Pride at what Cost? --2

In my recent Post I had written about the Pros of accepting aid from otehr countries during times of disasters. Now, I will give my view on the cons of taking aid and why it is good for India to not accept aid.
The Most Important Aspect i see why India has been so circumspect to take aid is that this would deeply affect their claim for a permanent seat in the UN secretary council. A country that cannot take care of itself during times of need, cannot stake a claim to a UN seat. As already there has been a stiff resistance and a powerful lobbying from Pakistan, china and other countries including the US to prevent expanding the Security council, any acceptance of aid and offers of help will only put India in a much weaker position to become part of the council.
Accepting aid in any form, also means unnecessary obligation to countries that provide the aid. Given the political issues, that would also mean that India will have to bend further to the wishes of other powerful economies. By showing the world that we can take care of ourselves sends a strong message to world that we have the capability to defend ourselves. By offering to help pakistan, we also spread the message that if needed we can help others even during times of our own difficulties. These actions have stronger repercussions than one can just see on the face of it. It also serves as a boost to India's image in the world.
One thing to accept is that no country has a fool proof method to survive a disaster. We saw how badly the US carried out Katrina relief works. India's effort mesaures may have been inadequate so far, but they are catching up and making sure that as much could be done with the available resources. Contrary to beliefs, the public contributions for the earthquake relief have been much poorer this time. May be the Indian public have been contributing much too often that they overlooked the quake this time, that has also been a reason that relief operations have been a little slow to take off.
In all aspects it seems to be a better show by India in their move towards a permanent seat in the UN council. By showing the world that we can tackle things for ourselves we are only strengthening our claim for a permanent seat. It also lends a credibility to the claim as only some one who can take care of self will be able to help others in times of need.