10-10-2003, 11:43 PM
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This is cut and paste from post #1 on sulekha newshopper..
[url="http://www.sulekha.com/hoppercomments.asp?cid=318924"]Worry on Arab Street[/url]
When a Pakistan-sponsored anti-India resolution is passed at the Islamic countries' summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 12, India will be watching closely. Not so much for Pakistan's antics, which are a foregone conclusion, but to see whether the Arab and other Muslim countries that claim close relations with India pose any opposition.
The summit will also be an opportunity for India to call to account Arab and Muslim countries that had publicly expressed shock and dismay over the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India in September and over the change in India's foreign policy in the Middle East, from a blindly pro-Arab stance to an intensified engagement with Israel. They were anxious about losing India after half a century of support to the Palestine cause. "What really worried us was not the visit itself, but the euphoria with which Sharon was greeted, making Israel out to be a 'normal' state and Sharon just any other prime minister," said a visibly distressed Arab ambassador. "We felt terribly out of place," said another. According to Arab diplomats, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee's recent visit to Turkey only added fuel to conspiracy theories of an India-Israel-Turkey axis on the Arab street.
In turn, Delhi points to a growing body of anti-India resolutions sponsored by Pakistan at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) every year, which the Arab countries agree to. It smacks of Arab indifference to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and is the surest sign of faultlines between the Arab-Muslim world and India. Says former foreign secretary J.N. Dixit: "Most Arab countries have ties with Israel and are allied with the US, which is Israel's greatest friend. India's relations with Israel are a response to new political realities."
For years, the Arab countries took India's support for granted. India supplied cheap labour and received oil and expatriate labour remittances that helped its economy. In return, it supported the Arab cause in Palestine and swallowed anti-India resolutions on Kashmir year after year. From Sudan to Iran, India's interests in the Arab world encompassed these key issues.
Then in 2000, the Sheikh Zayed Centre in Abu Dhabi suggested ways in which Arab countries could deal with an India that had defence relations with Israel. Since then, Indian officials say, the Arabs have more or less followed these ideas, ensuring India is kept on the defensive. Sharon's visit, coming even as peace collapsed in the Middle East, was India's way of saying it refused to apologise for its relations with Israel, say top-level Indian sources. The Arab governments backed down in the face of Indian determination, saying they were "satisfied" with India's criticism of Israel's treatment of Yasser Arafat, made immediately after the visit.
But differences persist. While some Gulf states like Kuwait, Qatar and Oman are improving ties with India, Saudi Arabia and Egypt remain problem areas. As the Arab countries grapple with India's overt policy turnaround, there seems to be a renewed determination on both sides to chart out a better India-Arab relationship. Several factors need to be considered here. First, there is a definite Arab-weariness in India that is hard to miss by these countries. It is visible in India's harangue on the OIC resolutions that Pakistan seems to breeze through the Islamic body. The Arab "explanations" that OIC resolutions don't reflect Muslim countries' ties with India "do not wash", say senior Indian officials. The OIC's refusal to acknowledge India's huge Muslim population also rankles. So while Russia is set to get an observer status in the OIC this year, India's turn appears light years away.
Both sides feel the India-Arab ties have slipped into dormancy, with the two talking past each other. There are four million Indians in Arab countries remitting about $8 billion (Rs 37,000 crore) annually back home. Yet, when was the last time India showed such enthusiasm for a visiting Arab leader? ask Arab diplomats. Indian officials retort, "When was the last time a major Arab leader visited India?"
Things are about to change. India is ready to increase its engagement with the Arab world, beginning with a first-ever visit by a Saudi business delegation on October 12, and ending with a Gulf Cooperation Council-India trade summit in February. Among others expected to visit India are the prime minister of Bahrain and Prince Talal bin Abdelaziz al Saud, the brother of the Saudi King Fahd. Vajpayee will stop over in Syria en route to Russia during Ramadan, while President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will visit the UAE and Sudan in October. Last week, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha conducted the first political dialogue with the GCC on the margins of the un General Assembly, and India and Oman will have a hush-hush meeting of a "strategic consultative group" on October 17. In December, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh might travel to Saudi Arabia to revive a joint commission that last met in 1994.
That's the good news. There remain irritants that have potentially destabilising consequences. The Saudi support to Wahabbi groups, some of which indulge in anti-India terrorism, is a big issue, as is its support to Pakistan and silence on terrorism in Kashmir. Last year, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan protested loudly when Qatar proposed India's entry in the OIC as an observer. Nevertheless, fresh winds are blowing there too. The kingdom publicly condemned the recent Mumbai blasts-a first. On Gujarat too, the Saudis and others maintained a studied silence, refusing to pressure India with criticism. Over the past few years, the Gulf states say they have taken several steps sensitive to non-Muslims. The UAE has earmarked cremation grounds for Hindus and Sikhs, while Oman has allowed construction of Hindu temples, while several Sikh gurdwaras pepper other Arab states.
In 2002, Sudan told Jaswant Singh, the then foreign minister, that it wanted to support India in the OIC. But it was Qatar which stole the show by proposing India's nomination as observer. This year, India is encouraged by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's proposal to lift the OIC out of its "moribund, irrelevant" state. The bet in South Block is on whether Qatar performs an encore.
This is cut and paste from post #1 on sulekha newshopper..
[url="http://www.sulekha.com/hoppercomments.asp?cid=318924"]Worry on Arab Street[/url]
When a Pakistan-sponsored anti-India resolution is passed at the Islamic countries' summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 12, India will be watching closely. Not so much for Pakistan's antics, which are a foregone conclusion, but to see whether the Arab and other Muslim countries that claim close relations with India pose any opposition.
The summit will also be an opportunity for India to call to account Arab and Muslim countries that had publicly expressed shock and dismay over the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to India in September and over the change in India's foreign policy in the Middle East, from a blindly pro-Arab stance to an intensified engagement with Israel. They were anxious about losing India after half a century of support to the Palestine cause. "What really worried us was not the visit itself, but the euphoria with which Sharon was greeted, making Israel out to be a 'normal' state and Sharon just any other prime minister," said a visibly distressed Arab ambassador. "We felt terribly out of place," said another. According to Arab diplomats, Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee's recent visit to Turkey only added fuel to conspiracy theories of an India-Israel-Turkey axis on the Arab street.
In turn, Delhi points to a growing body of anti-India resolutions sponsored by Pakistan at the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) every year, which the Arab countries agree to. It smacks of Arab indifference to Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and is the surest sign of faultlines between the Arab-Muslim world and India. Says former foreign secretary J.N. Dixit: "Most Arab countries have ties with Israel and are allied with the US, which is Israel's greatest friend. India's relations with Israel are a response to new political realities."
For years, the Arab countries took India's support for granted. India supplied cheap labour and received oil and expatriate labour remittances that helped its economy. In return, it supported the Arab cause in Palestine and swallowed anti-India resolutions on Kashmir year after year. From Sudan to Iran, India's interests in the Arab world encompassed these key issues.
Then in 2000, the Sheikh Zayed Centre in Abu Dhabi suggested ways in which Arab countries could deal with an India that had defence relations with Israel. Since then, Indian officials say, the Arabs have more or less followed these ideas, ensuring India is kept on the defensive. Sharon's visit, coming even as peace collapsed in the Middle East, was India's way of saying it refused to apologise for its relations with Israel, say top-level Indian sources. The Arab governments backed down in the face of Indian determination, saying they were "satisfied" with India's criticism of Israel's treatment of Yasser Arafat, made immediately after the visit.
But differences persist. While some Gulf states like Kuwait, Qatar and Oman are improving ties with India, Saudi Arabia and Egypt remain problem areas. As the Arab countries grapple with India's overt policy turnaround, there seems to be a renewed determination on both sides to chart out a better India-Arab relationship. Several factors need to be considered here. First, there is a definite Arab-weariness in India that is hard to miss by these countries. It is visible in India's harangue on the OIC resolutions that Pakistan seems to breeze through the Islamic body. The Arab "explanations" that OIC resolutions don't reflect Muslim countries' ties with India "do not wash", say senior Indian officials. The OIC's refusal to acknowledge India's huge Muslim population also rankles. So while Russia is set to get an observer status in the OIC this year, India's turn appears light years away.
Both sides feel the India-Arab ties have slipped into dormancy, with the two talking past each other. There are four million Indians in Arab countries remitting about $8 billion (Rs 37,000 crore) annually back home. Yet, when was the last time India showed such enthusiasm for a visiting Arab leader? ask Arab diplomats. Indian officials retort, "When was the last time a major Arab leader visited India?"
Things are about to change. India is ready to increase its engagement with the Arab world, beginning with a first-ever visit by a Saudi business delegation on October 12, and ending with a Gulf Cooperation Council-India trade summit in February. Among others expected to visit India are the prime minister of Bahrain and Prince Talal bin Abdelaziz al Saud, the brother of the Saudi King Fahd. Vajpayee will stop over in Syria en route to Russia during Ramadan, while President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will visit the UAE and Sudan in October. Last week, Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha conducted the first political dialogue with the GCC on the margins of the un General Assembly, and India and Oman will have a hush-hush meeting of a "strategic consultative group" on October 17. In December, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh might travel to Saudi Arabia to revive a joint commission that last met in 1994.
That's the good news. There remain irritants that have potentially destabilising consequences. The Saudi support to Wahabbi groups, some of which indulge in anti-India terrorism, is a big issue, as is its support to Pakistan and silence on terrorism in Kashmir. Last year, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan protested loudly when Qatar proposed India's entry in the OIC as an observer. Nevertheless, fresh winds are blowing there too. The kingdom publicly condemned the recent Mumbai blasts-a first. On Gujarat too, the Saudis and others maintained a studied silence, refusing to pressure India with criticism. Over the past few years, the Gulf states say they have taken several steps sensitive to non-Muslims. The UAE has earmarked cremation grounds for Hindus and Sikhs, while Oman has allowed construction of Hindu temples, while several Sikh gurdwaras pepper other Arab states.
In 2002, Sudan told Jaswant Singh, the then foreign minister, that it wanted to support India in the OIC. But it was Qatar which stole the show by proposing India's nomination as observer. This year, India is encouraged by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's proposal to lift the OIC out of its "moribund, irrelevant" state. The bet in South Block is on whether Qatar performs an encore.