Indian-Nordic Encounters 1917-2006 - Det danske Fredsakademi

plan will help them through the psychological difficult ties as Norway take upon
itself a concrete work with great international perspectives.
2. To find occupation in idealistic work for many Norwegian ’intellectuals’ that
sees Norway’s seemingly dependency on capitalist America to have imposed
upon them an intellectual difficult ties in breathing and whose only occupation
so far has been frequent outbursts against Norwegian foreign policy.” 18
A year later the time has come to act. The government had given Diderich H. Lund the task to
select a country. He had participated in a ”World Pacifist Meeting” in India and was known as
a supporter of Gandhi. He was not a communist but a member of the Norwegian-Soviet union
friendship society and eager to build bridges across borders. He explained his choice of
country:
”I eliminated all colonial states where there was unrest which would create extra
difficult ties. Preferably I would have liked to propose a state with a sympathetic
democratic government. Then there was not so many to choose from. And since
after the visit in 1949-1950 I became very occupied by the destiny of the
country, I soon choose India as a cooperation partner.” 19
The result has been criticised. The modernising of the fishing culture by motorised vessels in
Kerala did not only bring beneficent results to everybody but also problems for many who
were excluded from the large scale development project. The development caused the need
for investments and the investors without previous background in the industry who took over
much of the fishing. Conflicts between different fishermen and new investors increased and
resulted in over fishing. But local people were impressed by the more equal relationship
between people at the workplace the Norwegians brought along.
The Kerala project became the beginning of the biggest national development aid programme
pro capita in the world. Norway today gives a higher percentage of its GNP to foreign aid
than any other country.
There was also a second wave when the World Youth Festivals once more provoked
organising of alternatives at the end of 1950s. This time it was conservative youth. Swedish
right wing students took the lead to start an international organisation. It got its first take-off
when a mass campaign against the World Youth Festival in Vienna 1959 was organised.
Social democrats, non-socialist parties, youth organisations, the press and CIA met secretly to
find a common strategy against the festival. The press was supposed to neglect the festival if
there were no scandals to report, liberals to infiltrate the festival and spread material financed
by CIA while a new conservative youth coalition would attack the festival from the outside
and try to convince delegates from the East to escape to search for asylum in the West. The
plan was carried out but some 50 000 people participated anyway in outdoor cultural activities
organised by the festival in spite of the silence in the media and it was decided to try again
organising the festival in the West, next time in Helsinki 1962. But a new conservative youth
organisation was born, later with the name European Democratic Union according to the
proposal from Carl Bildt, later conservative prime minister in Sweden and now foreign
minister.
18 Quoted letter by Verdensmagasinet X no 5 1997.
19 Verdensmagasinet X no 5 1997, quotes in the article from D. H. Lund, Fra Norges fjell til fjerne kyster (Oslo 1972)
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