Indo-Pak Relations – Page 46

MH 370 horror story

Where is that plane? It can be in Australia, Korea, Pakistan, anywhere? God this is scary.

US
investigators suspect the missing Malaysian airliner was in the air for
four hours after its last confirmed contact, and may have been diverted
to an unknown location, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

It said US aviation investigators and national security officials are
basing their theory on data automatically downloaded and sent to the
ground from the Boeing 777’s Rolls-Royce engines, which suggested the plane flew for a total of five hours.

The WSJ attributed the information to two unidentified sources
“familiar with the details”. Contacted by AFP, Rolls-Royce in Singapore
said it could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
regards

Arms for hugging, diplomacy for fighting

Based on the recent gun fight that transpired between the diplomats, the powers that be should consider shuttering the embassies and opening arms purchase liaison offices (APLO) which also happen to deal with visas and stuff (as a side business).

Truth be told, I have never understood how this things work. The same fighter plane that the USA sells to Pakistan was being offered to India as well (and caused a lot of hurt Stateside when St Nickolaus refused to buy). Perhaps this is to create confusion in war-time, you would not know if the approaching plane is a friend or foe (until it is too late). Perhaps they will be providing different jerseys for different teams (just like football).

Also, is it too much too request that we consider NOT buying any more of this expensive crap (with all the associated corruption). Why not simplify the matter: India pays an annual fee to the USA for protection against foreign invasion (Pakistan can pay China). Maybe we are actually seeing things upside down, it is corruption that is the cake (everything else is just decoration and icing).
…

A 26-member delegation led by General Vincent K Brooks,
commanding general of the US Army Pacific,
will be here on March 18-20 for the 18th meeting of the India-US executive
steering group (ESG). The Indian delegation, in turn, will be led by
director-general of military operations Lt-General P R Kumar during the talks.

“The ESG will discuss measures to further crank up military-to-military
ties through joint combat exercises, doctrinal and operational exchanges. The
two armies are slated to conduct their annual Yudh Abhyas counter-terrorism
exercise at Chaubatia (Uttarakhand) in July-August this year,” said an
official.

The exercise, the last edition of which was held at Fort Bragg in the US last
May, was to be held earlier this year but got delayed by a few months amid the
diplomatic wrangling during the Devyani Khobragade episode.

The expansive India-US defence cooperation over the last decade has seen the
armed forces from the two countries conduct over 70 exercises, including the
high-end Malabar naval combat exercises. India has also invited Japan to join
the Malabar wargames in August-September this year, an offer which was extended
during Japanese PM Shinzo Abe visit here in January.

The US has already bagged defence deals close to $10 billion over the last
decade in the lucrative Indian defence market, with the latest being the $1.01
billion one for six additional C-130J “Super Hercules” aircraft.

The other deals on the anvil are the ones for 22 Apache attack helicopters, 15
Chinook heavy-lift helicopters, four P-8I maritime patrol aircraft and 145
M-777 ultra-light howitzers, together worth another $4 billion or so.

Desperate to displace Russia as India’s largest defence supplier, the US is
promising to treat India on par with its closest allies like the UK and
Australia for providing cutting-edge military technology

regards

Thailand is Paradise (for passport fraud)

Be careful while visiting Thailand. Apart from the fact that your passport may be (mis)used for serious crimes (and terrorism) simple identity fraud is a big concern.

On 30 November 2010, a 39-year-old Pakistani national named Muhammed Ather
“Tony” Butt was detained with his Thai girlfriend, Sirikalya
Kitbamrung, as they were crossing into Laos from the north-eastern Thai
province of Nong Khai. Later that same day, officers from Thailand’s Department of Special
Investigations arrested a second Pakistani, Zezan Azzan Butt, 27, in the Rat
Burana district of Bangkok. At about the same time, on the other side of the
globe, Spanish police were swooping on a series of addresses in Barcelona,
arresting six Pakistanis and one Nigerian.

The raids were the culmination of a major joint operation, codenamed
Alpha, between Thai and Spanish investigators, prompted by the discovery that a
suspected member of the al-Qaida-inspired terror cell responsible for several
attacks in Madrid – including the 2004 M-11 train bombings, which killed 191
people and left 1,800 injured – was traveling on a false passport.

Information from that suspect would lead, several years later, to the arrest
in September 2009 of an Iranian-born Briton, Ahboor Rambarak Fath, at Bangkok’s
Suvarnabhumi airport – and, eventually, to Tony Butt. Stopped as he got off a
flight from Spain, Fath was carrying a bag of 103 stolen European, Canadian and
Israeli passports destined, he confessed, for the veritable “small forgery
factory” that police found at Butt’s apartment in the hours after his
arrest.

In one room of the flat, an unnamed DSI agent told the Bangkok Post,
officers discovered computers, a high-definition scanner and printer, and more
than 1,000 stolen passports, photographs and counterfeit data pages for EU,
Canadian, Chinese and Israeli passports, plus assorted sets of US and Schengen visa stickers and stamps.

The gangs have targeted Thailand mainly because of the very large numbers of
European, US and Australian holidaymakers who travel there every year. But the
Bangkok Post’s interview with an unnamed DSI agent quoted him as saying the
country was also attractive because it is relatively easy to enter and leave;
“you can negotiate with some law enforcement people”; and –
importantly – some local officials have not tended to see the forgery of
foreign (as opposed to Thai) passports as a particularly serious offence.

He said an undoctored stolen passport…
typically sells for between $1,500 and $3,000, depending on its condition,
nationality, and the number of years it has left to run. Italian, British,
Spanish and other European passports fetch about $1,000, Tinawut said, while
Israeli passports cost $1,500-$2,000 and Canadian can go for up to $3,000.

International border control authorities were last reminded to tighten up
procedures in 2010, when an Air India Express flight crashed on landing in
Mangalore and it transpired that 10 of the 158 passengers and crew on board –
all of whom were killed – had been traveling on forged or stolen documents,
leading to serious concerns about security checks in Dubai, where the flight
originated.

regards

Looking for Mr Ali

So this is what we know. (2) people boarded with false passports. (5) people checked in but did not board the flight (their luggages were removed). The tickets for the mysterious (2) passengers were paid for by cash on the request of a Mr Ali, however the actual payment was by a friend (of Mr Ali).

Originally the (2) passengers were supposed to transit via Amsterdam. Since those tickets lapsed the request was for the cheapest, one-way ticket to Beijing.

IMO the whole thing sucks. If they were refugees trying to escape, they should have taken a flight to Europe. Why fly to China- they may even hang you for your pains.

This brings forward the million dollar question: who is Mr Ali?
A Thai travel agent who booked the men with stolen passports onto the missing plane, has told the FT that the tickets were arranged with an “Iranian contact” on behalf of clients looking for cheap tickets to Europe.

Benjaporn
Krutnait, owner of the Grand Horizon travel agency in Pattaya,
Thailand, said the Iranian, a long-term business contact who she knew
only as “Mr Ali”, first asked her to book cheap tickets to Europe for
the two men on March 1. Ms Benjaporn initially reserved one of the men
on a Qatar Airways flight and the other on Etihad

But the
tickets expired when Ms Benjaporn did not hear back from Mr Ali. When he
contacted her again on Thursday, she rebooked the men on the Malaysia Airlines
flight through Beijing because it was the cheapest available. Ms
Benjaporn booked the tickets through China Southern Airlines via a code
share arrangement.

A friend of Mr Ali paid Ms Benjaporn cash for
the tickets, she said, adding that it was quite common for people to
book tickets in Pattaya through middle men such as Mr Ali, who then take
a commission.

regards

Globo-cops: omni-(p, s, p)

Some amount of sensationalism but all-in-all quite believable- the leanest, meanest, global (secret) fighting machine ever.

Born of a failed 1980 raid to rescue American hostages in Iran (in
which eight U.S. service members died), U.S. Special Operations Command
was established in 1987. Made up of units from all the service
branches, SOCOM is tasked with carrying out Washington’s most
specialized and secret missions, including assassinations,
counter-terrorist raids, special reconnaissance, unconventional warfare,
psychological operations, foreign troop training, and weapons of mass
destruction counter-proliferation operations.

In the post-9/11 era, the command has grown steadily. With about 33,000 personnel in 2001, it is reportedly on
track to reach 72,000 in 2014. (About half this number are called, in
the jargon of the trade, “badged operators” — SEALs, Rangers, Special
Operations Aviators, Green Berets — while the rest are support
personnel.) Funding for the command has also jumped exponentially as
SOCOM’s baseline budget tripled from $2.3 billion to $6.9 billion
between 2001 and 2013. If you add in supplemental funding, it had
actually more than quadrupled to $10.4 billion.

Not surprisingly, personnel deployments abroad skyrocketed from 4,900
“man-years” — as the command puts it — in 2001 to 11,500 in 2013.
About 11,000 special operators are now working abroad at any one time and on any given day they are in 70 to 80 countries, though the New York Timesreported that, according to statistics provided to them by SOCOM, during one week in March 2013 that number reached 92.

Last year, Admiral McRaven, who previously headed the Joint Special Operations Command, or JSOC –
a clandestine sub-command that specializes in tracking and killing
suspected terrorists — touted his vision for special ops globalization.
In a statement to the House Armed Services Committee, he said: “USSOCOM
is enhancing its global network of SOF to support our interagency and
international partners in order to gain expanded situational awareness
of emerging threats and opportunities. The network enables small,
persistent presence in critical locations, and facilitates engagement
where necessary or appropriate…”

In translation this means that SOCOM is weaving a complex web of
alliances with government agencies at home and militaries abroad to
ensure that it’s at the center of every conceivable global hotspot and
power center. In fact, Special Operations Command has turned the planet
into a giant battlefield, divided into many discrete fronts: the
self-explanatory SOCAFRICA; the sub-unified command of U.S. Central
Command in the Middle East SOCCENT; the European contingent SOCEUR;
SOCKOR, which is devoted strictly to Korea; SOCPAC, which covers the
rest of the Asia-Pacific region; and SOCSOUTH, which conducts special
ops missions in Central and South America and the Caribbean, as well as
the globe-trotting JSOC.

Since 2002, SOCOM has also been
authorized to create its own Joint Task Forces, a prerogative normally
limited to larger combatant commands like CENTCOM. These include Joint
Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, 500-600 personnel dedicated
to supporting counter-terrorist operations by Filipino allies against insurgent groups like Abu Sayyaf.

SOCOM’s reach and global ambitions go further still. TomDispatch’s
analysis of McRaven’s first two full years in command reveals a
tremendous number of overseas operations. In places like Somalia and Libya, elite troops have carried out clandestine commando raids. In others, they have used airpower to hunt, target, and kill suspected militants. Elsewhere, they have waged an information war using online propaganda.
And almost everywhere they have been at work building up and forging
ever-tighter ties with foreign militaries through training missions and
exercises.

“A lot of what we will do as we go forward in this force is build partner capacity,” McRaven said at
the Ronald Reagan Library in November, noting that NATO partners as
well as allies in the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America “are
absolutely essential to how we’re doing business.”

In March 2013, for example, Navy SEALs conducted joint training exercises with
Indonesian frogmen. In April and May, U.S. Special Operations
personnel joined members of the Malawi Defense Forces for Exercise Epic
Guardian. Over three weeks, 1,000 troops engaged in marksmanship, small
unit tactics, close quarters combat training, and other activities
across three countries — Djibouti, Malawi, and the Seychelles.

In May, American special operators took part in
Spring Storm, the Estonian military’s largest annual training
exercise. That same month, members of the Peruvian and U.S. special
operations forces engaged in joint training missions aimed at trading
tactics and improving their ability to conduct joint operations. In
July, Green Berets from the Army’s 20th Special Forces Group spent
several weeks in Trinidad and Tobago working with members of that tiny
nation’s Special Naval Unit and Special Forces Operation Detachment.
That Joint Combined Exchange Training exercise, conducted as part of
SOCSOUTH’s Theater Security Cooperation program, saw the Americans and
their local counterparts take part in pistol and rifle instruction and
small unit tactical exercises.

In September, according to
media reports, U.S. Special Operations forces joined elite troops from
the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries —
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei,
Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Cambodia — as well as their
counterparts from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China,
India, and Russia for a US-Indonesian joint-funded counterterrorism
exercise held at a training center in Sentul, West Java.

Tactical training was, however, just part of the story. In March
2013, for example, experts from the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special
Warfare Center and School hosted a week-long working group with top
planners from the Centro de Adiestramiento de las Fuerzas Especiales —
Mexico’s Special Warfare Center — to aid them in developing their own
special forces doctrine.

In October, members of the Norwegian
Special Operations Forces traveled to SOCOM’s state-of-the-art Wargame
Center at its headquarters on MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to
refine crisis response procedures for hostage rescue operations.
“NORSOF and Norwegian civilian leadership regularly participate in
national field training exercises focused on a scenario like this,” said
Norwegian Lieutenant Colonel Petter Hellesen. “What was unique about
this exercise was that we were able to gather so many of the Norwegian
senior leadership and action officers, civilian and military, in one
room with their U.S counterparts.”

MacDill is, in fact, fast becoming a worldwide special ops hub, according to a report by the Tampa Tribune.
This past fall, SOCOM quietly started up an International Special
Operations Forces Coordination Center that provides long-term
residencies for senior-level black ops liaisons from around the world.
Already, representatives from 10 nations had joined the command with
around 24 more slated to come on board in the next 12-18 months, per
McRaven’s global vision.

regards

“The sole survivor”

The shadow wars waged between Pakistan and India in Afghanistan as recounted by William Dalrymple.

As I have noted before, the wars will end when the elites decide that enough is enough. Let us hope that they have the wisdom to step up to the plate (together) sooner rather than later.

At six o’clock in the morning of February
26, 2010, Major Mitali Madhumita was awakened by the ringing of her
mobile phone. Mitali, a 35-year-old Indian army officer from Orissa, had
been in Kabul less than a year. Fluent in Dari, the most widely spoken
language in Afghanistan, she was there to teach English to the first
women officer cadets to be recruited to the Afghan National Army.

It was a sensitive posting, not so much because of gender issues as
political ones: India’s regional rival, Pakistan, was extremely touchy
about India providing military assistance to the government in
Afghanistan and had made it very clear that it regarded the presence of
any Indian troops or military trainers there as an unacceptable
provocation. For this reason everyone on the small Indian army English
Language Training Team, including Mitali, and all the Indian army
doctors and nurses staffing the new Indira Gandhi Kabul Children’s
Hospital, had been sent to Afghanistan unarmed, and in civilian dress.
They were being put up not in an army barracks, or at the Indian
Embassy, but in a series of small, discreet guest houses dotted around
the city’s diplomatic quarter.

The phone call was from a girlfriend of Mitali’s who
worked for Air India at Kabul airport. Breathless, she said she had just
heard that two of the Indian guest houses, the Park and the Hamid, were
under attack by militants.

As the only woman on her team, Mitali had
been staying in separate lodgings about two miles away from the rest of
her colleagues, who were all in the Hamid. Within seconds, Mitali was
pulling on her clothes, along with the hijab she was required to wear,
and running, alone and unarmed, through the empty morning streets of
Kabul toward the Hamid.

“I just thought they might need my help,” she told me recently in New Delhi.

As she dashed past the Indian Embassy, Mitali was
recognized by one of the guards from diplomatic security who shouted to
her to stop. The area around the guest houses was mayhem, he told her.
She should not go on alone. She must return immediately to her lodgings
and stay there.

“I don’t require your permission to rescue my
colleagues,” Mitali shouted back, and kept on running. When she passed
the presidential compound, she was stopped again, this time at gunpoint,
by an Afghan army security check post. Five minutes later she had
charmed one of the guards into giving her a lift in his jeep. Soon they
could hear bursts of automatic weapons, single shots from rifles and
loud grenade blasts.

“As we neared the area under attack I jumped out of the jeep and ran
straight into the ruins of what had been the Hamid guesthouse. It was
first light, but because of all the dust and smoke, visibility was very
low and it was difficult to see anything. The front portion of the
guesthouse was completely destroyed—there was just a huge crater.
Everything had been reduced to rubble. A car bomb had rammed the front
gate and leveled the front of the compound. Three militants then
appeared and began firing at anyone still alive. I just said, ‘Oh my
God,’ and ran inside.

“I found my way in the smoke to the area at the back
where my colleagues had been staying. Here the walls were standing but
it was open to the sky—the blast had completely removed the roof, which
was lying in chunks all over the floor. There was cross-firing going on
all around me, and the militants were throwing Chinese incendiary
grenades. Afghan troops had taken up positions at the top of the Park
Residence across the road and were firing back. I couldn’t see the
militants, but they were hiding somewhere around me.

“As quietly as I could, I called for my
colleagues and went to where their rooms had been, but I couldn’t find
them anywhere. I searched through the debris and before long started
pulling out bodies. A man loomed out of the gloom and I shouted to him
to identify himself. But he wasn’t a terrorist—he was the information
officer from our embassy and he began helping me. Together we managed to
get several injured people out of the rubble and into safety.

“Then we heard a terrible blast. We later learned
that Major Jyotin Singh had tackled a suicide bomber, and by holding him
from behind had prevented him entering the Park Residence. The bomber
was forced to blow himself up outside. Jyotin had saved the lives of all
the medical team inside.

“But the only one of my colleagues who hadn’t been killed on the spot,
Major Nitesh Roy, died of his 40% burns in hospital three days later. I
was the only one of my team who came back alive.”

regards

Pakistan and India: divided by a common culture

The aam aadmi on both sides of the border will mostly agree with the sentiments expressed by the author (but the elites will not). The cultural (and many other) bonds that are still intact have to be placed alongside the antipathy generated by the hot/cold war that has been going on for the last 67 years. To tell the truth, apart from the Balkans, there are probably few other examples that match the hostilities generated by the British partitions of India, Palestine, Cyprus, and Ireland. Finally, the mixed emotions about Indian movies are relevant for an Indian (middle-class) audience as well.

The only place where I disagree with the author (and this comes back from Zachary’s earlier note of a Pakistani and Indian muslim friendship) is that Pakistanis (and by extension the global media) automatically assume that Indians culture is primarily (even exclusively) Hindu, or even more alarmingly a muslim culture polluted by Hindu sentiments. In contrast I would imagine (perhaps wrongly) that muslims in Kanpur and Karachi will be able to find a significant amount of overlap in their culture and world-views- to take one specific example, Indian muslims are jut as strongly anti-zionist as their brothers across the Ummah.

The reason I am pessimistic about even a cold peace is because the ideological differences are so hot and stark. Peace will come only when the elites will have had enough of war, that is for sure.

As India and Pakistan struggle to resolve their political differences
presently, there is an India/Pakistan-related struggle going on inside
me too.

My inner instincts tell me that a big part of my cultural heritage
relates to India. However, Pakistani ideologues and even some close
relatives tell me that it is unpatriotic to assert any cultural
attachment with India due to Pakistan’s political differences with that
country. Is it possible for a Pakistani to separate cultural and
political issues and simultaneously maintain cultural affinity but
political differences with India?

One must first analyse the
extent of similarity between Indian and Pakistani cultures. Culture
refers to societal ideas, customs and social behaviours and encapsulates
the domains of art, dress, language, food, family structures, religious
practices, festivals, traditions, values etc. There is admittedly
enormous cultural diversity within both countries and sweeping
comparisons between the two cultures are inappropriate.

However,
it is also true that there is large similarity in the cultures of
Pakistan’s eastern regions (Sindh, Punjab and Azad Kashmir) and India’s
northern and western regions along most cultural aspects mentioned
above, eg art and dress. While Pakistanis living in the country’s
western regions obviously have more cultural linkages with Pakistan’s
western neighbours (eg Afghanistan), Pakistan’s eastern regions host the
bulk of the population. Thus, for the majority of Pakistanis, the large
cultural overlap with India is undeniable.

Religion obviously is
the main realm of exception to this cultural similarity and since it
influences many traditions, there are differences too between Indian and
Pakistani cultures. Additionally, over the last three decades,
middle-class cultural values in the two countries have become more
dissimilar.

Parts of the Pakistani middle class have unfortunately
become more conservative, xenophobic and intolerant. Conversely, the
Indian middle class has become more liberal and Westernised. This,
positively, has meant greater tolerance for diversity but also,
negatively, greater focus on materialism within Indian society in
contrast to the high degree of frugality that Indian middle classes
practiced traditionally.

The most visible manifestation of this
increasing difference in values is in movies and the media. Indian
movies are now increasingly exploring themes, eg in movies such as
Bombay Talkies, which can barely be mentioned even in liberal Pakistani
newspapers. On the negative side, it means that it is often difficult
now to watch Indian movies with family.

Despite
religious differences, I and a lot of other expatriate Pakistanis that I
know usually find it easier to relate with expatriate Indians due to
the strong linguistic and cultural linkages than with Muslims or
non-Muslims from Africa, the Middle East and Far East. Given these
cultural similarities, it does not make sense to disown such a large
part of one’s cultural legacy, especially one to which Muslims
contributed so much over the centuries before Partition.

Trying to
disown such a large part of one’s cultural legacy can only have
negative repercussions for the individual and collective national
psyche. One must have the self-confidence and a sense of balance to be
able to assert cultural similarities with India without feeling ashamed,
guilty or unpatriotic.

Thus, over the last few decades, India has
arguably become the second largest exporter of culture (through the
export of its movies, music, food, etc) in the world after the US. I
must admit that whenever I see such Indian cultural artefacts being
appreciated globally, in places as diverse as Addis Ababa, Vietnam and
Israel, I cannot help feeling some sense of pride and personal
connection too.

Yet Indian movies portray Islam with respect and often on an
equal footing with Hinduism. In contrast, it is rare to see Pakistani
movies showing respect and positivity towards Hinduism. However,
when it comes to Pakistan, Indian movies are largely silent or portray
Pakistan negatively even though Pakistan is probably the biggest market
for them after India.

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Pit Bulls of the world unite (with middle class backing)

To the liberals world-wide, Vladimir Putin is a real pain in the backside (p-i-t-b or pit-bull).

Here is how the present, past and future presidents of the USA describe Putin: President Obama has called Vladimir Putin “the bored kid in the back of the classroom,” putting on an unsmiling, tough-guy “shtick.” Hillary Clinton just compared the Russian president to Hitler. The State Department says Putin’s reasoning on Ukraine amounts to “two plus two equals five.” Republican House Speaker Boehner branded him a “thug.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly said he is “in another world.” And George W. Bush complained that debating policy with him was “like arguing with an eighth grader with his facts wrong” and called him “cold-blooded” to his face

(the last accusation is remarkable as this would be a word for word description of GWB by the same liberals).

It is unlikely but another pit-bull may get hold of the atomic button and there is the same sound of hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing form the liberals (Neha Desai Biswal just about managed to confirm that he will get a visa).Great power is (a bit) about managing great expectations and it is clear that the UPA regime has not managed to do it well (in a way this is the inverse India Shining syndrome- UPA has done a lot for rural India – employment guarantee schemes etc., but the corruption, inflation and other vices has caused the urban voter to defect).

It is certainly the case that the Indian middle class finds a champion in an autocrat like Modi, just like Russians back Putin. But while Putin has vast gas resources at his disposal by which he can blackmail Europe, Modi will be running on empty for now (if he is smart he will push for an under-sea gas pipeline from Iran to India bypassing Pakistan). He can certainly be more assertive towards Muslims (just like Putin towards Crimean Tatars and Chechnyans). He can clamp down on Christian missionary led conversions though I doubt it. If he manages to annoy US/Europe they will stop the visas (not just for him). It is not clear at this point how Modi can resuscitate the India Shining campaign. But then again, Putin also faced a long and lonely journey to the top.

The scariest scenario (for the west and the liberals) will be for Modi, Putin and Xi Jinping (also Iran) to join hands together (even symbolically) and for India to align with an axis of autocrats. This will require a super-diplomatic effort but certainly big money can/will enable this and the middle-class will be vociferous in its support. China (unlike USA/West) is not hung up about minority rights and may even persuade the Maoists to switch to jaw-jaw mode (in exchange for locking up rights to all the mines). China and India may also find common ground in working against Islamists from Taliban-held Af-Pak. If Modi can manage some movement in this direction he may be (like Putin) unstoppable.

Here is the million-dollar question- which model will appeal to the voters- the white-commonwealth model or the dark-autocracy model? The opinion makers (middle-class) will tell us to relax and enjoy the ride, greater prosperity will cancel out all the negatives (just as muslims from Bengal are coming over to Gujarat to earn their daily bread). A billion votes (814 million to be exact) will decide the future this May. Yes folks, this is the most momentous general elections ever (after 1977).

At the risk of over-statement, there seems to
be a bizarre similarity between the hand-wringing and teeth-gnashing in
the western strategic community over the events in Ukraine and the
agonized lamentations of India’s minuscule liberal community over the
possible outcome of the forthcoming general election. In both cases, the
target of derision is a leader that many see as forthright, decisive
and nationalist and others view as illiberal, authoritarian and even
fascist.

There are obvious similarities that can possibly be
drawn between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the man who may end
up as India’s Prime Minister in May. Apart from the fact that both evoke
polarized responses — adored by supporters and loathed by opponents,
the rise of both Putin and Narendra Modi can be explained by broadly
similar circumstances.

Putin took over a Russia that was
unreconciled to its steep economic decline and loss of self-esteem. In
just 14 years, whether ruling directly or through a proxy, Putin
affected a dramatic U-turn in the country’s fortunes. The post-Soviet
Union stereotypical images of starving pensioners queuing in the snow
for food hand-outs and gangster-infested cities were replaced by those
of cocky oligarchs buying up Chelsea FC and prime real estate in London,
and crime lords running global operations stretching from Moscow to
Goa.

All stereotypes have a basis in reality but only partially.
Yes, Russian society has traditionally been prone to excesses and
high-handedness. However, the reason why Putin commands the respect of
most of Russia (and Russian speakers in the other regions that once
constituted the Soviet Union) seems obvious when seen from an Indian,
rather than European or American perspective. He restored the glory of
Russia and put it back in global reckoning.

….But Putin’s bid
to reclaim Russia’s status as a Great Power was only possible because
the economic and political foundations for an enhanced role have been
firmed up over the past decade. In India, on the other hand, the fierce
desire of the past 25 years to transcend mediocrity, shoddiness and look
the world powers in the eye has floundered. It is not that the UPA
government has no achievements to its credit. India has progressed but
it has seriously under-performed in terms of its potential. More to the
point, there is a growing mismatch between the philosophy of governance
of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council and the impatience of a
young India that wants a more fulfilling life with lesser impediments in
the path of personal success.

regards

The enemy is inside. How many?

It is difficult to accept but there may be substantial numbers of the enemy inside the gates. The Honorable Minister made this statement which if true is truly alarming. Is this guard a second coming of Mumtaz Qadri? If so are people going to fight the coming war (if it ever comes) with a third eye placed on their backs?

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has revealed that
late additional district and sessions judge Rafaqat Ahmed Khan Awan was
inadvertently killed by his own guard and not by the terrorists in a gun
and bomb attack that killed 11 others in Islamabad on Monday.

In
Islamabad district courts, 12 people were killed and 28 sustained
injuries according to the latest figures, he told the lawmakers in
National Assembly…..the deceased judge locked himself and staff in his retiring
room but unfortunately the security guard deployed with him
inadvertently shot the judge with three bullets in panic after the
suicide blast.

He said speculations must be avoided on the incident of Islamabad district courts. The
guard had already confessed his crime and the post-mortem report showed
that the judge had not been killed with Kalashnikov but with the
guard’s weapon.

regards

Unconditional Surrender Association (USA)

The global empire is erupting with head-aches on a daily basis. The old villain has resurrected itself and is bent on kidnapping children right and left (or letting bullies roam freely in the school-yard). The ancient empire has risen from the ashes and threatening the well-fed, lazy, mansabdars. And now even the sustainably trained colonies are getting bent out of shape. In the past a big stick was a gate-pass (on official letterhead) to the Court, behave or else. Alas from today this proud tradition is no more. Now the only thing that will help save India is the collective will of Indians (and that is how it should be).

Washington will drop a travel ban on Narendra Modi if he becomes the Prime Minister. US assistant secretary of state Nisha Desai Biswal
finally buried the controversy over Modi’s visa as she told a TV
channel that the US would welcome the Gujarat CM if he ascends to the
top job.

“I would just say that the United States has welcomed
every leader of this vibrant democracy, and that a democratically
elected leader of India will be a welcome partner,” Biswal said adding
Washington is ready to do business with him. For nine years, the US has
kept its visa ban on Modi who has won three successive terms in Gujarat.

regards