Owning any vehicle
with pride, you sure would know of horsepower ~ the one that every two wheeler
and car advertisement brags about.
The killing of five
Indian soldiers by Pakistanis along the line of control has elicited two kinds
of responses in India – one naively hopeful and the other belligerently
aggressive. One talks of continuing the dialogue with Pakistan no matter what
happens on the ground, the other, coming largely from the opposition BJP and
its supporters, talks of outright revenge. Yashwant Sinha, a BJP stalwart and a
former minister, said the current Indian government was “sponsoring”
Pakistan. Hours after Parliament
proceedings were disrupted over the statement made by Defence Minister A.K.
Antony on the killing of five Indian soldiers along the LoC, senior BJP leaders
lodged a ‘strong protest’ with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the manner in
which the entire issue has been handled.
BJP took strong exception to the
wording of Mr. Antony’s statement that those who killed the jawans were in
Pakistani military uniform contrary to the statement made by the Army — but
later withdrawn — to the effect that the killers were Pakistani soldiers.
In this din, the
ordinary patriotic citizen certainly feels that this needs to be addressed more
sternly….’foreign relations’ is delicate ~ one needs to be diplomatic and have
good relations with thy neighbour ~ but that should not eternally exhibit that
the Nation would never respond to anything – even when it comes to coldblooded
killing of its soldiers who protect the Nation.
President Obama cancelled a planned summit meeting with the
Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, officials said Wednesday, a response to
frustration at the Russian government for refusing to send Edward J. Snowden,
the fugitive intelligence analyst, to the United States to face charges of
leaking national security secrets. The move is also a reflection of growing
tensions between the two countries on a series of other issues, including Mr.
Putin’s continuing support of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. The Kremlin
expressed disappointment, especially with the president’s linking of the
decision to the case of Mr. Snowden. A senior aide to Mr. Putin, Yuri V.
Ushakov, said that Mr. Obama was still welcome to visit, but blamed the United
States for not wanting to build a stronger partnership to manage bilateral and
international issues. The daylong meeting between the two leaders had been
anticipated for months. Officials said Mr. Obama will still travel to Russia
for the economic discussions with other world leaders in September for a G20
summit in St Petersburg but will not attend a separate meeting with Putin was
supposed to take place in Moscow ahead of that.
About a fortnight
ago, another happened. Historically, Kenya has been a strong U.S. ally.
According to a 2012 BBC global opinion poll, 79% of Kenyans view the U.S.
positively, making citizens of the nation some of the most pro-American in
Africa. President Obama, on his second official visit to Africa, again chose to skip his Kenyan fatherland. Officials in
the Obama Administration say the avoidance is due to the recent election of
President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is under indictment by the International Criminal
Court for his alleged role in post-election violence following the last
presidential contest in 2007. The president is instead travelled to South Africa, Senegal, and Tanzania,
Kenya's next-door neighbor and perennial rival. While Obama was there is in his
backyard, President Uhuru was on a trip abroad to meet with business and
government leaders in Russia, Japan, and, most importantly, China.
Back home, riding on
horses and ponies, around 50 Chinese soldiers intruded into the Indian
territory of Chumar in Ladakh on July 16 staking their claim over the area. The
Chinese troops started their incursion in the Chumar area on the evening of
July 16 and they remained in the Indian area till the morning of July 17, the
Hindu reported. Sources said the intruding Chinese soldiers asked the Indian
soldiers to vacate the area claiming that they were standing in Chinese
territory.
The frequency of such
incidents increased around the time Defence Minister A K Antony went to China
earlier this month and the two countries discussed measures to enhance peace
and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control between them. Defence
Minister A.K. Antony visited China recently.
It assumed some significance as it was the first by a Defence Minister
from India in more than seven years – the last was by Pranab Mukherjee in 2006.
The Defence Minister was accompanied by a high-level delegation ~ but was the
timing right and does that reflect that we are too soft especially when it
comes to our foreign policy……
Of course in Foreign
relations which is too complex for ordinary people like me to understand, neither
extreme serves India’s national interests. Simple expectation that things will improve imposes a high burden on elected leaders that
they continue engaging Pakistan’s civilian government even though it exercises
little or no power over the country’s foreign policy. The Firstpost correctly states that India
needs is to strategically shelve Pakistan and create other options and pressure
points. An obvious one is to take a new look at Afghanistan and reconsider
strengthening the Afghan National Army, if not by supplying weapons then by
helping in procurement.
Some will continue
stating that Pakistan’s political leadership appears sincere about improving
ties with India. In the autumn of 2008, President Asif Ali Zardari unveiled a
dramatic, new road-map for peace. “India has never been a threat to Pakistan”,
he told the Wall Street Journal. He called the Islamist insurgents in Kashmir
“terrorists.” He spoke of a future where Pakistani factories would feed India’s
huge cement needs, Pakistani ports helped decongest India’s clogged ones ~ and
a few weeks later, Ajmal Kasaab and nine other Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists
sailed out of one of those ports, Karachi, headed for Mumbai ~ and Kasab is now
forgotten, so also the killings.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
8th Aug
2013.
PS : impressed
by what has appeared in the Firstpost and some portions are reproduced from it
too…
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