A few months ago, in June 2009 to be precise, I blogged lamenting how India was being really slow in responding to overt illegal acts such as the one where the Dutch seized an Indian shipment of blood pressure meds under false pretenses:
http://chaaraka.blogspot.com/2009/06/generic-pharma-why-india-should-stop.html
In that post, one of the things I had suggested India do is flex her muscles rather strongly in responding to such nonsense coming in from "Developed" nations.
Amicable Solutions
Consequentially, we have now heard, a whimper from the Indian Trade Minister (I would say ostensibly, it should have been India's Home Minister or Defense Minister and not some Trade Minister).
He says that India and Europe will solve this problem "amicably". Amicably, my bleeding right foot. There is now a lawsuit, which both India and Brazil have launched. This lawsuit has brought Europe's sudden amiability, not our trade minister.
I am glad, at a minimum to see this issue move forward, as slow as it is moving forward. However, the action or the current attitude of the Indian Government does not behoove well for permanent change.
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssHealthcareNews/idUSDEL37021820091106
Permanent Change
The European Union is more like a bad version of the labor union. They have realized that innovation, production, productivity and such are now nearly impossible. Hence they harass US companies on one end and developing nations on the other.
Tolerating this behavior and looking for bizzarely unrealistic amicable solutions is not the right idea.
The seizure of Indian drugs at the Dutch shore wasn't a mistake.
It's almost been a year and there hasn't been a resolution, an apology or even an indication of remorse from the Dutch side.
Moral of the Story
The moral of the story is two-fold:
1. If you are a country looking to bully India, you don't have to try hard.
2. If you are looking at Europe's business plan, this is it.
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