(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Thomson Reuters)
Just last week, the Congress-led coalition government overcame legislative deadlock in parliament by agreeing to and winning a symbolic vote on allowing foreign companies to invest millions of dollars in India’s retail businesses.
But a week is a long time in politics. Parliament reached another impasse, and the press returned to nouns that it usually associated with parliament — uproar and furore.
The impasse was about Wal-Mart’s disclosure of a U.S. lobbying bill of around $25 million, which includes activities to facilitate its entry into the Indian retail market.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and others from the opposition wanted the government to investigate whether bribes were paid in India — although as WSJ India bureau chief Paul Beckett writes, “what the BJP claims is the bribery of Indian officials is actually an effort by the U.S. government to provide full disclosure about what companies are doing when it comes to contacts with U.S. legislators”.
