A few hours ago, ISRO put “Chandrayaan-I” into transfer orbit around the earth, heralding its “Mission to Moon”.
This is a proud moment for the team at ISRO working tirelessly for the last several months, sometimes right through the night.
It is also a proud moment for India’s indigenous space research programme and more broadly, India’s indigenous R&D efforts - the seeds of which were planted barely a few decades ago.
But questions are being asked…and doubts are being raised.
“Was this the best use of the country’s limited resources?”, “What will this mission really achieve?”, “Will it have any impact on the problems that we are facing today e.g. poverty, hunger, malnutrition?”
At a fundamental level, such questions assume that this is a zero-sum game and there is a constraint on funds for developmental projects. I do not agree with that…India’s main developmental challenge is inefficient (I would even go to the extreme of saying extremely inefficient) utilisation of resources rather than lack of funds.
Having said that, the answer to these questions is neither simple nor straightforward…
Keep Reading…
October 22nd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Technology in India |
15 comments
…for India.
Picked this up y’day morning…(Courtesy Paul Kedrosky) ” Pakistan, The Land That Financial Bad News Forgot: Part II“. The really scary bit is towards the end…(in bold - emphasis mine):
Given all the pain in markets last week, I thought it would be a good time to check in again on The Land That Financial Bad News Forgot. Yes, Pakistan.
If you recall, the wise folks running the Karachi Exchange decided back in August that they would put a floor under the KSE at 9100. After watching stocks tumble 40% in the preceding six months, no longer would investors have to worry about their stocks falling further. They could only drop enough to take the index to 9100, and then … well, they couldn’t fall further. Bad news be damned!
…After a few palpitations, the Karachi market has now flat-lined. …Volumes have collapsed, going from a healthy 186-million shares a day to a comatose million shares a day, a 99.4% decline. It is simply no longer a viable exchange, with companies unable to raise money and investors unable to get liquidity or — heaven forfend — buy shares. Nothing. Traders are reduced to sleeping and playing video games.
…At the same time, the “badla” rate, a sort of interest rate at which investors can borrow money, soared to 100% on Friday, making the record-high Libor look positively like a giveaway. It is, in short, really, really bad.
But the news gets even worse.
The country’s debt has been downgraded by S&P deep into junk status; it has just enough foreign reserves to pay for two months of imports; and Pakistan looks increasingly like it will default on a major loan on Friday, plus it has $3-billion more in upcoming debt payments. Unless something happens quickly, we are about to see what happens when you have a systemic collapse in a nuclear power next door to a terrorist hotbed.
Paul slightly amended his last sentence in one of the comments to:
…Let’s call it a systemic collapse of a country containing a sizable terrorist faction.
Also stumbled on this earlier today: Pakistan’s “Macabre” Economics in which Desh has this memorable sentence:
Aid was Pakistan’s “monetary and fiscal policy”. When it was absent, then it was Nuke and military sales.
Adjacent Posts:
Terrorism and Public Opinion in Pakistan
India - Pakistan: Notes from an Island
Emergency in Pakistan: Opportunity or Headache? Part-II and finally,
The “Raja-Mandala” approach to containing Pakistan
October 14th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Global Terrorism, Pakistan related |
6 comments
Excerpts from a review of Arun Shourie’s “Are we deceiving ourselves again?” by Brahma Chellaney:
…having forsaken the Kautilyan principles, has proven no match to China’s Sun Tzu-style statecraft. From Nehru’s grudging acceptance of Chinese suzerainty to Atal Behari Vajpayee’s blithe acceptance of full Chinese sovereignty, India has incrementally shed its main card — Tibet.
…it wasn’t geography but guns — the sudden occupation of the traditional buffer, Tibet, soon after the communists seized power in Beijing — that made China India’s neighbour.
…Shourie’s well-researched, powerfully written book relies on Nehru’s letters, speeches, notes and other correspondence to bring out the significance, in Nehru’s own words, of the events from the 1950-51 fall of Tibet to China’s 1962 invasion.
Keep Reading…
September 24th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
China related, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), India & Its Neighbours, Politics and Governance in India, Post Independence History |
no comments
First, this great post on the N-Deal from BarbarIndian: The mis-argumentative Indian (recommended).
Next, Bhaskar Roy writes on China’s Assasin’s Mace strategy re. the recent N-deal…
and finally, why Sarah palin may not be that different from a Muslim Fundamentalist.
Extracts from all these links below.
Keep smiling, Stay Healthy and Enjoy the weekend.
Keep Reading…
September 12th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
China related, Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Miscellaneous, Politics and Governance in India |
no comments
Some links for weekend reading:
1. From the Telegraph, an excellent article by Ambassador K Sibal on why borders are (still) relevant.
2. A revealing interview with Govindacharya: Jaitley is BJP’s best, Rajnath saboteur
3. Why Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam may not mean what you think it does and finally,
4. Why India..while enjoying all the characteristics of great power, is unlikely to become one (a 2005 article but still relevant, in my view).
Excerpts from all the three articles are below. Enjoy the weekend.
Keep Reading…
September 5th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Ancient Hindu Political Philosophy, Ancient Indian History, Current Affairs, Elections Analysis, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), India & Its Neighbours, Jammu & Kashmir related, Politics and Governance in India |
no comments
Some good links for the weekend:
Excerpts from the Pak army and the jihadi’s second coming: Read in the context of recent incidents of ceasefire violation along the LOC and the controversy surrounding Gen Kapoor’s remarks.
Excerpts from [The Islamist-Leftist] Allied Menace
and how California alone uses more gasoline than any other country in the world (including India and China!)
.
Keep Reading…
August 9th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Distortions, Misrepresentations about India, Enviroment Related, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Global Terrorism, Islam & Terrorism, Jammu & Kashmir related, Pakistan related |
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Like most of you, I watched and read about the proceedings of the last few days with a sense of sadness and great shame…Amidst all this, these words by Radha Rajan touched a raw nerve… Please read and think…(emphasis added)
*** The Nation as Draupadi ***
Parliament on 22nd July resembled the court of the Kauravas with the Speaker playing Dritharashtra. Every individual in parliament on that day, notwithstanding the party to which he or she belonged, was some character in the shameful court and I was the nation.
When the Prime Minister scornfully tabled his written response to the two-day debate with the Speaker instead of facing the Members of Parliament and addressing their concerns verbally, he was only underscoring parliament’s irrelevance in concluding international agreements and treaties.
This is a serious deficiency in the country’s democracy in theory and in practice because when parliament is rendered impotent to influence government decisions impinging on national security, it amounts to disregarding the sense of the House and the will of the people. It is a chilling truth that on that fateful day not one member in the august house, in the treasury or the opposition, faithfully represented the voter who put him or her there. As the end results proved, many of them were disloyal even to the party to which they belonged.
�
The Lok Sabha voted, not on the nuclear deal (it has no locus standi, as pointed out, to decide on international treaties) but on a trust vote sought by the Prime Minister on behalf of his government. Had the Prime Minister lost the trust vote, the country would have been faced with premature elections with the distinct possibility that several sitting MPs may not return to the House.
Not surprisingly, while the government did not want to fall, MPs fearful of not returning to the next Lob Sabha, also did not want the government to fall. The game of dice began and in the bizarre context of the ruling party and a section of the opposition sharing the same anxiety, the players staked the nation’s resources, her interests and eventually her dignity.
Keep Reading…
July 23rd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Ancient Indian History, Corruption in India, Current Affairs, Debates & Discussions, Elections Analysis, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Indian Economy, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement, Technology in India |
11 comments
Continuing from Part I of this guest post by Ashutosh on India, Pakistan and geo-strategic issues…
A few days later (after the Tehelka Summit), I attended the book launch of the second edition of Natural Gas in Asia - The Challenges of Growth in China, India, Japan and Korea by Oxford Institute of Energy Studies…
I took with me experiences of the previous week and also the knowledge that at the launch of the previous edition in 2004 (which I had attended too), the popular viewwas summed up in a single sentence India and Pakistan can play cricket with each other but energy co-operation, no Sir, that is not yet on the cards
Cut to July 2008 - Launch of the second edition, the same old projects: Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline- the roller coaster that is the Iran-India LNG deal- and this time the view about energy co-operation - a possibility- even call it distinct possibility. Just the previous week, at the Tehelka conference a few participants- Imran Khan, Asad Durrani and a few others had mentioned Iran-Pakistan-India collaboration but the same people said a lot more about a lot of otherissues too..and one cant ignore or forget what was said.
The view in this very knowledgeable energy crowd, albeit dominated by western oil and gas company executives was: “India-Pakistan energy collaboration, really?”
Had I not attended the Tehalka conference, I would have just about given these much bandied about projects,agrudging chance- may be, just may be. But then again I ask why now? And why with Pakistan in between? Whats wrong with an energy cooperation with other states in the Middle East like Qatar, or a nuclear energy pact with US?
Dont we have some of the best engineers and technical manpower to provide a solution to the big global crew change in oil and gas? How are we leveraging that strength as a country? In the light of these, how important is this Iran-Pakistan-India gas deal and who wants it more badly? The Iranians? The Pakistanis or the Indians? I can say for certain, the Indians dont need it as bad.
Shantanu, thanks for alerting me about the Tehelka event- even its attendee composition was quite telling- a relatively large number of expat professional Pakistanis compared to Indians attended this event.
Having experienced a range of insinuations at the Conference may I add my own?National enlightened self interest wins over personal economic aspirations amongst expats from Pakistan. To use a phrase, made popular once again by the book of the same name - We are like that only entrenched in our compassionate Capitalistic (the latter word purposefully with a capital “C” and the former with a small “c”) mindset and to an extent, perhaps it is for the better; we have become great role models of tolerance - too great for our own good, I think!
Related Posts:
India - Pakistan: Notes from an Island
On Nano, global warming, India and China
India, Iran and the IPI pipeline
India-China-Japan-US and the politics of energy
July 15th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Enviroment Related, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), India & Its Neighbours, Indian Economy, Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India |
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About two weeks ago,the Royal Society of Arts in UK, together withTehelka, organised a Summit on India and Pakistan in London. It had a stellar line up of speakers and panelists (Jaswant Singh, Farooq Abduallh, Arun Jaitley, Mushahid Husain, Imran Khan, Asma Jehangir, Ram Jethmalani…et al) and I am sure it generated a lot of animated discussions…
I am delighted to present a guest post by my dear friend Ashutosh who attended the summit and graciously agreed to pen down his thoughts to share with everyone on this blog…Ashutosh has a blue-chip CV and he left McKinsey a few years ago to start his own consulting firm in London…Needless to say, he also has a deep and abiding interest in politics and international affairs. Without further ado, here are Ashutosh’s thoughts…in two separate posts…This is the first one (emphasis is mine).
*** POST BEGINS ***
Allow me to begin by saying that I attended the events over two days wearing essentially two separate hats- one that of a politically aware global citizen (after all vasudhaiva kutumbakam has not been a more relevant concept that today and best describes the world view of us expat desis) and the second more practical hat of a energy geo-politics analyst (and there is probably no other region than the sub-continent where geo-politics of nuclear- natural gas- renewable energy and climate change is most relevant, fragile and least appreciated); my thoughts on the meeting therefore are in that sequence…
As a relatively more aware follower of international affairs- I question the need to have any reconciliatory relationship with Pakistan. What follows is a brief summary of my thoughts…
A]Pakistan wants India to forget the recent past (and in my view the most important past of the last 60 years) and reflect on our much longer history before…when we were one country.
If the meeting was about burying the past and moving forward- well it was a very good first step but we have barely scratched the surface in establishing trust at a human level. One example of self contradiction- Mushahid Hussain opening his speech by greeting (read insinuating) the audience in every other language and style but (conspicuously) avoidinga single hindu greeting like namaskaar and then closing his speech (suggesting to India) by - Thoda Dil Bada Karein- this was just one example of several self contradictions in Mushahids speech. Grow up dude, look at that inexperienced Sachin Pilot, measured and moderated responses in face of insinuations- logical and consistent- through out.
B]Search for that sameness - another theme that came out…We are similar so there is no reason we cannot move forward.
Well- I challenge this notion of sameness- yes , we have common food habits, similar languages and to some extent a common civilization but our life experiences of the last 60 or more years driven by our national ethos have been totally different. Tolerance versus Fanaticism- and so have emerged our relative positions as a function of our individual national ethos.
Why should we desperately seek out that same-ness and struggle in this relationship? When we deal with China, be it at a Governemnt level or in business, the first thing we do is recognize our differences- much stronger footing to craft our way forward. Pakistan and India may have common history and gene pool but our ethos is totally different- we will not only struggle but even get frustrated more easily in making this relationship work. Lets recognize our differences first- tolerance v/s fanaticism then figure out what is the relative value at stake for each of us!
C] Dont Use the T-word. If you do, then at least dont use it as IT (Islamic Terrorism)…
Will someone please explain to me why not? Speaker after speaker mentioned that terrorism has no place in Islam. Good passionate rhetoric but frankly this is the 800 pound gorilla in the room and calling it militancy or freedom struggle aint any good, any more. Well done Tarun Vijay, for bringing it out into the open, chapter and verse with examples included. Of course no answer/response was forthcoming except a Humphrey Appleby-esque Dont use the T word and if you do dont call it IT
Keep Reading…
July 9th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Debates & Discussions, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Global Terrorism, Identity, India & Its Neighbours, Jammu & Kashmir related, Miscellaneous, Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Post Independence History, Terrorism in India |
4 comments
From a Sify report on a seminar held last Friday at IIC on ‘1914 Shimla Convention Agreement and Consequences’ (emphasis mine):
The fact that the Chinese refused to ink the 1914 Shimla Convention agreement between India and Tibet puts question mark over the legality or morality of China’s claim of sovereignty over Tibet, a group of India’s top jurists, scholars and security experts feel.
…The participants - who included senior Supreme Court Advocate Rajeev Dhavan, Arunachal MP Khiren Rijuju, Lt Gen. (Rtd.) F.R. J. Jacob, veteran diplomat Dalip Mehta, and writer Dr Parshotam Mehta - felt that this could make a strong case for India to press for autonomy of the Tibet in its negotiations with China during sixth round of discussions on Indo-China border that started today.
…Dhawan argued that China’s case for sovereignty over Tibet was inconclusive, contradictory and un-established. I have gone through all relevant documents. At best, a nominal suzerainty was imposed by the imperial powers, which lapsed when the Chinese did not sign the agreement, he said.
Writer Parshotam Mehta and Dr Anand Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University drew attention to the July declaration signed by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and Tibet which said if China did not sign the agreement she will be debarred from all privileges.
It was an agreement between the government of India and Tibet and did not accept any claim by China if the latter did not accept the conditionalities, they contended.
But all the legalities in the world pale against lack of political will and resolve…I am not in the least optimistic thatthe sixth round of discussions with China would be any different from the previous ones…
Related Posts:
Of sound bites, Shilpa Shetty and Arunachal
Tibet - not always part of China
Dancing with the Dragon
.
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July 6th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
British Rule in India, China related, Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), India & Its Neighbours, Miscellaneous, Modern Indian History, Politics and Governance in India, Post Independence History, World History |
one comment
A: They are both offensive to Muslims (and possibly against Islam)…
Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, vice-president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)…said the nuke deal does not sound good…” “Our contention is national as well as Islamic.”
Samajwadi Party rebel MP Munnawar Hasan…(said)…Support to the nuclear deal is tantamount to back-stabbing Muslims. Muslims across the world are opposed to the US,
as for the “puppy”…
A puppy postcard (with an image of) a black dog sitting in a police officers hat…has prompted complaints from members of the Islamic community (in UK).
It is understood that Muslims have been upset by it because dogs are considered ritually unclean. Some shopkeepers have been refusing to display the advert.
Fortunately, some sense seems to have prevailed.
I am struggling to understand what has Islam got to do with a nuclear deal (lets forget Pakistan and its own nuclear programme for a minute) and how candisplaying the picture of any “life”be anti-religion?
Thoughts welcome
Related Post: Of Sacred Bulls, Divinity & Development
UPDATE: Siddharth Vardarajan has written a post titled, “Don’t use Muslims as crutch on nuclear deal“. It makessome interesting points.
July 3rd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Impact of Islam on India, Politics and Governance in India, Politics of Minority Appeasement |
4 comments
French philosopher Bernard-Henri Lvy on thecrisis inDarfurquoted inGuernica, June 2008:
…I was there (in Darfur)…just one year ago nearly to the day, smuggling myself across the border with Chad, crossing 500, 600 kilometers of a devastated Darfur. And I must say what I saw then, what I experienced there never left my mind and my heart since. I was deeply shocked in the most intense sense of the word by this experience, even if I lived many others in my life since my youth in Bangladesh, in Pakistan. What I saw in Darfur in a way bypassed, overwhelmed a lot of things which I experienced before.
I would like to sum up the conclusion I did draw from this journey. My first conclusion was and still is that we should stop speaking of the crisis of Darfur or even the war in Darfur. It is not a crisis. It is not a war. A war presupposes of course a frontline, presupposes organized battles, and presupposes, even more, two real armies. It is not a war between two armies. It is a war by an army against civilian populations. It is not a civil war, it is a war against civilians.
…My second conclusion, which I drew from this journey, is that we should get rid of at least … part of the myth of the Janjaweed. There are a lot of big stories about the Janjaweed, these horsemen of the devil, ill-equipped themselves, arriving in the villages burning the huts, spreading fear, like in the Middle Ages. What I saw is not exactly that. I saw huge holes in the ground, craters from bombs which were the result of a bombing…This is not Janjaweed. This is a real bomber. What everybody told me is that these Janjaweed when they arrive, generally in lorries, in trucks, they are commanded by people in uniforms or have uniforms that happen to belong to the Sudanese Army.
…Another thing which I never saw to this extent (and which makes the polemic about genocide completely outrageous and frivolous) is the impossibility of giving the real number of dead. Nobody knows if it is 200,000 dead, the number which has been given on and on for years, if it is, which is my evaluation, closer to 300,000 or 350,000; some human rights organizationsserious onessay 400,000, maybe 500,000. From 200,000 to 500,000nobody being able to decide which is the right figure? Which means that there might be in Darfur hundreds of thousands of children, women, men, raped, killed, burnt without any memory, without any inscription anywhere, without graves, without a face, without a name, without a number.
The question now is to know why. My last, or nearly last remark: why? And why is the international community so passive? For more than 4 years [facing] this situation, why this passivity? Why this inability to [make] decisions or, when they are made, to make them respected? Of course, there are some obvious reasons: the regime in Khartoum, the regime of murderers has some oil.
…You have also the reason (which is true) that the Khartoum regime managed to make the Western countries, and especially America, believe that they had a card to play, theyKhartoumin the war against terrorism.
…And to end, what can we do facing that? Facing this devastation? Facing this uncomparable mass murder?
First of all, of course to try to make it visible…
Number two: we can and we should, and it is possible, to ask for real sanctions on the state of Sudan, despite the oil…
…And last but not least, there is one weapon which we have pleaded for, Mia Farrow in America and myself in Europe, for months and months. There is one actor in this terrible game, who has huge power, and can do a lot if it wants. This actor is China.
…China provides the weapons. China buys a big portion of the oil. China protects the Sudanese regime in the Security Council of the United Nations.
So the real pressure, the most efficient pressure should be and is still today the pressure on China.
And we have a tool, as you know, on China. We have a real weapon, which would prove to be very efficient if we tried. It has been tried for a few days about Tibet. It has already given results: the resuming of the dialogue with the Dalai Lama. It should be implemented [against] the Darfur tragedy, [and it] is the weapon of a boycott of the Olympic Games. …If we accept going to Beijing for the games, it will belike in Berlin in 1936games of blood and shame.
…all this should prevent us from saying that we are impotent, unable, that there is nothing to do. There is a lot to do to save what is still savable in Darfur.
Here are some shocking photographs of the tragedy.
The question is who will bell the cat?
Related Posts:
Chinas investments and expansion in Africa
India and China: Apples and Oranges
P.S. As many of you would know, China’s role in Sudan is well documented and its critics range from the George Clooney to Steven Spielberg…
June 27th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
China related, Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Global Terrorism, Politics and Governance |
one comment
…Even as New Delhi talks of taking up the issue of border incursions with China at the “appropriate highest level”, up in the Himalayas, the Indian soldiers are using a Gandhian method to stop the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops from intruding into the Indian territory.
With the PLA making fresh incursions into the Fingertip Area of Sikkim, Indian troops are now blocking the Chinese soldiers by forming human chains.
“We are literally forming human chains to stop the Chinese from crossing over,” says a senior Army officer. “If they come in groups of 20, we assemble 50 men and form a human chain. They can’t after all push us and cross the border.”
Under the terms of confidence-building measures started between the two countries during the days of Atal Behari Vajpayee government, troops on either side do not open fire to stop intrusions in disputed areas.
…There have been 65 transgressions into Sikkim in the last six months and on June 16, PLA men entered the region in light vehicles and later returned to their territory.
but more worrying is this…
At the Fingertips Area, in north Sikkim, Chinese patrols have been coming regularly for the past two years, the last being on Monday. [ link ]
and taking up the issue at appropriate levels is certainly not going to “sort out China incursions issue”
…Dubbing Chinese incursions into Sikkim unfortunate, Minister of State for Defence M.M. Pallam Raju said on Thursday that India would take up the issue with China at the appropriate level. The issue of incursions will be raised at the next flag meeting with the Chinese and also discussed at the appropriate level. As responsible neighbours, we will sort it out, Raju told reporters.
But I applaud the Minister of state for defence for being candid:
All this is happening because we are failing to assert ourselves as a nation on our stand on what we believe is ours, Raju told meadiapersons here on the sidelines of a seminar on Indian ways of war fighting, organised by Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS).
.
What realistic options does India have in the face of these constant low-intensity attempts by China to bully India?
Can India really win a war against China on the Eastern front?
I don’t know….
I will try and find answer to all these questions in the next few days. In the meantime, please contribute with your thoughts and comments.
Related Posts:
Slowly but steadily, China marchesahead
As the Government sleeps, dark clouds gather on thehorizon
June 20th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
China related, Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), India & Its Neighbours, Politics and Governance in India |
2 comments
This analysis ofattitudes that the communist parties havetowards vital matters of national interest reveals why they are probably the most dangerouselement in the current political landscape…
Excerpts from Red Star over South Block(emphasis mine)
As the Manmohan Singh government enters its last year in office, the contradictions in the approach to national security and foreign policy issues between a mainstream national party…on the one hand and the communist parties, which appear determined to make India a client state of China on the other, are becoming increasingly evident…There are…other serious differences between the approach of the communists and virtually all other national parties on crucial issues of defence, national security and foreign affairs differences that cannot be papered over any longer.
In its 2004 election manifesto, the CPM has advocated talks between India and Pakistan for a “denuclearised environment” in South Asia. This CPM formulation would result in India acceding to the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) by the back door and in China to becoming the only nuclear weapons power in Asia.
Interestingly, this formulation coincides with what China has constantly advocated since 1998, when it demanded that India should give up its nuclear weapons, sign the NPT and agree to UN intervention in Jammu and Kashmir, as demanded in the UN Security Council Resolution 1172 of 1998. These demands have been reiterated when China speaks of its reservations on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The real reasons for Chinese opposition to the Indo-US nuclear agreement were voiced in an article in the August 2007 issue of the influential Renmin Jiabao magazine, which stated: “The US-India nuclear agreement has strong symbolic significance (for) India achieving its dream of becoming a powerful nation…The CPM finds fault with the India-US nuclear agreement for precisely the same reasons as China.
While decrying India’s nuclear weapons programme and making China the sole guarantor of nuclear security in Asia, the CPM overlooks the entire China-Pakistan nuclear nexus. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are of Chinese design. China has, over the past three decades, clandestinely provided Pakistan with nuclear weapons designs and technology, including plutonium facilities for manufac-turing thermonuclear warheads. Even if we sign a bilateral agreement for a denuclearised South Asia as the CPM proposes, how do we deal with clandestine Chinese proliferation to Pakistan? Moreover, the Shaheen-I and Shaheen-II missiles that Pakistan periodically tests, which are capable of striking at cities across India, are of Chinese origin.
Despite this, the CPM joins the Chinese in expressing opposition to missile defence systems. Does the party want Indian population centres to be defenceless against attacks of nuclear-tipped missiles? Have CPM leaders ever voiced concern about the Pakistan-China nuclear and missile nexus to their Chinese comrades during their visits to the Middle Kingdom?
…In its manifesto, the CPM steadfastly avoids any reference to Pakistan-inspired cross-border terrorism, while championing the cause of India-Pakistan dialogue, primarily to contain American influence, while Chinese influence in the region grows. One has yet to hear a CPM leader unequivocally condemning Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
…virtually every political party in India has been forthright in condemning continuing Chinese claims to Tawang and indeed to the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh. The communists alone continue to waffle on Chinese border claims and maintain that it was India and not China that was guilty of aggression in the 1962 conflict!
I wonder if Shri Yechury or Shri Karat - who otherwise wax eloquent on a range of issues -have any comment.
June 14th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
China related, Current Affairs, Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), India & Its Neighbours, Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Post Independence History, Terrorism in India |
one comment
Came across this news-report yesterday and wondered whether there is now sufficientevidence todeclare Pakistan a state-sponsor of terrorism?
…Elements of Pakistan’s ISI and its paramilitaries are actively backing Taliban insurgents and if their sanctuaries in the country are not eliminated, the efforts of the US and its allies to stabilise and rebuild Afghanistan will be in jeopardy, a leading US think-tank has warned.
The study by Rand Corporation, funded by the US Department of Defence, finds that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate and Frontier Corps have failed to root out Afghan insurgent groups…in some cases, individuals from these Pakistani organisations have provided direct assistance to such groups as the Taliban and Haqqani network.
…Pointing to the growing list of terrorist attacks and foiled plots in the US, UK, Germany, Denmark, and Spain, US intelligence agencies have identified terrorist plots stemming from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region as perhaps the single most important threat to America’s security. [ link]
Not that any of this isnew…
I have been harping on this theme for more than two years now but, as they say in French, plus ca change.. 
From an unrelated report, I learn that “…there are at least 200 entities in Pakistan raising funds for terror operations…”
…According to the IB, there are at least 200 entities in Pakistan raising funds for terror operations. The afore-mentioned document suggests that the nexus between Indian gangsters and Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, the ISI, agency is also getting stronger by the day.
…The government document also notes that the ISI has been stoking increased militancy in Punjab and the north-eastern states.
Since 2006 several terror cells set up by the ISI have been neutralised in Kashmir, forcing it to look beyond. The ISI then re-launched its Operation Pin Code and Operation Topac with a view to destabilising the entire country. That is where Punjab and the north-east come in.
…The first stage in Topac and Pin Code involves low-level insurgency through placing operatives in key locations across the country with a view to subverting the police force, communication networks, and financial institutions.
Phase two, which is underway, deals with stepping up terror in the border areas and elsewhere, through the Afghan mujahideen and Bangla militants who will have entered the country to carry out terror strikes.
Knowing the way the UPA government functions, I do not expect to see any action on this or other similar reports…Where does that leave us?
As I mentioned in one of my earliestposts on this subject (”All roads lead toIslamabad“),
Sadly, the prevalent atmosphere in New Delhi and a government obsessed with bhai-chara and peace process suggests that the government either does not believe in facts on the ground or is being driven by a different agenda.
Thanks to modern technology though, we, as common citizens, are more empowered today to try and influence behaviours and perceptions than ever before.
Let us put these resources to good use and spread the message Hopefully a point will be reached when no government will be able to ignore the groundswell of public opinion.
The message that we must forcefully repeat is this:
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Pakistan isa state-sponsor of terrorism
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It is responsible for nuclear proliferation in Iran and North Korea
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The ISI has been the god-father of Al-Qaeda and continues to support and sponsor jihadi activities, including in Kashmir
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Pakistans madrassas harbour a growing number of jihadi terrorists and fanatics who will stop at nothing in their quest for total domination*
It is high time that the regime in Pakistan is recognised for what it is a supra-terrorist organization and dealt with appropriately.
Related Posts:
Pakistan, Taliban & the War onTerroryawn
All roads lead to Pakistan(onceagain)and
All roads lead toIslamabad
For an unusual perspective, read: The Raja-Mandala approach to containingPakistan
*P.S. If you thought I am being dramatic, read how schools in Pakistan are turningintonurseriesof bombers
London, May 20 (2008): Al-Qaeda-linked militants have transformed a Government-run school in the restive tribal region of Pakistan into a nursery for suicide bombers, training children as young as nine-year-old.
It was like factory that had been recruiting nine to 12-year-old boys and turning them into suicide bombers, Maj Gen Tariq Khan, the commander of the division that captured the area, was quoted in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday as saying.
The camp was located in a territory in South Waziristan where the notorious Pakistani Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, operates.
At another location, military investigators found film footage on a DVD that they believed depicts children at the school being trained in suicide bombing.
Maj Gen Athar Abbas, the armys chief spokesman, said that the school and a hospital had been taken over by militants to prepare children for suicide attacks and for making improved explosive devices (IEDS).
June 11th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Geo-Strategic Issues (incl. Nuclear, Oil, Energy), Global Terrorism, India & Its Neighbours, Jammu & Kashmir related, LeT, SIMI etc., Pakistan related, Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
7 comments
and my inferences are based on...
