The 1960s were heady days  cultural and political revolutions, the death of Che Guevara and a raging Vietnam war. In the midst of all this was TARIQ ALI, a young man in his 20s who had just arrived in Oxford from Lahore, and who ended up as one of the most prominent anti-American voices. After graduating, Ali led the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign against the war and has spent much of the life denouncing America and "neoliberal economic policies". Ali has authored several books, but it's his Street Fighting Years that became a cult read. Ali, now 68, is an editor of the New Left Review and lives in London. He was in India this week to deliver a Faiz memorial lecture. In this interview, Ali talks to Uma Vishnu about the Indian Left, Pakistan and the Chinese model.

As someone who looks at India from the outside, what do you think has changed?

What has changed dramatically is the shift in India's position in the world. It has become a major player, but at the same time the old India, which was genuinely independent in relation to the big powers, is now very closely aligned to the US. The US wants to have India as a permanent ally, largely as a counterbalance against China, whereas I think China and India have a lot in common and they should be working together rather than being manipulated by the US. And then the whole triumphalism that followed globalisation and the whole thing about "Shining India". The moral presence of India, which was very strong in the '50s as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, has gone... this government is on its knees before the Israelis and the Americans. It's unnecessary. India is a big power, it doesn't have to be on its knees.

... contd.

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