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India And Asia - Guest - 11-12-2003
[quote name='Gill' date='Nov 11 2003, 12:41 PM'][url="http://www.fisiusa.org/fisi_News_items/Bangla_news/bangla072.htm"]http://www.fisiusa.org/fisi_News_items/Ban...s/bangla072.htm[/url]
Please I urge members that the link contains some horrific pictures. The link provided is to strongly present my case that Bangladesh will emerge as a potential security threat in next 10 years.
Question that needs to be asked is are we going to let Bangladesh go through the same steps by which Pakistan is finally taken over by Jihadis?
Gill <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />[/quote]Beedis need to be cut down to size in the next 2-3 years. I have repeatedly suggested on BR that India take the CHT from BD as a first step to contain it. That is a very easy task (militarily), as there is only about 12 miles from the Feni river estury and the southern tip of Tripura. [url="http://www.redtailcanyon.com/map.aspx?&BBOX=91.3584168040292,22.7478508384135,91.7099792928386,23.0994133272229&SRS=EPSG:4326&layer=&width=1200&height=1200"]This excellent map site[/url] shows the distance from Tripura to the sea via the Feni river, which is also the eastern border between India (Tripura) and BD (CHT). This will deny Beedis a sea port and make them dependent on India for their contact with the rest of the world. India can justify it on the basis of sustained illegal immigration from BD to India, which, with its billion+ population is no immigrant country, and need the land to settle the illegal immigrants (what India does with the CHT is another matter).
India And Asia - Guest - 11-13-2003
Foothold in central Asia: India gets own military base
![[Image: map_ayni.jpg]](http://www.indianexpress.com/ieimages/specials/map_ayni.jpg)
Tajikistan:10 km from Tajik capital, Indian troops, air platforms to be stationed in Ayni; MoD staff work on runway, Rs 50-cr upgrade
SHISHIR GUPTA
NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 12: When Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee lands at Dushanbe tomorrow evening, a contingent of the Indian Defence Ministryâs military engineering services (MES) workers will be packing up after a gruelling day of building a runway at an air base that lies 10 km north-east of the Tajikistan capital. Welcome to Ayni, Indiaâs first ever military base in a foreign countryâpost Sri Lanka.
A Defence Ministry spokesman today confirmed that New Delhi is involved in upgrading infrastructure at the Ayni air base and ââhas plans to station its troopsââ and air platforms in the near future to support its energy security interests in Central Asia.
Replying to a detailed questionnaire from The Indian Express, officials confirmed that New Delhi is revamping the Ayni air base as part of the ââdeepening India-Tajik defence cooperation.ââ This Tajik base has been lying in a dilapidated condition since 1985 and India is overhauling it at the cost of over Rs 50 crore.
The work involves building a runway that can handle fighter and heavy lift transport aircraft and steeling up existing hangars to house them. The MES will also build accommodation within the base in order to station troops, who will train Tajik forces and keep an eye on Indian interests in Central Asia.
Indian oil major ONGC Videsh Limited has tied up with Kazakhstan government for oil exploration in Alibekmola and Kurmangazi fields. OVL currently has 15 per cent stake in Alibekmola and 10 per cent in Kurmangazi oil fields that straddle the Kazakh-Russia border. Significantly, India and Tajik special forces held joint exercises in February this year.
Although the upgradation of Ayni base was cleared at the highest levels of Indian government, the repair work has begun in the earnest only couple of months ago with Air Chief S. Krishnaswamy playing a key role. Vajpayee gave the green signal, but it was Defence Minister George Fernandes and External Affairs Ministry officials who pushed the project towards fruition.
Last April, Fernandes, accompanied by then defence secretary Yogendra Narain and top MEA officials, quietly visited Dushanbe and signed the India-Tajik defence pact. Ministry officials say that Ayni is a symbol of mutual defence relationship between the two countries and sensitivities of Russia and China have been kept in mind.
Moscow, on its part, is eyeing Kulyab air base near the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border and has established its military presence by setting up a base in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan last month.
However, Tajikistanâs neighbour Pakistan is suspicious about the defence cooperation between Dushanbe and New Delhi and believes it is part of the Indian plans to ââencircleââ Islamabad. It is learnt that Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf raised the air base issue with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmanov before the CICA summit in Almatty last June.
Vajpayee, who is meeting Rakhmanov on November 14, will push for expanding the bilateral relationship with Tajikistan that goes beyond defence and focuses on trade. Even though Ayni is a half-hour drive from Dushanbe, Vajpayee has no plans of visiting the base.
[url="http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=35229"]http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.ph...ontent_id=35229[/url]
India And Asia - Guest - 11-13-2003
Krishna, its good to see that the Indian elephant is turning into a Bengal tiger.
India And Asia - Guest - 11-13-2003
[url="http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=44804"]40 Pakistani firms participating in Indian trade fair[/url]
(Online): Around 40 exhibitors from Pakistan are among 7,500 participants preparing to receive millions of visitors at the 23rd annual India International Trade Fair that opens here Friday (tomorrow).
Last year only one Pakistani company took part in the mega event, rated to be the biggest of its kind in the region, reports IANS.
Last-minute requests for participation from Indian and foreign exhibitors have made the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), the organisers, set up three temporary structures to accommodate them in the fortnight-long show.
"We are still getting requests and are trying to accommodate people. We will have over 7,500 exhibitors, excluding the pavilions set up by various states and union territories," said S.H. Khan, a senior official of the state-run ITPO.
"After a gap of over 10 year, we will be seeing participation by Pakistan, besides a big contingent from China and Russia. Several companies from countries like Iran have returned for a repeat show after last year," said Khan.
One of the big attractions this year is expected to be the Pakistani exhibitors, many of whom have arrived by road, said Khan.
They would be displaying a range of wares from wooden furniture, machinery, textiles, garments and giftware.
India And Asia - Guest - 11-14-2003
[quote name='O Vijay' date='Nov 13 2003, 08:37 AM'] Krishna, its good to see that the Indian elephant is turning into a Bengal tiger. [/quote]
Boss, I don't want the elephant to transform itself into a Royal Bengal Tiger for good. But keep marching on like a careless fat elephant, with changing mode to a RBT or a lion or a cheetah, when necesary, ala T-1000 from Terminator 2 Judgement Day!
BTW. Can we get the bases at Langar & Khulyab? <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
India And Asia - Guest - 11-14-2003
Interesting to know that just last year reports came out that the base was located at farkhor on the Afghan border. More news then came out that the base at farkhor was actually a hospital, catering to the Northern Alliance troops against the taliban. Well wherever the base its heartening to know that we are taking some form of proactive decisions for a change. Not only will Ayni secure our strategic energy interests but it does lead to a slow encirclement of the the pakis in Pok.
With a flight time from Ayni to Pok in about 15 mins, and from Leh across the border, we can effectively ensure Air Superiority and LGB at will.
A primary target is the the Karakoram highway linking Pakistan and China through the Khunjerab pass, destroy this and a few other Bridges and we effectively cut off China and quit their replenishment chain into Pok. Just not soon enough!
So my wish for aircraft to be staged at Ayni.
1) A squadron of Dhruvs armed with Nags and thermals for bunker busting
2) A squadron of Mig 29's with refuelling capacity (should be upgraded shortly, besides also operated by the Tajik air force for which we should provide overhaul facilities)
3) 1 refueeling tanker IL 78 Midas
4) A squadron of medium lift AN 32's
5) Increasing the rate of Tejas LCA production is a must, however priority should be given to replaceing Squadrons in India before anywhere else.
The biggest blunders ever in our history were to lose our influence and buffer over Tibet to China and then give Pok to maurading pakis. We've taken a big step to once again see the Dharma Chakra and the tri color flying over pakistani occupied kashmir.
India and Central Asia
India's growing presence and role in the resources-rich and strategically significant Central Asian Region has important implications.
Sept 2002
[url="http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1919/19190600.htm"]http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl1919/19190600.htm[/url]
Medical Help to Northern Alliance
[url="http://meadev.nic.in/govt/parl-qa/loksabha/dec05-2521.htm"]http://meadev.nic.in/govt/parl-qa/loksabha.../dec05-2521.htm[/url]
India sets up military base in Tajikistan
IANS [ FRIDAY, AUGUST 16, 2002 11:08:38 AM
[url="http://www.mail-archive.com/uighur-l@taklamakan.org/msg03256.html"]http://www.mail-archive.com/uighur-l@takla...g/msg03256.html[/url]
![[Image: _1615633_tajik_arms2_300map.gif]](http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/1615000/images/_1615633_tajik_arms2_300map.gif)
India And Asia - Guest - 11-15-2003
India to help in upgrading Ayni airbase
Shobori Ganguli/ Dushanbe (Tajikistan)
The question was waiting to be asked and the replies came promptly. The issue was India's decision to assist in the reconstruction of the Ayni airbase near Dushanbe, the Tajik Capital. Following reports about India's decision to rebuild the airbase, there was considerable speculation about the presence of Indian military troops in this strategic Central Asian country.
Asked to elaborate on India's plans, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said: "It has been decided that an existing airbase will be upgraded. India has proposed to assist in this," he said, adding that he knew many people were interested in knowing about this. Tajikistan President Rakhmonov was far less diplomatic than his Indian counterpart in pointing to the questioner that he knew where the question came from, implying Moscow.
"In the past few years, we have been asking several countries, including Russia, for assistance to rebuild the Ayni airbase. From everywhere we have received negative responses. We were offered grants to the order of $5 million for reconstruction. Existence of this airport is not a secret. It served as a military base during the Soviet times. It was thrown into disrepair and abuse after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the civil war which followed. For many years we approached various organisations and countries so that the airbase could become a reserve airport for Dushanbe. We then approached the Indian Government. In response there is reconstruction taking place. This is not a secret," the Tajik President said upfront.
The issue of the Ayni airbase set aside, the two leaders explained at length the strategic significance of Mr Vajpayee's visit, the first ever by an Indian Prime Minister since Tajikistan's independence. Tajikistan attaches a lot of significance to its Agreement with India on Military Technical Cooperation that provides for the training of Tajik armed forces in India, apart from military exercises. President Rakhmonov said Tajikistan is in particular need of this since his country got nothing in its share after the Soviet collapse. Ten years down the road, Tajikistan is looking for strategic partners in Asia and this is where India steps in to mutual benefit.
India has offered assistance in the infrastructure of Tajikistan's Military Training College, Mr Vajpayee said, adding that, as part of defence training, there will be contacts between the Tajik armed forces and their Indian counterparts in specialised areas.
Mr Vajpayee emphasised another crucial area where the two countries would be looking to cooperate closely - international terrorism. The two sides have signed an Agreement on Terrorism apart from an Extradition Treaty that would facilitate joint combat against the terror trade. As members of the international coalition against terror, Mr Vajpayee also announced the decision to set up a Joint Working Group on Counterterrorism. Tajikistan is strategically crucial to India in this regard because of its access to Afghanistan. A foothold in this country therefore gives India strategic advantage in monitoring terror export from Afghanistan where the Taliban is regrouping at an alarming pace.
Asked to elaborate on Tajikistan's role in the stability and security of Central Asia, President Rakhmonov said: "Tajikistan for all these years has been playing a key role. We have experienced terror. We don't know about it through mere hearsay. Till September 11, Tajikistan has been acting as a buffer country, protecting Europe from terrorism and drug-trafficking from Afghanistan. On many occasions we have called upon the international community, to try and warn them about Afghanistan and the need to create a security belt around it. Probably, the international community needed September 11." India, too, has a role in promoting stability and security in the region, he said.
The Joint Declaration signed by the two leaders here on Friday says the JWG would aid cooperation in combating organised crime, money laundering, illegal trafficking in weapons, international terrorism and other transnational crimes. "In this context, they reiterated that terrorism cannot be justified on any ground whatsoever. It must be condemned unambiguously and eradicated where it exists," the declaration stated.
For Tajikistan, India is "one of its strategic partners in Asia," President Rakhmonov said. Mr Vajpayee underscored the fact that the two countries need closer cooperation not simply because of the ancient historical links but in the current global context as well. In this context, both leaders "noted with satisfaction the increased bilateral contacts and the frequency of exchanges at political and senior officials levels between the two countries." India has opened a cultural centre in Dushanbe; Tajikistan has recently opened its Embassy in New Delhi. Apart from this direct flights are already operating between Delhi and Dushanbe since February 2003.
Tajikistan also expressed its support for India's membership of the Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO). "Noting India's geographical proximity and historical links with Central Asia, and its active participation on regional and global matters of cooperation, the Tajik side expressed its belief that India's membership of the SCO would add to the strength of that organisation when it decides to take a new member," the Joint Declaration said. The two sides agree that cooperation between Tajikistan and India would further the cause of peace and stability in Asia, and globally.
[url="http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=front%5Fpage&file_name=story3%2Etxt&counter_img=3"]http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?m...t&counter_img=3[/url]
India And Asia - Guest - 11-15-2003
I completely agree with Mr. Pashuram. If India cannot take military action then it must take covert action to displace anti-Indian factors.
Make Bangladesh a hunting ground for ISI and other terrorist orgs. India should follow its own example of "Moun Tor Jawab" as in Lahore and rest of Pakistan. I am clearly referring to mayhem being blamed on RAW by Pakis. Hey who am I to argue, if they we are behind it, then so be it.
India quickly needs to handle this situation beofre it becomes a nightmare for our children's future. Act today to save their tomorrow.
Gill :mad
India And Asia - Guest - 11-16-2003
India to base planes in Tajikistan
Engineers working to strengthen runway
quote : India is likely to station some aircraft at the Farkhor military base in Tajikistan, where Indian engineers are now working to strengthen a runway, aircraft pens and other facilities.
Details about the aircraft or personnel to be stationed at the base are not known but there is a possibility of India acquiring some assets from within the Central Asian region to be placed there. About 70 per cent of the equipment with Indian armed forces is of Soviet/Russian origin and nearly 100 per cent of that has commonality with what is used in the five Central Asian states.
[url="http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031115/main1.htm"]http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20031115/main1.htm[/url]
India And Asia - Guest - 11-16-2003
Another report comenting on the same but says this, quote :
The Farkhor base, also known as Ayni base, is the first Indian military base in foreign lands. That Tajikistan regards friendship with India equally important and comforting is indicated by the fact that it is just 10 km from the capital city of Dushanbe.
Ahhh?? DDM error we can plainly see from the above maps that Farkhor and Ayni are in two different places :
India extends strategic reach with Tajikistan base :
[url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_458250,00050004.htm"]http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_458...50,00050004.htm[/url]
India And Asia - Guest - 11-18-2003
Dont know if this is a shocker but 90% of indeginous population of Lakshadeep islands is now Muslim. Conversions are to blame. Also there is a high risk of ISI getting involved. Prior to Kargil there was a leak in Pakistan High Command where Pakistan was actually planning to annex these Islands. [Source: Read it some where on hard copy]
Hello Doctor,
The threat is not just from Islamic Terrorism, but also from Islamic nations in Indian Ocean. I will not name any nations, though their past record is evident of such analysis.
India requires to uprade its naval commitments by year 2006. Reason for such is a new shift in supply routes of energy to South East Asia. Indian Ocean will see an increase in martime traffic in coming years.
Air to air refueling, martime rec planes, a task force, nuclear powered subs, and possible off India naval base in region is a must. If these parameters are overlooked by policy makers, Indian Ocean will become a rowdy backyard for India.
Gill
Act today Save Their Tomorrow
India And Asia - Guest - 11-21-2003
Received via email:
BBC informs innocently:
Nine die in Bangladesh 'robbery'
[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3283491.stm"]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asi...sia/3283491.stm[/url]
Here are more details from The Bangladesh Observer that are missing in
the BBC report.
11 of same family roasted alive in Banshkhali
Bangladesh Observer
[url="http://www.bangladeshobserveronline.com//new/2003/11/20/front.htm"]http://www.bangladeshobserveronline.com//n...11/20/front.htm[/url]
CHITTAGONG, Nov 19: - Eleven members of same family, roasted alive in a
planned plot of arson by armbed robbers at village Southern Shadhanpur
under Banshkhali police station early today.
It was the worst case of arson in the known history in this part of the
country. Approximately four square kilometers minority-dominated
village turned to a place of horror. Most of the villagers have apparently
lost voice even to comment on the tragic incident.
None could give dependable information regarding possible reasons of
the arson. However, it is believed to have occurred as the sequel to old
hostility.
A group of men in the guise of bandits stormed the earthen two-storied
dwelling of Tejendra Lal Shushil shortly after zero hours on Wednesday.
Although, the attackers posed like bandits but they engaged their
efforts to trap the house inmates for materializing previously planned arson
instead of looting valuables.
The armed attackers ransacked the ground floor of the house and set it
on fire when the house inmates went upstairs for safety. They also
fired several gunshots as the neighbors attempted to rescue the trapped
house inmates.
Bimol Shushil (38) a village doctor and second son of Tejandra Lal
Shushil was the only survivor of the incident. He escaped fire by jumping
outside the blazing house and went into hiding inside a near by paddy
field. He also suffered fractures in his hands and legs.
Those trapped inside the blazing house were identified as Tejendra Lal
Shushil (70), her wife Bakul Shil (60), his son Anil Kanti Shushil
(42), wife of Onil, Sriti Rani Shil (34). Three daughters of Anil were Rumi
Shil (11), Sonia Shil (7), Kartika Shil (4 days). Three daughters of
Shachindra Shushil - Babuti Shil (25), Prashadi Shil (17), Any Shil (15)
and brother-in-law of Tejendra, Debendra Shushil.
Shachindra Shushil who claimed to have seen the whole tragedy almost
undone said that the attackers earlier attempted on the house twice but
could not succeed. âThe gunmen torched the house after spraying
something inflammable inside after disconnecting power link,â he told The
Bangladesh Observer.
None of the neighbors could raise voice against the attackers as the
gunmen fired several gunshots before their escape from the scene. The
villagers rushed to the house and began spraying water inside it as soon
as the gunners disappeared.
âEleven of the house inmates died when we went at their aid,â
Shachindra Shushil narrated bursting into tears. He also lost three of his
daughters in the incident. Eleven skeletons not bodies were taken out of the
destroyed house in the morning. None could identify the human remains
in person.
Only body of Smriti Rani Shil was taken to Chittagong Medical College
Hospital for autopsy.
Locals alleged that police did not rush the spot even after repeated
request from the villagers. The police traced none of the gunners till
the time of writing this report on Wednesday night.
Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, State Minister for Forest and
Environment Zafrul Islam Chowdhury, Inspector General of Police Shahudul
Haque, Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong Shafiqul Islam, Deputy
Inspector General (DIG) Abul Bashar and Superintendent of Police in Chittagong
Mahbubur Rahman visited spot.
Khaleda shocked: BSS adds: Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, now in
Makkah on Wednesday expressed shock at the loss of lives in a tragic
incident at village South Sadhanpur under Banshkhali upazila in Chittagong
and directed the authorities concerned to deal with culprits with an
iron hand.
On receipt of the information about the incident on Wednesday morning,
Begum Zia directed Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, State
Minister for Environment and Forest Zafrul Islam Chowdhury and Inspector
General of Police (IGP) to go to the spot instantly and inquire about the
incident and bring the culprits to book.
She said the people responsible for the incident must be found out
immediately and handed over to the law.
The Prime Minister prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls and
conveyed sympathy to members of the bereaved family.
Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, State Minister for Environment
and Forest Zafrul Islam Chowdhury and Inspector General of Police (IGP)
rushed to the spot following the Prime Ministerâs directive. They were
staying in Chittagong, according to the latest information received in
Dhaka tonight.
India And Asia - Guest - 11-21-2003
Posted by Rangudu on BR :
From [url="http://www.wps.ru"]http://www.wps.ru[/url]
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
India will deploy its air units near Dushanbe
17 November 2003
Dmitry Glumskov, Boris Volkhonsky
Kommersant, November 14, 2003, p. 10
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Russia finished on November 13. He arrived in Dushanbe right after his visit to Moscow. To all appearances, the creation of an Indian military base will become the main topic of negotiations in the Tajik capital.
A representative of the Indian Defense Ministry stated on November 13 that Delhi intends to create an airbase in the Aini village near Dushanbe. It should be noted that India has already spent $10 million on the reconstruction of the former Soviet military base, which Russia has not been using since 1985. According to the source, there will be two runways at the airbase - one for warplanes , and one for military-transport planes.
Pakistan is concerned about India's plans because the base is located close to Kashmir part of which de facto belongs to India, and the other part is controlled by Pakistan. The Indian Express states that this issue was raised during the Pakistani president's meeting with his Tajik counterpart in June.
An official representative of the Tajik Defense Ministry denied reports that India and Tajikistan reached an agreement to create the base. Meanwhile, sources in the Tajik Defense Ministry say that Tajikistan and India consider the possibility of signing such an agreement. However, they note that this is not a sensation because Indian warplanes have been using the Tajik airdrome in the Farhor village located on the Tajik-Afghan border for a long time. According to the protocol on military-technical cooperation dated 2001 the Indian Air Force uses this airdrome for refueling. However, the newspaper's sources say that several Indian warplanes are based on the airdrome.
To all appearances, the issue of the military base will become the key topic at negotiations of the Indian prime minister in Dushanbe. However, sources in the Tajik Defense Ministry say that the final decision will be made after discussing such prospects with all members of the Collective security treaty and the Shanghai organization of cooperation.
India And Asia - Guest - 11-25-2003
India gains new respect in Muslim world
By Sultan Shahin
NEW DELHI - Muslim diplomatic circles in Delhi are abuzz with new excitement. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's recent trip to Syria at a time when it is the target of attack from India's two closest allies, the United States and Israel, has convinced them that New Delhi is once again determined to pursue a foreign policy independent of the American worldview. Throughout his trip to Russia, Tajikistan and Syria, Vajpayee left no one in doubt that India has serious reservations about Washington's new foreign policy orientation of unilateral and illogical preemptive strikes in the Middle East.
While breaking their day-long fast at numerous Iftar parties in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Muslim, and particularly Arab diplomats, are privately musing with some surprise that contrary to apprehensions from a Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, India's relationship with the Muslim world has not only not worsened, it has actually improved. Indeed, it is thanks largely to consistent efforts made by this government that India can today count as friends and allies almost all the countries in the Muslim crescent that constitute the membership of the Organization of Islamic Conference.
If Arab diplomats are enthused at India's new-found non-alignment, following nearly three years of almost blindly following the US's lead in foreign affairs, they have a reason to be so. Coming as it did after the US-led war in Iraq and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visiting India a few months ago, the visit acquired particular significance as it triggered a lot of apprehension about Indian foreign policy orientation in the Arab mind.
Traveling as he was during Ramadan, a sacred month of fasting during which the Arab world comes to a virtual standstill, Vajpayee was something of a rare guest in Damascus, the Syrian capital. Naturally, the high point of his visit was a lavish Iftar banquet hosted by the young Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Vajpayee's mere presence in a Muslim country that the US has designated a sponsor of terror and Israel had attacked with missiles not long ago had its own significance. This courageous vote of confidence by traditional ally India in an Arab world that considers itself under siege was of tremendous significance for them.
Vajpayee's Syria visit affirmed that India and Syria want the United Nations to play a major role in Iraq, where the priority must be to restore security. A joint statement issued on Sunday said it was "vital that the Iraqi people take charge of their own destiny", and for the UN to "play a large role in the economic and political reconstruction of Iraq". India and Syria also called for the "implementation of a just, global and lasting peace in the Middle East", with Vajpayee stressing "India's support for the Palestinian and Syrian causes". The two countries also urged "effective cooperation in the struggle against international terrorism", adding that terror must not be linked to one religion in particular, apparently meaning Islam.
India and Syria also signed bilateral accords on technology, industry, culture and education, emphasizing that they are both keen to facilitate cooperation in information technology and biotechnology. The state-run Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC-Videsh) is expected to collaborate with Syrian companies to prospect for oil.
Before visiting Syria, Vajpayee went to Tajikistan on his present trip, stressing the high significance India attaches to Central Asia now. His visit has further strengthened India's strategic ties with Tajikistan. New Delhi's equation with President Emomali Rakhmanov's Tajik government is important in dealing with developments in Afghanistan and countering Muslim extremism in the whole of Central Asia. The visit follows Defense Minister George Fernandes' earlier Central Asian visit to build bridges with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, too, was in Tashkent earlier this month. His brief in Uzbekistan - spearheading the discourse on Central Asia organized by government-funded think tank Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis.
India's strategic foothold at the Aini air base near Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, is now confirmed. Fernandes had clinched the formal agreement on upgrading and use of the air base on an earlier visit to Tajikistan in April 2002. After Sri Lanka in the late 1980s, the Tajik facility at Aini is India's first air base outside its frontiers. It has now secured contracts in the Trincomalee harbor and Palaly airfield in Sri Lanka. Vajpayee recently proposed the extension of the link road from Chabahar Port in Iran to Kabul and thence via Kunduz in Badakshan (Afghanistan) to Tajikistan. This would give India additional access to Central Asia and Afghanistan.
One of the surprises that the Vajpayee administration has thrown at the diplomatic corps in Delhi is its ability to deal with Muslims of all hues and establish strategic ties with them. Be it secular Turkey or fundamentalist Iran, secular Malaysia or moderately Islamic Indonesia, India has not had difficulty in establishing and strengthening close strategic ties. Vajpayee and even Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani have traveled to a number of Muslim countries promoting India's traditional ties with them. And so have Sinha and Fernandes, among other senior ministers.
The ease with which the BJP leaders have dealt with Muslim leaders in various countries is astonishing to those who are aware of their background as alumni of the Rashtriya Swayamewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor and progenitor of all Hindu fundamentalist organizations in India. RSS ideologues have long believed in and have been waiting for the clash of civilizations. Almost 90 years before Samuel Huntington wrote his famous essay on the impending clash of civilizations and later developed it into a book with the same title, and decades before even the RSS was formally organized in 1925, Bipin Chandra Pal, a Hindu nationalist leader of India's freedom movement, had foreseen this clash among various civilizations and predicted that Hindu civilization will side with the Judeo-Christian West in its war against Islamic and Chinese civilizations.
Pal's essays and articles written almost a century ago make fascinating reading. A genuine thinker and visionary, Pal propounded his theories despite the fact that he considered the West as the greatest danger to humanity and was a great admirer of Islam's spiritual values. He thought that Islam was going to conquer large parts of the world, through its power of propaganda and not through war. He considered this inevitable. He was, however, scared of Islam's political manipulation. He foresaw the dangers of political Islam, which he considered an aberration. For, in his view, Islam is not only "extra-territorial" in its ideology, but also "extra-political".
In order to appreciate better the mindset and intellectual training the BJP leaders have received, we can do nothing better than read brief excerpts from some of Pal's original writings. Despite the archaic early 20th century prose style, these passages are quite exciting. In a collection of his essays entitled "Nationality and Empire", Pal writes under the sub-head Pan-Islamism and Pan-Mongolianism:
"This Pan-European combination [that we now call the West] will be a very serious menace to the non-European world. It will be bound to come into serious conflict with both Pan-Islamism and Pan-Mongolianism. If Europe can settle her internal jealousies betimes, she will be able to dominate easily both the Islamic and the Mongolian world. Nothing will prevent in that case the parceling out of the Muslim lands on the one side, and of China on the other. But that is not very likely. It will take, at least, as long a time for the European chancelleries to forget their past jealousies and present rivalries, as it will take for China, now that she has awakened from the sleep of ages, to put her own house in order and organize her leviathan strength to hold her own against all the world.
"The same thing is likely to happen in the Islamic world also; and the fall of Turkey in Europe will hasten this combination. It will not be an organized confederacy like that of China and Japan, but a far more dangerous, because more subtle, combination of the hearts of countless hordes who hold nothing so dear, neither land nor life, as their religion. And the real strength of this Pan-Islamic outburst will come from Egypt and India [which then included present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh], where it will be safe from the crushing weight of the Pan-European confederacy. England will not allow her European confederates to interfere with her own domestic affairs; such interference would break up the confederation at once. She will have to settle this Pan-Islamic problem, so far as it may affect her own dominions, herself."
Then describing where the danger for India will come from, he writes under the title "Our Real Danger". "And it is just here that our safety from this possible Pan-European combination also lies. Because of the British connection, India will have nothing to fear from any possible combination of the European powers. The same is also true of Egypt, though perhaps in a lesser degree. Our real menace will come not from Europe but from Asia, not from Pan-Europeanism but from Pan-Islamism and Pan-Mongolianism. These dangers are, however, common, both to India and Egypt and Great Britain. To provide against it, Great Britain will have to find and work out a satisfactory and permanent settlement of the Indian and the Egyptian problem, and we, on our part, will have also to come to some rational compromise with her. British statesmanship must recognize the urgent and absolute need of fully satisfying the demands of Indian and Egyptian nationalism, and India and Egypt will have to frankly accept the British connection - which is different from British subjection - as a necessary condition of their national life and freedom. To wantonly seek to break up this connection, while it will only hurt Great Britain, may positively kill every chance and possibility of either Indian or Egyptian nationalism ever realizing itself."
Predicting and pleading the need for the alliance of the West and India, he writes under the sub-head "Our True Safety". "Indian nationalism in any case, has, I think, really no fear of being permanently opposed or crippled by Great Britain. On the contrary, the British connection can alone offer its effective protection against both the Pan-Islamic and the Pan-Mongolianism menace. As long as we had to consider Great Britain alone or any other European Power for the matter of that, while thinking of the future of Indian nationalism, the problem was comparatively simple and easy. But now we have to think if China on the one hand, and of the new Pan-Islamic danger on the other. The 60 millions of Mahomedans in India, if inspired with Pan-Islamic aspirations, joined to the Islamic principalities and powers that stand both to our West and our northwest, may easily put an end to all our nationalist aspirations, almost at any moment, if the present British connection be severed.
"The four-hundred millions of the Chinese empire can, not only gain an easy footing in India, but once that footing is gained, they are the only people under the sun who can hold us down by sheer superior physical force. There is no other people who can do this. This awakening of China is, therefore, a very serious menace - in the present condition of our country, without an organized and trained army and a powerful navy of our own - to the maintenance of any isolated, though sovereign, independence of the Indian people. Even if we are able to gain it, we shall never be able to keep it, in the face of this Pan-Islamic and Pan-Mongolian menace. And when one considers these terrible possibilities of the world situation as it is slowly evolving before one's eyes, one is forced to recognize the absolute need of keeping up the British connection in the interest of Indian nationalism itself, for the very simple and sufficient reason that there is absolutely much greater chance of this nationalism fully realizing itself with rather than without this connection."
That politicians trained in this paranoid school of thought are finding it possible to come to terms with not only the Muslim world, but also China, is a tribute to their flexibility and adaptability. What has happened in the last year to bring about this metamorphosis in BJP leaders' mindset? Until last year they were pursuing a policy dictated by their political philosophy - wary of China and the Muslim world, they were simply kowtowing the West.
I do not presume to know the answer. But I can hazard a guess. What may have apprised them of the reality of the situation and expunged the influence of ideology is the world's reactions to the events in Gujarat. About 2,000 Muslims were killed and a 100,000 rendered homeless, the whole of central Gujarat cleansed of their presence, following the killing of 59 Hindus in a train compartment that was burned down, presumably by Muslims. From all accounts these anti-Muslim massacres were either organized, or at least encouraged by the BJP government of Gujarat.
This was the first large-scale mass murder in India in the age of electronic media and human rights activists. Word and images wend around and the world came to know of it. A strange thing happened. From the RSS point of view, neither China nor a single Muslim country protested. BJP politicians had to face a lot of flak. But all of it came from the West, either European governments or Western and Third World liberals trained in the West.
This may have shattered in the Hindutva mind the myth of a Muslim ummah, a world Muslim community. This myth had persisted in their mind against all evidence to the contrary presented to them by scholars from around the world. This may have also removed from their minds the fear of a clash between an alliance of Islamic and Chinese civilizations on the one hand ranged against the Hindu and Judeo-Christian civilizations on the other. If this is indeed what has happened, Gujarat may well have served a good purpose. Good can indeed come out of evil too.
India gains new respect in Muslim world
India And Asia - Guest - 11-25-2003
<!--QuoteBegin-rhytha+Nov 24 2003, 01:00 PM-->QUOTE(rhytha @ Nov 24 2003, 01:00 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> India gains new respect in Muslim world
By Sultan Shahin
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I hope this is carrot & stick......Indian eshtyle!
India And Asia - Guest - 11-25-2003
ABV's master stroke is really excellent. He became PM at very late in his life but still ....
India And Asia - Guest - 12-04-2003
The Pioneer, Nov 29, 2003
<b>Toughness pays</b>
Francois Gautier
http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_...t&counter_img=1
Have you ever taken an El Al flight from Mumbai? The security is drastic:
You are asked a hundred questions by young men and women, Indians, but of
Jewish origin, whose parents emigrated from the first century onwards after
the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, to find refuge in India where
they prospered and lived in peace till many of them went back to Israel in
1948 (indeed, India is probably the only country in the world where Jews
have not been persecuted).
Why did I visit Israel? Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of the 144
countries-wide Art of Living movement, had been invited by the Government
of Israel, thanks to the efforts of Rabbi Cooper and Dr Balitzer from
Wisenthal, US-based foundation. All along our trip Rabbi Cooper and Dr
Balitzer proved invaluable. I was tagging along because I have always
believed that India and Israel have to come together. For 40 years after
Independence, India did not have relations with Israel. Yet, India and
Israel have much in common - both can learn a lot from each other. Like
Indians, Israelis are one of those "elected people of God" - of whom Sri
Aurobindo speaks in his book the Hour of God - who have managed to keep
their spirituality alive in spite of oppressions, invasions and genocides.
Indians and Israelis also share a serious problem with Muslim
fundamentalists. And India could learn a few lessons from the way Israel
handles this problem, however much it is criticised by the Western media.
Unlike India, which since Independence has chosen to deal with this problem
in the Gandhian spirit, that is, by compromising most of the time with
Islamic intransigence (if not giving in); Israel has showed that toughness
first, followed by negotiations, pays better. Basically, the concept of
"land for money" is something that India could learn from: In 1967, Israel
was under threat of getting engulfed by its fanatical neighbours, so it
stole the initiative by crushing them in a lightning Six-Day War and kept
some land which it used later as bargaining chips with Egypt and Syria.
FACT (Forum Against Continuing Terrorism), which I launched this year, was
taking to Israel an exhibition on Kashmiri Pandits, one of the biggest
genocides of the 20th century at the hands of Islamic terrorism, to see how
it could be put up at different places in Israel to create public awareness
there. Because of the hostility of Arab countries to Israel, El Al cannot
overfly any of them and a journey which should take four hours takes,
instead, seven hours, nearly the same time as a flight to Europe. We landed
in Tel Aviv early in the morning. Tel Aviv is a modern city on the
Mediterranean coast. It is much more relaxed than Jerusalem, as it is less
subject than the capital to suicide attacks. People there speak several
languages, girls look gorgeous and the affable Indian ambassador, Mr
Raminder Jassal, who has done so much to improve Israeli-relations, hosted
for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a gracious meeting with the Indian community in
Israel.
The drive from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is short, but the impressions are
striking: The landscape is dry, rocky and arid and one wonders whether this
land is worth fighting for. But Jerusalem is a beautiful city, perched on a
hill, all constructed in white stone. As we arrived, the city was shining
against the setting sun of a cool November evening. The King David Hotel,
whe-re we stayed, is probably one of the most beautiful hotels in West
Asia:
Old world, stately and entirely furnished in mahogany. It also has a
history of violence, as it once housed British troops and was bombed by Jewish
activists. The rooms offer a view of the old city of Jerusalem and
everything looked so peaceful.
Peaceful? Not really: As soon as you step out, you can feel fear: Suicide
bombers can strike any time, anywhere and our security would not even allow
our car to stop near a bus, for fear of it being blown up! It is Friday
evening and we went to the Wailing Wall on this most holy Shabbat day. It
is an impressive sight: Hundreds of young men and women, in ancient velvet
black coats and funny fur hats, locks falling one each side, face the wall
swaying back and forth while chanting an age old prayer that their
forefathers have repeated for centuries. Sri Sri too touched the wall
reverentially and concentrated for a few minutes: Two very ancient
spiritualities met.
As in Ayodhya, Muslims have placed their mosque on the most sacred space of
the Jews, exactly where their ancient temple was built. The golden mosque
stands there as a perpetual taunt, as an unending _expression of aggression.
After the Seven-Day War, the Israelis control the entire area. But it
remains very tense: As a mark of respect to Islam, we want to meditate in
the mosque, but we are facing the wrong direction and the imam takes
objection when he sees the rishi from India in a dhoti and kurta with long
flowing beard and tells our security men that "Infidels" are not allowed to
worship there. Luckily there are not many faithful at this time and an
incident is avoided.
We met a number of dignitaries. The President of Israel, a soft-spoken
gentleman, who is very worried about the Palestinians suicide bombers - "No
religion condones that kind of barbaric act," he told us; the mayor of
Jerusalem, who proudly showed us the magnificent view of Jerusalem from his
office terrace; Mr Shimon Peres, Nobel Prize winner and Israel's best known
face, who preaches tolerance - but even he condemns the suicide bombers; or
the deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Sherenzki, a well-known dissenter
from the erstwhile Soviet Union who is seen as a hawk by observers, but
appears very gentle to us.
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talked about all the marvellous work his volunteers
are doing amongst India's poor villages: Bringing housing, hygiene, human
values, and harmony in diversity. He also speaks about the stress and
post-trauma Art of Living courses - a combination of pranayama, meditation
and relaxing techniques - done to great success in Iraq and Bosnia, and how
they could also be taught in Palestine and Israel. When asked about
terrorism, Sri Sri said: "The problem is that children should be taught a
little about each religion, so that they develop a broader perspective." If
the Taliban had known even a little about the Buddha, he added, they would
not have destroyed the Bamian statues.
<b>I was surprised to note that whenever I mentioned Kashmir, neither of our
interlocutors blinked: Kashmir did not mean anything to them, although it
faces more or less the same problem that Israel does at the hands of the
Arabs</b>. Even, Mr Sherenzki, the Deputy Prime Minister, looked blank. That is
when I realised that an exhibition on Kashmiri Pandits had to come up and
we arranged for two venues, one in Tel Aviv, with the possibility of it coming
up also at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem. We thus left
with a sense that so much more has to be done so that Indian and Israel,
two ancient people sharing some of the same spiritual, cultural and
contemporary problems, really start understanding each other.
India And Asia - Guest - 12-04-2003
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1031204/asp/...ory_2641976.asp
THE TELEGRAPH, DECEMBER 4, 2003
India proposes, Indonesia harasses
By K.P. Nayar
Jakarta, Dec. 3: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has met Indonesia's president five times in the last three years, but this country's response to his extended hand of friendship is to treat Indians like common criminals.
Vajpayee signed a framework agreement for free trade with the entire Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) amid great fanfare and publicity in Bali barely two months ago and proposed an open skies policy for all Asean airlines.
Indonesia's response has been to bracket India along with some of the world's outlaw nations such as Somalia, North Korea, Albania and Afghanistan. Even before the ink dried on Vajpayee's signature in Bali, the Indonesians sent out a clear message that Indian businessmen are not wanted here â free trade or no free trade.
For over a month now, passports and return or onward air tickets of Indians arriving here for business, tourism or anything else are routinely seized by immigration officials at the airport and sent to the directorate general for immigration in the city.
The hapless Indians have to trudge to that office, wait in queues along with illegal immigrants and other similar offenders or grease the palms of Indonesia's notoriously corrupt officials at that office to retrieve their passports and tickets in order to get out of the country â more often than not with relief.
Among the victims of such humiliating treatment a few days ago was an Indian working for the UN and his wife.
The Indonesian government's action has revived memories of the high-handed detention of Arun Jain, chairman and chief executive of Chennai-based Polaris Software Lab Ltd., by owners of a local bank at their headquarters last year with the support of Jakarta police.
Polaris officials were threatened by executives of Bank Artha Graha who brandished a gun in their effort to extort $10 million from the Indian company, sources here said.
External affairs minister Yashwant Sinha and the rest of South Block came down like a ton of bricks and made it clear to the Indonesian government at very high levels then that it would not put up with such gangsterism against Indians and consequently Jain and his colleagues were released amid bad publicity for Indonesia in the media across South East Asia. But New Delhi's firm message to Jakarta appears to have had a short life.
According to sources here, Indonesia's foreign ministry would like the ongoing harassment and humiliation of Indians to stop. So far, it has resisted pressure from the rest of the Indonesian government to stop the entry of Indians into Indonesia altogether â even if they have valid visas.
But the hands of foreign ministry officials are tied beyond a point and the decision to designate India along with 19 other countries as "sensitive" has been taken "elsewhere, much higher up".
Consequently, India, contrary to its recent claims as an emerging global power, finds itself in the category of Tonga, Tanzania, Cameroon, Iraq, Ethiopia, Cuba, Angola and Bangladesh, to name some of the countries designated by the government here as "sensitive".
One explanation here is that Indonesia, buffeted by a rising tide of Islamic terror, is under pressure from Washington to get its act together and was asked by the Americans to keep an eye, among others, on Pakistani visitors.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>The Indonesians concluded, sources here said, that designating Pakistanis as undesirable visitors would be politically incorrect unless the same treatment was meted out to Indians as well.</span> <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:grenade--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/grenade.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='grenade.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Apparently, for the same reasons of political correctness and as a concession to Muslim sensitivity, Israel was also included in the list of 20 "sensitive" countries for immigration purposes.
The humiliation for all Indian passport-holders apart, Jakarta's action has been particularly hard on Indian businessmen in the Gulf, who do considerable trade with Indonesia, men who usually stop over here on business for no more than a day on their way to Japan, Singapore or another Asian country.
India And Asia - Guest - 12-12-2003
India to send commandos to Afghanistan
India is to send crack commandos to protect Indian installations in Afghanistan, days after two Indian road workers were kidnapped by Taliban militia... <!--emo&:cool--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->"The kidnapping of the two Indians is a signal to India from the Taliban and the <b>pro-Pakistan </b>lobby," former Indian special envoy to Afghanistan, S K Lambah said. "They want to discourage our people from going and working there," he added<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
India And Asia - Guest - 12-12-2003
This is called India's rope around Pakistan neck. Pakistan is forcing India to get involved in Afghanistan security and will force India to have its base in Afghanistan.