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:: DIPLOMACY |
Not by Musharraf alone
After the Mumbai blasts and the meandering investigations by the government, one thing stands out. India has no easy options in dealing with either of the twin challenges that confront the nation — terrorism and relations with Pakistan.
Text of Yasuhi Akashi's interview
Tokyo, July 25 (IANS) Following is the text of the interview given by Yasushi Akashi, Japan's special envoy to Sri Lanka, to IANS Deputy Editor M.R. Narayan Swamy:
Japan urges India to play 'influential role' in Sri Lanka
Tokyo, July 25 (IANS) Japan's special envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, has urged India to play a "more influential role" in the island nation's tottering peace process.
Japan hints at 'tangible measures' against LTTE
Tokyo, July 24 (IANS) Fearing Sri Lanka is on the verge of a full-scale war, Japan is seriously considering taking "tangible measures" against the Tamil Tigers. But before that, Japan's special envoy to Sri Lanka, Yasushi Akashi, will travel to the island to see if Colombo and the Tigers can return to the negotiating table, somehow.
How Much Will India Endure?
Pakistan Needs to Respond to Militants
Yesterday's awful rush-hour bombings of trains in Bombay raise an important and ominous question: How far can India be pushed?
A deal between democracies
It’s become a cliche‚ to speak of the US-India relationship as a bond between the world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy. A cliche, but also a fact. Shared political values are the foundation for this relationship—but if that were the whole story, it wouldn’t have taken us six decades to get to where we are now.
Winners still in denial
Don’t obsess over the nuke deal’s text. Read it for the big idea on India
As I worked the international seminar circuit in recent weeks travelling from Beijing to Washington and from Tokyo to Berlin to New York, there was one running headline and a big new idea.
Towards the endgame in Nepal
The sooner a U.N. mission is in place to monitor the arms of the Nepal Army and Maoist PLA, the smoother will be the transition towards an interim government and Constituent Assembly elections.
EVENTS IN Nepal have moved so rapidly these past few weeks that King Gyanendra's April proclamation restoring parliament seems to belong to another political universe.
"We have to reconstruct our society"
Afghanistan's Urban Development Minister on the challenges his country faces.
Mohammad Yusof Pashtun is the Minister for Urban Development of Afghanistan. He is an engineer, architect, and town planner by training. In 1982 he fled to Pakistan after he was released from jail and lived in Quetta. He returned to Afghanistan only to leave again in 1995 when the Taliban took over. After the war he returned once again and joined the Transitional Government.
Riding the Sri Lanka tiger
The recent suicide attack by a suspected LTTE member, which killed the Sri Lankan army deputy chief of staff, has put more pressure on India to become an active participant in the Sri Lankan peace process. The inexorable slide into a civil war highlights the failure of the Norwegian brokered talks of 2002 and the ineffectiveness of international mediation.
General View from US Changing
Pakistan's military regime might take comfort in the Bush administration’s support for reinstating the $ 300 million in U.S. aid cut by the American Congress due to Pakistan’s inadequate efforts for establishing democracy and respecting human rights.
Tigers make a new move, but stripes are the same
New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) The Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers' bid to shake hands with India and to invite it to play a greater role in the island's virtually dead peace process is another qualitative leap by a never-say-die insurgent outfit that remains irrevocably wedded to the cause of forming an independent Tamil Eelam state.
As Sri Lanka boils, India faces daunting challenges
New Delhi, June 25 (IANS) Four years after Norway brokered an unprecedented truce, India is battling major strategic and foreign policy challenges, with Sri Lanka seemingly sliding towards an inevitable war.
The vote for India
India prides itself on having made democracy distinctively Indian. Can it now isolate and package its features for export?
It was a disorienting start to a conference on India. Deliberations on ‘The State of India’s Democracy’ at Indiana University in the small US town of Bloomington recently were kicked off by a lecture on democracy-building in Iraq.
India yet to endorse UN role in Nepal
NEW DELHI, May 29: As the Government in Nepal prepares to invite the UN into the peace process with the Maoists, India is yet to make up its mind on the timing and the nature of the external involvement in the Himalayan nation. The 25-point code of conduct signed by the Government and the Maoists last Friday agreed to call upon the UN to monitor the ceasefire.
A quick step forward in Sino-Indian ties
As China and India grow in economic and strategic importance, what is needed is a genuine attempt towards mutual accommodation that would take into account shifting geopolitical power plays. The MoU signed on defence matters could be a sign of things to come.
THE COMPLEX courtship dance of Sino-Indian relations took a quick step forward on Monday with Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee signing an MoU with his Chinese counterpart General Cao Gangchuan in Beijing.
‘A Security Council without India cannot be legitimate’
In this article, exclusive to The Indian Express, the British Prime Minister argues that growing interdependence in the 21st century, brought on by globalisation, necessitates a change in the international institutional architecture
There is universal agreement now that that the characteristic of the modern world is interdependence. But we haven’t yet had time to think through its consequences or understood that the international rule book has been ripped up.
India is a major partner and world power: French diplomat
New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) India is no longer trapped in florid clichés of Bollywood, spiritual nirvana and spices but is increasingly seen as "a major partner and power in the world," says Anne Vidal de la Blache, director of France's leading institute that trains diplomats.
Prabhakaran's pride: Or why he refused to meet Akashi
(COMMENTARY)
Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's curt refusal to meet Japan's special envoy Yasushi Akashi is a well thought out public snub that will not surprise those who have seen the Tigers grow from a ragtag group to be the world's most powerful insurgent outfit. Pride, dignity and self-respect are immensely important to Prabhakaran and closely linked to the struggle for Tamil Eelam, even if others consider the goal a mirage.
Taliban regrouping in Afghanistan
Kabul, May 1 (IANS) Four years after being ousted from power by the US-led coalition, the hardline Taliban militia is regrouping in eastern and southern Afghanistan and even finding support among locals. Lately, there has been a spate of skirmishes and attacks on the coalition forces and the Afghan government by the Taliban, the latest being the kidnapping and brutal murder of Indian telecom engineer K. Suryanarayana Sunday.
Why Manmohan is in Uzbekistan
Tashkent, April 26 (IANS) Forty years after Lal Bahadur Shashri died in this city following the signing of a historic agreement with then Pakistan president Ayub Khan, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh comes to a different country in a different time -- when this Central Asian nation has emerged out of the shadows of the former Soviet Union and become an arena of power rivalries.
Dialogue needs a common language
When Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke recently of a “treaty of peace, security and friendship” with Pakistan, he inadvertently highlighted the different visions of India-Pakistan relations prevailing in Delhi and Islamabad. India sees normalization as a means of addressing disputes and issues that have proved intractable over more than five decades. Pakistan, on the other hand, continues to insist that normalization would be the end result, rather than the means, of resolving disputes, especially the Kashmir question.
‘Congress proposals can be deal breakers, but we are not going to allow that’
• What happened in Vienna? Critics say there was no breakthrough.
We were not expecting to convince people in the first meeting. We started a very serious and constructive discussion with the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Some of them had already expressed themselves in favor. So we have countries like France and Britain and Russia, large countries, who are in favor.
Secure India, sensitive India?
US President George Bush’s visit to India has been termed as historic. The US administration’s decision to make an exception to the NPT and change its domestic laws to accommodate India reflects a radical rethink in Washington. India has been recognised as a rising power and is now clearly the sixth pole in the global balance-of-power system, along with USA, the EU, Russia, Japan and China.
Our Opportunity With India
The week before last President Bush concluded a historic agreement on civilian nuclear cooperation with India, a rising democratic power in a dynamic Asia. This agreement is a strategic achievement: It will strengthen international security.
Bush, India, and two degrees of separation
Thanks to public debate and hard bargaining, our scientists have had many of their technical concerns addressed. But India must resist U.S. pressure to link the nuclear deal to any wider strategic realignment.
India, U.S. reaffirm commitment to expand ties
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush express satisfaction with progress in advancing strategic partnership.
Just a nano-second, Mr President
President Bush arrives at a time when a big push is critical to take Indo-US economic relations to a new trajectory. The Bush visit has come within seven months of the historic Singh-Bush summit in Washington. Expectations have heightened on the economic front and should not be allowed to be overshadowed by the narrower issue of nuclear fuel supply or fast breeder reactors.
BETWEEN FRIENDS
- India cannot ignore the link between Pakistan and the US
The delightful double entendre of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari’s comment as Union home minister to a visiting Afghan premier in January 1951 could be repeated next week to George W. Bush. “It is no secret that our foreign policy holds Indo-Afghan friendship to be essential; and when we two are bound in friendship we will squeeze anyone in between in the same embrace of affection — a pincer movement for peace, so to speak,” Rajaji said wickedly.
How much longer can General Musharraf last?
A key ally of Washington in the "war on terror", Pakistan appears to
be headed by a benign modernizer who stands as a bulwark against
religious extremism in this strategically vital region. In the sprawling
capital, Islamabad, the institutions of state sit in white marble
palaces, the wheels of government appear to function, boys
play cricket in every available green space.
Arabian nights in Delhi (COMMENTARY)
The dynamic needs of statecraft and the changing texture of international politics generate the strangest of bedfellows. The world has been amazed by the coming together of diametrically opposed and diehard adversaries when circumstances warranted it. Images of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shaking hands with PLO leader Yasser Arafat in Washington in September 1993 or of British Prime Minister Tony Blair doing the same with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli in March 2004 are living proofs of the old aphorism that diplomacy is the art of the possible.
Coming to terms with nuclear regime change
Reviled by some in India as the "ayatollahs of non-proliferation,"Michael Kreponof the Stimson Center andLeonard Spectorof the Centre for Nonproliferation Studies are leading the charge against the Indo-U.S. nuclear agreement in Washington. In an interview during a recent visit to Delhi, they spoke about the reasons for their opposition. Excerpts:
Separation is not rocket science
The recent high-level technical discussion between India and the US on the Indo-US nuclear agreement seems to have run into some difficulties. The differences between the two sides hinge mainly on the separation plan that had been suggested by India. Reports suggest that the US is unhappy with the meagre list of facilities offered by India for safeguards by IAEA as well as with the omission of the fast breeder programme from the list. IAEA’s safeguards apply to facilities and materials and therefore go beyond only reactors and would include conversion facilities and enrichment plants. India’s only enrichment plant is meant for the Indian nuclear submarine programme and clearly being military in nature would not be expected to be placed under safeguards. However, for the moment we shall consider only reactors.
The importance of the House of Saud
When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets King Abdullah today in New Delhi’s Hyderabad House, it would be safe to bet that the Saudi delegation would have more PhDs and Ivy League degrees than the Indian, even after counting the doctorates of the prime minister and his media adviser.
India, China and the Asian axis of oil
The new Sino-Indian partnership could serve as the foundation for an Asian Energy Union and much more.
South Asia in deep freeze
The big chill that has descended on North India has also begun to engulf India’s relations with her key neighbours. India’s emerging difficulties in the neighbourhood also threaten to mar the big bash that New Delhi is planning for President George Bush in a few weeks’ time.
Bhutan crown prince warns of 'uncertain future' in democracy
Guwahati, Dec 30 (IANS) Bhutan's crown prince, who is set to become king in two years, has warned of an "uncertain future" if citizens shirked their responsibilities when the nation shifts from monarchy to a democracy.
Norway to have new peace envoy, with Solheim on top
New Delhi, Dec 29 (IANS) Norway is going to name a new peace envoy for Sri Lanka but Erik Solheim, who played a key role in crafting a historic ceasefire between Colombo and the Tamil Tigers in 2002, will remain in the driver's seat.
Go on, break the mould
When climbing steep heights, you are advised not to look down. If you do and sense how far up you have already gone, the temptation to retrace your steps becomes irresistible. After a year of bold moves on the foreign policy front, the UPA government appears smitten by acrophobia — the irrational fear of heights.
Small start to the Great Game
The abduction and murder of a Border Roads driver, Ramankutty Maniyappan, illustrates the pitfalls of providing even non-military aid to an unsettled Afghanistan.The killing raises the question of workers’ safety, though not in the way that the murderers seek to impose.
LEADER ARTICLE: Go Beyond The US
The Indo-US relationship has proceeded at a furious pace over these past few months. A review of the relationship would, therefore, not be out of place.
PM calls for partnership of prosperity in South Asia
New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Calling for a "strategic partnership for prosperity" in South Asia, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday urged accelerating the free flow of trade in the region.
The China factor: Nepal king blows hot, communists blow cold
Kathmandu, Nov 14 (IANS) Proving once again that politics makes strange bedfellows, Nepal's King Gyanendra has cosied up to China while the kingdom's communist parties say Beijing has deviated from communist ideals.
No breakthrough in Pakistan, India aviation talks
Islamabad, Sep 28: Talks between Pakistan and India on air services between the two countries and cooperation in civil aviation concluded Wednesday without any breakthrough, Online news agency reports.
Sixth round of India-China border talks end
Beijing, Sep 28 (IANS) India and China Wednesday concluded the sixth round of talks between their special representatives on the decades-old border question with both sides stressing on an "early settlement" of the issue in a "fair and reasonable" manner.
Lahore-Amritsar bus in November, Nankana Sahib bus soon
New Delhi, Sep 28: In yet another boost to their reconciliation process, India and Pakistan Wednesday decided to start a bus service between Amritsar and Lahore in November and agreed to begin soon another bus to Nankana Sahib - home to some of the holiest Sikh shrines.
Iran says gas deal on with India, seeks end to UN inspections
New Delhi/Tehran, Sep 28 (IANS) Iran Wednesday clarified that a major fuel agreement and pipeline project with India were still "in force" even as Iran's parliament urged the government to halt all UN inspections of its nuclear sites.
Iran 'hurt' at India vote, relations under strain
New Delhi/Tehran, Sep 27: Iranian ambassador S. Z. Yaghoubi Tuesday met Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran here and conveyed Iran's "sense of deep hurt and disappointment" at India's vote against it in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Future of G4 mired in German post-poll politics
New Delhi, Sep 21: India is waiting for the power jostle in Germany to get over as the continuation of the G4 group seeking an expansion of the UN Security Council may depend on who gets to form the government in Berlin.
India to host India-Russia-China meet
New York, Sep 21: India, Russia and China have decided to boost trilateral economic, trade and strategic ties and hold the next meeting of their foreign ministers in New Delhi next year.
Pakistani Kashmir leader moots autonomy in Indian Kashmir
New Delhi, Sep 21: Pakistani Kashmir leader Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan Wednesday said though no satisfactory solution to the Kashmir row was at hand, India could make a beginning by providing autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir.
India allays Bangladesh fears over river-linking
Dhaka, Sep 21: India Wednesday allayed Bangladesh's fears regarding an ambitious river-linking programme, saying the scheme would not include rivers that flowed across international borders.
India, Russia, China back consensus on Iran
New York, Sep 21: In a move sure to incense Washington, India, Russia and China have backed a "consensual approach" on the Iranian nuclear issue and agreed to work together in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that is discussing a US-backed proposal to refer Tehran to the UN Security Council.
Don't forget Imam Khomeini in Iran (TEHRAN DIARY)
Tehran, Sep 4: Wherever you are, whatever you do in Iran, don't forget that Imam Khomeini, who fathered the Islamic Revolution overthrowing the regime of the Shah, is watching you.
Indian team arrives in Pakistan Wednesday for pipeline talks
Islamabad, Sep 5 (IANS) India's petroleum secretary is arriving in Pakistan Wednesday at the head of a four-member delegation for a meeting on the tri-nation gas pipeline project involving Iran, Online news agency reported.
Despite American frown, New Delhi-Tehran ties deepen
New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) The visit by External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh to Iran has sent a clear message to the world about New Delhi's resolve to deepen its strategic and cultural ties with Tehran despite the American frown.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator in Pakistan for talks
Islamabad, Sep 5 (IANS) Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani began talks with the Pakistani leadership Monday to discuss the looming crisis arising out of the nuclear standoff between Tehran and Washington.
Natwar has a glimpse of old Persia
Shiraz (Iran), Sep 4 (IANS) Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh had a date with immortal spirits of poets, scholars and mystical saints in this medieval Persian city Sunday.
Don't forget Imam Khomeini in Iran
(TEHRAN DIARY)
Tehran, Sep 4 (IANS) Wherever you are, whatever you do in Iran, don't forget that Imam Khomeini, who fathered the Islamic Revolution overthrowing the regime of the Shah, is watching you.
India backs Iran's 'peaceful' nuclear programme
Tehran, Sep 3 (IANS) India Saturday affirmed its support for Iran's "peaceful nuclear energy programme" and expressed hope that all sides will resolve outstanding issues within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA).
India, Iran take energy ties to new heights
Tehran, Sep 3 (IANS) India's energy diplomacy with Iran took a big leap forward Saturday with both countries saying they were ready to clinch by the year-end a deal on a $4 billion gas pipeline that also involves Pakistan.
India, Iran discuss UN reforms
Tehran, Sep 3 (IANS) India Saturday sought Iran's support to the G-4 resolution that seeks the inclusion of India, Japan, Brazil and Germany in an expanded UN Security Council.
Iran, India say gas pipeline deal by year-end
Tehran, Sep 3 (IANS) India and Iran raised their economic ties to a new high Saturday, resolving to clinch by the year-end a framework agreement on setting up a $4 billion tri-nation pipeline that involves Pakistan.
Natwar visit makes media splash in Iran
Tehran, Sep 3 (IANS) Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar's visit has created a media splash in Iran with leading dailies front-paging pictures of the smiling dignitary being received by his counterpart Manuchehr Mottaki.
Hopes soar for Sikhs in Iran
Tehran, Sept 2 (IANS) For the small but influential 500-strong Sikh community here, the visit of Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh here has provided them fresh hope that their longstanding wish list - the right to own property, three-year residency permit and dual nationality - will turn real soon.
India-Iran ties good for entire region: Natwar
Tehran, Sep 2 (IANS) India Friday asserted its commitment to expand strategic and energy cooperation with Iran despite growing American pressure over Tehran's nuclear programme and expressed the hope that the burgeoning relationship "will not only benefit the two countries but the entire region."
Natwar Singh in Tehran
Tehran, Sep 2 (IANS) Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh arrived here Friday afternoon on a three-day visit to talk with the new Iranian leadership and to expand cooperation in the areas of energy, trade and culture.
Natwar Singh heads to Iran on Friday
New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh goes to Tehran on a three-day visit Friday to network with the new Iranian leadership and to expand strategic cooperation with a country that has become a crucial pillar for India's energy security and its growing interests in Middle East and Central Asia.
Natwar Singh to meet new Iranian leaders
New Delhi, Sep 1 (IANS) Establishing contacts with the new Iranian leadership, quest for trade and transit routes to Central Asia and enhancing energy and strategic cooperation between India and Iran top the agenda of External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh during his three-day visit to Tehran beginning Friday.
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