西部グジャラート州の首相として、インフラ整備に剛腕を振るい、停電をなくした。日本をはじめ外資を積極誘致して州を発展させた。

His BJP was swept to power by swelling expectations among Indians that Modi may accomplish the development and economic revitalization of India by using the savvy and prowess he demonstrated as the chief of the state.
　その手腕を開発と経済再生に生かして欲しい。そんな願いが人民党を押し上げた。

For the past decade, Indians have been eagerly waiting for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an economist, to embark on reforms. But his efforts for deregulation have been frustrated partly by resistance from the Congress party’s ruling coalition partners. As a result, the country’s economic growth has slowed. The Congress-led government has also been hit by a series of corruption scandals.
　この１０年、政権を担った経済学者のマンモハン・シン首相も改革が期待された。しかし連立他党の抵抗もあって規制緩和は進まず、経済成長は減速した。政府の汚職も次々発覚した。

The Congress party tried to improve its chances in the poll by featuring Rahul Gandhi, a great-grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, as the public face of its election campaign. But the party, which has long controlled India’s government, suffered the worst electoral pasting since its foundation.
　国民会議派は、ネール初代首相のひ孫を選挙の顔に押し立てたが、結党以来の惨敗だった。

The Congress party will face tough challenges in rebuilding itself amid strong public criticism of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty for dominating Indian politics.
政治王朝への批判もあり、立て直しは容易ではない。

With his party now controlling a majority in the parliament to form a government on its own, Modi can exercise strong political leadership for pursuing his policy agenda. The country’s business community is yearning to see the new government take bold reform measures for deregulation and reducing the bureaucracy.
　単独過半数を得たモディ氏は強い指導力が発揮できる。経済界は、大胆な規制緩和や官僚主義の打破を待ち望んでいる。

We hope Modi will put the Indian economy on a steady upward trajectory and ensure that the entire nation will enjoy the benefits of economic growth.
　成長を軌道に乗せ、その果実を国民全体に行き渡らせて欲しい。

India is an IT powerhouse and boasts an advanced space program that can launch satellites. But 60 percent of the people don’t even have access to toilets.
ＩＴ大国で人工衛星も飛ばす国でありながら、国民の６割はトイレも使えない状態にある。

The new government needs to fix the distortions in the country’s economic structure and distribute wealth more evenly.
このいびつさを解消して、富を配分しなければならない。

There are also some reasons for concern about his leadership. Once a senior member of a Hindu nationalist group, Modi was criticized for failing to act to stop violence during massive religious riots in Gujarat in 2002. He was accused of doing nothing while hundreds of Muslims were killed during the riots. Because of his response to the mass killings, Modi was once denied entry into the United States.
　懸念もある。かつてヒンドゥー至上主義団体の幹部だったモディ氏は０２年にグジャラート州内で起きた宗教暴動を放置し、イスラム教徒の虐殺を止めなかったと非難された。この件で、米国からは入国を拒まれた。

More than 100 million Muslims live in India, which has many Islamic countries among its neighbors. The Indian government should make serious efforts to prevent unnecessary conflicts between Hindus and the minority Muslim population. It should also respond in a calm-headed manner to any crises such as terrorist attacks.
　インドには１億数千万人のイスラム教徒が住み、周りもイスラム国が多い。無用な摩擦を避け、テロなど突発事態にも冷静に対応することが求められる。

Modi has little diplomatic experience and has his work cut out for him in winning the trust of major countries such as the United States and China.
　モディ氏は外交の経験がほとんどなく、米中などとの信頼構築も今後の課題だ。

India is a nuclear power as is neighboring Pakistan. The two countries have been locked in a bitter territorial dispute over control of the Kashmir region. Neither country is party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).
　インドは、カシミールの領有権問題で対立するパキスタンともども核兵器保有国でありながら、核不拡散条約（ＮＰＴ）に加盟していない。

During his election campaign, Modi indicated his intention to maintain the policy of not launching preemptive nuclear strikes. In its election manifesto, however, the BJP pledged to “revise and update” India’s nuclear doctrine.
　モディ氏は選挙期間中、核兵器の先制不使用の方針を維持する考えを示したが、人民党は選挙マニフェストで「核ドクトリンの見直し」を掲げていた。

Meanwhile, Japan has been in talks with India for a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement concerning Japan's exports of nuclear power plants. The Japanese government should not be lured by India's huge market into rushing to strike a nuclear deal.
　日本はそのインドとの間で、原子力協定締結に向けた協議を進めている。巨大市場に目がくらんで、急ぐことがあってはならない。

Tokyo should try to persuade the Modi government to join the NPT.
モディ政権に改めてＮＰＴ加盟を説く必要がある。

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 18