India-EU News & Analysis

Raju · Post by **Raju** » 21 Dec 2005 20:06

It ain't over till the last bum is exploded...

Teenager held over 'bomb making'

A teenager is being questioned after police found chemicals and suspected bomb making equipment at a house in Lancashire.

Police searched the house on Grane Street, Haslingden, on Tuesday afternoon and found materials thought to be used to make bombs.
Link

Tilak · Post by **Tilak** » 25 Dec 2005 05:17

Sikh militant group on EU's terrorist list
December 24, 2005 18:36 IST

The European Union has added the militant group 'Khalistan Zindabad Force' to its terrorist list, within days of an EU-India meeting on counter terrorism held in Brussels.

A comprehensive inter-ministerial Indian delegation headed by Hamid Ali Rao and the Deputy Director General of the Indian Narcotics Bureau Rajiv Walia participated in the meeting with EU troika -- Germany, France and Britain -- headed by the EU Counter Terrorism Coordinator Gijs De Vries on December 12.

All the 25 EU member states must freeze all assets of the groups or persons on the terrorist list.

In November, the EU put Hizbul Mujahideen, a Jammu and Kashmir-based militant outfit on its list of terrorist organisations.

Omar · Post by **Omar** » 05 Feb 2006 22:04

India, France to sign nuclear energy, defence pacts

"We want India to gain nuclear energy and nuclear status. We were the ones who supported India after the 1998 blasts when other countries were talking about sanctions," French envoy Dominique Girard said.

The India-France nuclear agreement is likely to lift official spirits in New Delhi, which is not too sure if the India-US nuclear agreement will be in place by the time US President George W. Bush comes here in early March.

Manu · Post by **Manu** » 11 Feb 2006 06:16

EU folks react very differently when own house is burning.
Link

German 'Muslim test' stirs anger

The cafe Fleck und Speck is as cosmopolitan as Stuttgart gets.
During an evening there, I meet a Kurd, a Serbian Jew, and a German whose curly black hair betrays his Mexican heritage.

This is the multicultural dream that Germany's Left has promoted for decades - but which not everyone shares.

The Christian Democrat-led government of Baden-Wuerttemberg, of which Stuttgart is the capital, has just introduced new "discussion guidelines" which have sparked national controversy.

They consist of 30 questions which can be put to applicants for German citizenship to see if they share democratic values. But they have been strongly attacked as aimed against the state's large Turkish community - and dubbed "the Muslim test".

"This measure - the so-called discussion guidelines - means that I cannot imagine applying for German citizenship in the near future," says Sueheyla Ince, a local lawyer who was born in Germany but holds a Turkish passport.

"I have to prove, by answering these questions, that I'm a 'good' Muslim," she says, "because it puts all Muslims under a general suspicion of terrorism and insinuates that they're not interested in the values of the German constitution."

The questions, which have been leaked to the German media, cover a range of subjects. A few examples:

How do you view the statement that a woman should obey her husband, and that he can beat her if she doesn't?

You learn that people from your neighbourhood or from among friends or acquaintances have carried out or are planning a terrorist attack - what do you do?

Some people hold the Jews responsible for all the evil in the world, and even claim they were behind the attacks of 11 September 2001 in New York. What is your view of this claim?

Imagine that your son comes to you and declares that he's a homosexual and would like to live with another man. How do you react?

The new measure is the brainchild of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Interior Minister, Heribert Rech.

"When there are doubts about an applicant's values, the easiest thing is for an official to have a talk with him - but not a talk about the weather or about football," he says.

"It needs to be about his view of our constitution, of tolerance, of sexual equality, or of the state's monopoly on the use of violence. Only with these questions can we come close to finding the answers we need."

Languages

An opinion poll found 76% of Germans agree. This country has around three million Muslim inhabitants - mostly Turkish, with Bosnians making up the next largest group, followed by people of Arab origin.

Since 11 September 2001, which was partly planned and carried out by Muslim students based in Hamburg, these communities have been viewed with suspicion.

There have been controversies over headscarf bans (also first introduced in Baden-Wuerttemberg) and over so-called "honour killings" of Muslim women by family members.

There is also currently a row over a Berlin school that has banned the use of languages other than German in the playground.

But many politicians have said the "discussion guidelines" merely pander to popular stereotypes of Muslims.

"Mr Rech is creating a problem which does not exist," says Cem Ozdemir, a Green Party MEP from Baden-Wuerttemberg.

"I would wish that we live in a world where everybody is accepting equal rights for gays and lesbians, where everybody fully understands the need for equal rights for men and women and so on.

"But unfortunately that is not the case - and it's not only a problem of migrants from Muslim countries. It's a problem of Christians and people who are already citizens of Germany."

Stuttgart's Turkish community is organising a petition drive and demonstrations. But it is going to be an uphill battle.

A motion condemning the new measure, tabled by the Greens in the Bundestag, was defeated. Many politicians have voiced support for the guidelines, and the neighbouring state of Hessen is now considering following Baden-Wuerttemberg's lead.

Laks · Post by **Laks** » 14 Feb 2006 15:35

Jacques Chirac will be visiting India this weekend. This is a particularly difficult time due to the Mittal takeover of Arcelor (domestic political opposition) and l'affaire Clemenceau (they'll have to eat their hat and take her back if Supreme Court rules on Friday). I don't know if there will be any big annoucements, but it is worth following.

PM may raise with Chirac Mittal's bid to buy Arcelor

France accused of pressuring India over Clemenceau

French cos hope for new opportunities in India

Talking about last year, the ambassador said French exports to India had increased by 40%, while the Indian exports to France had grown by 20%. The two countries were aiming at doubling the two-way trade in the next five years, he said.

According to French trade statistics, the two-way trade between the two countries stood at 3.29 billion euros in May 2004. The sectors of key French interest have been in fuel (power and oil refinery), followed by chemicals, cement and gypsum products, glass and food processing industries. Major French companies, particularly Lafarge, Asltom, Alcatel, St Gobain, Air liquide, L’oreal, Danone are already operating in India.

France rules out nuclear cooperation pact with India

The two sides will, however, ink a formal defense cooperation pact, which will include cooperation between their armed forces and joint production of military hardware, and announce a deal on launching satellites for third parties.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 20 Feb 2006 08:52

http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story ... 74,00.html

Europe's contempt for other cultures can't be sustained

A continent that inflicted colonial brutality all over the globe for 200 years has little claim to the superiority of its values

Martin Jacques
Friday February 17, 2006
The Guardian

Is the argument over the Danish cartoons really reducible to a matter of free speech? Even if we believe that free speech is a fundamental value, that does not give us carte blanche to say what we like in any context, regardless of consequence or effect. Respect for others, especially in an increasingly interdependent world, is a value of at least equal importance.

Europe has never had to worry too much about context or effect because for around 200 years it dominated and colonised most of the world. Such was Europe's omnipotence that it never needed to take into account the sensibilities, beliefs and attitudes of those that it colonised, however sacred and sensitive they might have been. On the contrary, European countries imposed their rulers, religion, beliefs, language, racial hierarchy and customs on those to whom they were entirely alien. There is a profound hypocrisy - and deep historical ignorance - when Europeans complain about the problems posed by the ethnic and religious minorities in their midst, for that is exactly what European colonial rule meant for peoples around the world. With one crucial difference, of course: the white minorities ruled the roost, whereas Europe's new ethnic minorities are marginalised, excluded and castigated, as recent events have shown.

But it is no longer possible for Europe to ignore the sensibilities of peoples with very different values, cultures and religions. First, western Europe now has sizeable minorities whose origins are very different from the host population and who are connected with their former homelands in diverse ways. If European societies want to live in some kind of domestic peace and harmony - rather than in a state of Balkanisation and repression - then they must find ways of integrating these minorities on rather more equal terms than, for the most part, they have so far achieved. That must mean, among other things, respect for their values. Second, it is patently clear that, globally speaking, Europe matters far less than it used to - and in the future will count for less and less. We must not only learn to share our homelands with people from very different roots, we must also learn to share the world with diverse peoples in a very different kind of way from what has been the European practice.

Europe has little experience of this, and what experience it has is mainly confined to less than half a century. Old attitudes of superiority and disdain - dressed up in terms of free speech, progress or whatever - are still very powerful. Nor - as many liberals like to think - are they necessarily in decline. On the contrary, racial bigotry is on the rise, even in countries that have previously been regarded as tolerant. The Danish government depends for its rule on a racist, far-right party that gained 13% of the seats in the last election. The decision of Jyllands-Posten to publish the cartoons - and papers in France, Germany, Italy and elsewhere to reprint them - lay not so much in the tradition of free speech but in European contempt for other cultures and religions: it was a deliberate, calculated insult to the beliefs of others, in this case Muslims.

This kind of mentality - combining Eurocentrism, old colonial attitudes of supremacism, racism, provincialism and sheer ignorance - will serve our continent ill in the future. Europe must learn to live in and with the world, not to dominate it, nor to assume it is superior or more virtuous. Any continent that has inflicted such brutality on the world over a period of 200 years has not too much to be proud of, and much to be modest and humble about - though this is rarely the way our history is presented in Britain, let alone elsewhere. It is worth remembering that while parts of Europe have had free speech (and democracy) for many decades, its colonies were granted neither. But when it comes to our "noble values", our colonial record is always written out of the script.

This attitude of disdain, of assumed superiority, will be increasingly difficult to sustain. We are moving into a world in which the west will no longer be able to call the tune as it once did. China and India will become major global players alongside the US, the EU and Japan. For the first time in modern history the west will no longer be overwhelmingly dominant. By the end of this century Europe is likely to pale into insignificance alongside China and India. In such a world, Europe will be forced to observe and respect the sensibilities of others.

Few in Europe understand or recognise these trends. A small example is the bitter resistance displayed on the continent to the proposed takeover of Arcelor by Mittal Steel: at root the opposition is based on thinly disguised racism. But Europe had better get used to such a phenomenon: takeovers by Indian and Chinese firms are going to become as common as American ones. A profound parochialism grips our continent. When Europe called the global tune it did not matter, because what happened in Europe translated itself into a global trend and a global power. No more: now it is simply provincialism.

When Europe dominated, there were no or few feedback loops. Or, to put it another way, there were few, if any, consequences for its behaviour towards the non-western world: relations were simply too unequal. Now - and increasingly in the future - it will be very different. And the subject of these feedback loops, or consequences, will concern not just present but also past behaviour.

For 200 years the dominant powers have also been the colonial powers: the European countries, the US and Japan. They have never been required to pay their dues for what they did to those whom they possessed and treated with contempt. Europeans have treated this chapter in their history by choosing to forget. So has Japan, except that in its case its neighbours have not only refused to forget but are also increasingly powerful. As a consequence, Japan's present and future is constantly stalked by its history. This future could also lie in wait for Europe. We might think the opium wars are "simply history"; the Chinese (rightly) do not. We might think the Bengal famine belongs in the last century, but Indians do not.

Europe is moving into a very different world. How will it react? If something like the attitude of the Danes prevails - a combination of defensiveness, fear, provincialism and arrogance - then one must fear for Europe's ability to learn to live in this new world. There is another way, but the signs are none too hopeful.

· Martin Jacques is a senior visiting research fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

Martinjacques1@aol.com

uddu · Post by **uddu** » 20 Feb 2006 17:40

India, France sign nine agreements
Link

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Feb 2006 01:06

Dilip Padgaonkar appraises the Chirac visit The Chirac Visit

Raju · Post by **Raju** » 12 Mar 2006 19:31

Finnish PM on three-day visit to New Delhi

Press Trust of India

New Delhi, March 12, 2006

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen arrived in New Delhi on Sunday from Chennai.
Vanhanen, who was received by Minster of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma at Delhi airport, will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday on a range of bilateral and international issues of mutual interest.

During his three-day stay in the Capital, he will also meet Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, Shipping Minister TR Baalu and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

Vanhanen will also meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition LK Advani.

An address to the Indian business leaders is also on the agenda.

Finland has evinced keen interest in sectors such as ship-building, port development and road construction.

During his trip to Tamil Nadu, Finland's top electronic company Nokia launched its manufacturing unit in the state.

India's interests in cooperation with Finland extend to areas like energy, environment management and sustainable forestry.

Vanhanen will be the first Finnish Prime Minister to visit India since 1984 when Kalevi Sorsa came here. A year earlier, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had travelled to Finland.

rgsrini · Post by **rgsrini** » 19 Mar 2006 00:48

Mumbai court jails two Britons for paedophilia case

Duncan Grant and Allan Waters, the two British nationals accused of paedophilia in the Goan Anchorage Shelter case, have been sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 15,55,031 (35,000 dollars) each by Sessions Judge P S Paranjpe, here on Saturday.

We need to strengthen our Sexual abuse laws. Anything short of castrating, making them eat their own excreta and then shooting these lowlives in public is lenient to me.

I hope Tanzania police files an extradition request with India, so that they can be sent to there to pay for their crimes in that country.

Srilanka & Thailand must wake up and start implementing their own laws and prevent their citizens from being exploited by these vermins.

Raja · Post by **Raja** » 19 Mar 2006 01:31

Any such activity should bring a minimum of 20 years prison + heavy fines and a maximum of life in prison.

6 years is a joke.

Manu · Post by **Manu** » 18 Apr 2006 05:14

Admins may move to Technology & Economic Forum, if found inappropriate for this section.

'Economic Patriotism' Casts Doubt in EU

Friday April 14
By Laurence Frost, AP Business Writer

Rise of 'Economic Patriotism' Casts Doubt on European Union Progress

PARIS (AP) -- The European Union has often struggled to persuade governments to look beyond narrow national interests, as it inches toward its goal of becoming a vast free market. But now an unabashedly populist ideal is taking root among governments: economic patriotism.
A series of government moves to block foreign takeovers is fueling concern that a surge in protectionism could threaten the EU's economic progress, just when competition from Asia is making liberalization more urgent than ever.

Several countries have intervened recently to protect their corporate "champions" from rivals in other European Union states. Coming less than a year after voters in France and the Netherlands rejected a draft EU constitution, the trend has raised alarm about the future of Europe's single market and the enforcement of rules underpinning it.

"The unraveling of Europe, even as an economic actor, is unfortunately a possible scenario," said Dominique Moisi, a special adviser at IFRI, the French Institute for International Relations.

With its avowed policy of "patriotisme economique," France has attracted much of the blame for the outbreak of inwardness.

In barely three months, prime minister Dominique de Villepin's government has engaged in an frenzy of protectionist activity, including:

-- Decreeing its right to veto cross-border deals in 11 "strategic" sectors.

-- Opposing a takeover bid by Netherlands-based Mittal Steel for Luxembourg-based steelmaker Arcelor, which employs nearly 30,000 people in France.

-- Waving through a merger between French utilities Gaz de France and Suez to discourage a bid for the latter by Italy's Enel.

-- Rushing in legislation allowing French companies to repel hostile bidders by diluting their capital.

The new takeover rules -- inspired in part by the panic over Suez's vulnerability to a possible bid from Enel -- cast France in a particularly bad light, according to Collette Neuville, president of the Minority Shareholders' Defense Association.

"I don't think it's ever a good plan to change the rules in mid-game. It doesn't send a positive message to investors," Neuville said.

"Every country protects its national industries to some extent, without shouting about it too much," she said. "But in France we shout about it and we do it badly -- we have all the drawbacks without the advantages."

Spain, whose economy has boomed because of foreign investment, has also introduced laws that look tailor-made to thwart a bid for national electricity champion Endesa by Germany's E.On.

Poland, once the poster child of a "new Europe" with everything to gain from integration, provoked an EU legal challenge by blocking the acquisition of a Polish bank by Italy's UniCredit, a deal already cleared by Brussels antitrust authorities.

Even tiny Luxembourg, whose wealth now depends on cross-border cash flows -- not steel -- seriously considered new rules that could have thwarted Mittal's bid for Arcelor, the Grand Duchy's biggest employer. Lawmakers eventually dropped the key amendment, which would have prevented hostile bidders from resubmitting a second offer within 12 months.

The EU hit back last week, announcing simultaneous legal moves against France, Spain, Italy and 14 other member states, aimed at opening markets from energy to advertising.

But Pierre-Cyril Hautcoeur, an economist with the Paris-based School of Advanced Studies in Social Science, believes Brussels' failure to see the positive side of social protection is partly responsible for the surge of economic nationalism.

"The main EU institutions are so obviously hostile to any form of collective protection on a European scale that national governments are jumping in and doing it for themselves," Hautcoeur said. (nice way to put it )

Some measure of state intervention is justified to protect workers from globalization's most brutal economic jolts, Hautcoeur argues -- providing it helps them adapt to the new status quo, rather than maintaining the old one.

"To facilitate the transition, the protection has to be both moderate and temporary, not just a tool for conserving the past," he said.

The referendum of May 29, 2005, in which France rejected the EU draft constitution -- followed by Dutch voters three days later -- has also fed patriotic sentiment, observers say.

"The feeling is, 'Oh well, we can do whatever we want now, because there's nothing that we're undermining,'" IFRI's Moisi said.

Economists are divided over whether recent events mark a true step backward for Europe's economic development and integration.

If anything, the patriotic talk shows that the single market is alive and kicking, according to Katinka Baysch, chief economist with the London-based Centre for European Reform. European mergers and acquisitions have meanwhile shown strong growth, she points out.

"If you didn't see a counter-reaction, that would be a sign that nothing was happening," Baysch said.

She also cited recent EU dumping duties on shoe imports from China, which have taken a softer approach than last year's quotas imposed on Chinese textile shipments -- retracted weeks later after it became clear that the mounting piles of blocked goods at docksides were doing more economic harm than good. "Europeans have learned a lesson from that," Baysch said.

But others see a serious threat to much-needed progress on Europe's still-incomplete single market. Brussels last week accepted European Parliament amendments that substantially watered down its latest services proposals.

"Anti-reform attitudes have stalled economic integration, and stalled integration will turn people further against Europe," hobbling efforts to liberalize services markets, said economist Lorenzo Codogno -- who was speaking to the Associated Press shortly before leaving Bank of America to join the Italian Treasury this week.

"If you don't reap the benefit of the single market, people would start thinking, 'Why Europe?'" Codogno said.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 23 May 2006 07:47

First EU-India security talks held.

mohanty · Post by **mohanty** » 26 May 2006 23:53

Indian injured in racist attack in Germany before World Cup.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 575138.cms

And BBC says Germany is designating areas which would be no-go-areas for people of different skin color.

"There are small and mid-sized towns in Brandenburg and elsewhere I would advise anyone with a different skin colour not to go," he said. "They may not leave with their lives."

The Africa Council (Afrika-Rat), a group which represents Africans in Germany, has also said it will publish a brochure listing "no-go areas" which non-white visitors to the Berlin area should avoid.

Another weird statement.

The NPD has also announced plans to hold rallies in Leipzig, the only World Cup host city in the former East Germany, when Angola plays Iran. The far-right has said it will support Iran for the anti-Semitic comments of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5012182.stm

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 15 Jun 2006 21:15

Racist attack on Indian U-19 team

[quote]BELFAST, JUNE 14:A group of teenage Indian cricketers were chased and threatened by racist thugs in Belfast, and police said they are investigating a racist motive to the incident.

Five of the tourists were chased by up to 16 youths as they walked around the city on Sunday, while a house in which some of them were staying was stoned.

Politicians condemned the attack saying it confirmed Belfastâ€™s reputation as â€œEuropeâ€™s racist capitalâ€

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 22 Jun 2006 23:20

From The Telegraph, Kolkata, 22 JUne 2006
UK firms have missed India boat

[quote]
UK firms have missed India boat
AMIT ROY
London, June 21: One of the most important reports on the Indian economy is being published tomorrow in London by the House of Commons select committee on trade and industry which says that â€œthe UKâ€™s perception of India has been seriously distorted by the mediaâ€™s focus on the perceived threat to UK jobs from outsourcing, particularly from call centresâ€

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 22 Jun 2006 23:31

ramana wrote:
Thats right go back to their mercantile origins and leave politicking around for the others. If they were not so hung up on further dividing India and play Game of Nations, they would have made more money. still not too late.

First step is open Oxford Uty campus in Delhi. Cambridge Uty campus in Kolkatta. The rest can stay home.

They have started by opening a True India center in Oxford

Oxford honour for Centre for Hindu Studies

June 21, 2006 19:23 IST

The Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies has been granted the status of Recognised Independent Centre by the Oxford university. OCHS, the world's leading centre for the study of Hindu traditions, is one of two institutions given this status and bagged the honour after just seven years of teaching and conducting research into aspects of Hindu culture.

"It is an official recognition by Oxford University that we are its principal provider in the field of Hindu Studies, and thus a duly constituted member of the University's community," the Centre's Academic Director Gavin Flood said.

"Culture and religion are of fundamental public concern as we move into the 21st century. This may prove to be an important model for enabling emerging communities to face issues of modernity and globalisation in an intelligent, constructive way," he said.

According to Indian High Commissioner Kamlesh Sharma, the rising profile of India and the remarkable success of the Diaspora has increased interest in the foundations of its culture and traditions. "The affiliation with Oxford University advances the work of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies in providing serious academic focus on Hindu culture and its depth of wisdom and creativity for a wide audience," he said.

The new formal status has been created by Oxford to acknowledge independent institutions working with the university in research and teaching.

An OCHS release quoted Oxford university chancellor Lord Patten of Barnes as saying that the "development fits in well with our goal to attract more Indian students to come and study at Oxford".

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Jun 2006 00:46

No this is still for social engineering.

John Snow · Post by **John Snow** » 23 Jun 2006 01:02

I am glad they did miss the boat, wish Robert Clive did too then.
They know the world knows all that remains is exhausted highness in the great(er) Britain

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 23 Jun 2006 01:22

Why does the "Center for Hindu Studies" have to be in Oxford? Why is it not in India? This is like the "internatioanal" Vedic Journal published by some bigots like Michael Weasel in Harvard and his gang of cronies.

krithivas · Post by **krithivas** » 23 Jun 2006 01:49

That would not be secular. It may offend the sensibilities of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Dalits, BC's, OBC's, MBC, and other supposedly-non-forward-community.

R. Krithivas

Rye wrote:Why does the "Center for Hindu Studies" have to be in Oxford? Why is it not in India? This is like the "internatioanal" Vedic Journal published by some bigots like Michael Weasel in Harvard and his gang of cronies.

Tilak · Post by **Tilak** » 02 Jul 2006 08:42

Spain's PM arriving in India on Sunday
New Delhi, July 1, IRNA

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will pay an official visit to India from July 2-5. This will be the first head of government-level visit from either side in 13 years and comes on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero will be accompanied by Minister of External Affairs and Cooperation Miguel Angel Moratinos. A senior official delegation comprising over 50 senior Spanish business persons and a large media delegation will accompany the Spanish prime minister.

Prime Minister Zapatero will call on the Indian vice-president.

Delegation-level talks will also be held with Indian officials.

Zapatero will also hold a meeting with Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of UPA. Minister for Science & Technology and Ocean Development, Kapil Sibal and Minister of State for External Affairs, Anand Sharma will also call on the Spanish Prime Minister.

Besides holding official meetings in New Delhi on July 03, Prime Minister Zapatero will also be visiting Pune and Mumbai. Zapatero will address the India-Spain Business Meet in New Delhi. The Indian apex business associations CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM will host a business lunch.

In Pune, he will visit Indo-Spanish joint venture companies. In Mumbai, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra will host a dinner for the visiting dignitary.

India's economic linkages with Spain are growing "bilateral trade has increased from around US $ 900 million in 2000 to US $ 2.7 billion in 2005. There is a gradually growing trend of setting up of Indo-Spanish joint ventures in India. Some major Indian companies in automotive, pharmaceutical and IT sectors are present in Spain.

Three MoUs,"on Institutionalisation of Political Dialogue", "mutual Legal Assistance Treaty on Criminal Matters" and "MoU between Technology Development Board (TDB) and Centre for Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI)", will be signed during the visit.

Vivasvat · Post by **Vivasvat** » 24 Aug 2006 00:12

12 Passengers Said Detained From Plane

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - A dozen passengers are now under arrest after their flight got a fighter jet escort back to the Amsterdam airport.

Dutch police say 12 people are in custody, though it's not immediately clear what the charges are. A police spokesman also declined to say what nationalities they are.

An American woman aboard the Northwest Airlines jet says she saw officers handcuff and remove several men who looked to be South Asian.

The flight had left the Netherlands heading for India, when authorities say the crew felt some passengers were acting suspiciously. No one will elaborate on that.

The jet turned around after crossing the German border and picked up a pair of Dutch warplanes that flew back to Amsterdam with it.

Officials say 149 passengers were aboard the plane.

arun · Post by **arun** » 25 Aug 2006 17:09

On the Northwest airline episode that had Dutch F 16's scrambling and 12 fellow Indian citizens detained.

A right step by GOI that should now be followed through with action once again by GOI to ensure a mea culpa from Nortwestern is fortcomming as well :

Friday, August 25, 2006 3:37:00 PM

Dutch envoy summoned, India conveys unhappiness

NEW DELHI: Taking strong notice of the arrest and detention of 12 Indians from a flight in Amsterdam, the government on Friday summoned the Dutch Ambassador here and conveyed its unhappiness over the incident.

Hours after the Mumbai residents were released by the authorities in Amsterdam, Dutch Ambassador Eric Niehe was called to the foreign office by Secretary West U C Tripathy and convyed the Indian government's stand on the matter.

"We have taken a strong notice of this development. It is not only unfortunate it should have never happened. We have asked for a detailed report from our mission in Holland," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told reporters.

The minister said the Dutch government has expressed regret over the incident. He said the Indian mission was compiling a report seeking details from Justice ministry in Holland. The Dutch Ambassador in Delhi was summoned by the foreign office.

Sharma said the government was yet to get the full picture as to what happened. The 12 freed Indians have already left for home and woule be in Mumbai by tonight.

"Our (Indian government's) views have been conveyed at the highest level to the Dutch government. Our External Affairs Ministry officials have been in touch with the Dutch government at the highest level. Our Ambassador (in The Hague) was also in touch with them.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 03 Sep 2006 02:31

India-Germany to sign defence treaty

Agencies | New Delhi

India and Germany will be signing their first-ever joint defence cooperation treaty to provide for transfer of German hi-tech weapons technology and broader interaction between the armed forces of the two countries.

The agreement would be concluded during the high-level visit of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Germany and France beginning tomorrow.

"The agreement would open doors of German technology transfer to India and provide the framework for holding joint naval exercises and more interaction between the armed forces of the two countries", a defence ministry spokesman said here.

In Berlin, Mukherjee would hold talks with Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung and Minister for Technology and Economics Michael Gloss. He will also address the captains of German defence industries.

Mukherjee will also pay homage at the Zehrensdorf Indian garden of remembrance where lie graves of 206 Indian soliders who died as prisoners during the first world war.

L. Ignius · Post by **L. Ignius** » 03 Sep 2006 10:51

It seems like the Dutch sent in their report and GOI is wery wery quiet about it. Didnt quite work out as anticipated, I think.

Let's go Dutch | Karan Thapar - September 3, 2006

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_ ... 300002.htm

Too good NOT to post in full:

How easy it is to get angry but how difficult to accept you might yourself be wrong. Each time Mummy admonished me as a child I would fall foul of this maxim. I daresay most children are the same. But one does expect adults to be more mature. Alas, Iâ€™m afraid the way we, as a nation, have responded to the 12 detained by the Dutch authorities for their behaviour on board Northwest Airlines proves this isnâ€™t always so.

First the facts. Iâ€™ve been told the 12 men boarded with 60 mobile phones between them. They literally had carrier-bags full. Then, oblivious of rules that apply on all airlines, they switched them on, passed them around and, worst of all, began ringing each other. This continued even after the plane took off. Despite repeated announcements they should desist they did not. If that wasnâ€™t enough, they also undid their seat-belts and began to change places whilst the plane was still climbing. One or two were physically pushed back into their seats by airline marshals but that didnâ€™t stop them.

No doubt these details only emerged after the Dutch Embassy communicated exactly what happened to our Ministry of External Affairs. However, there were clear hints from other passengers who reported misbehaviour on board the flight. Nitin Dalal and Bharat Menon in The Hindu and Jagpal Singh and Sharad Menon in Indian Express are the ones I remember. But there must have been several others. The Indian press heard them but didnâ€™t really take in what they said.

As a nation we decided that the 12 were detained because they were Muslim or because they were brown-skinned and Indian. Those who felt a small fastidious need to bolster this assertion with proof found it by asking: would a white passenger have been treated similarly even if he behaved this way? The answer was implicit and obvious. No.

Well, letâ€™s start with that question. The actual answer is yes. Barely six days earlier, an American woman on board a United Airlines flight to Washington attracted suspicious attention, was handcuffed and the plane diverted to Boston. It turned out she was claustrophobic. But her behaviour created doubt and the fact that she had a screwdriver, a lighter and photographs of Pakistan added to those concerns. So clearly, regardless of colour or religion, airline security staff in the West react with panic when certain types of behaviour occur.

The real issue is can our 12 be excused for behaving the way they did? No. First, it was against all rules of airline travel and the claim theyâ€™ve got away with similar behaviour in India is neither excuse nor explanation. Second, to have behaved irresponsibly after the Heathrow scare was foolhardy, if not actually defiant. They may not have meant to be so interpreted but they should have known they would be. Ignorance is not a credible answer when you have flown to Trinidad and claim to have done so many times before. Third, when the western world is suspicious of Muslims behaving irresponsibly to choose to deliberately fall into that category is rank stupidity. But if you insist let it be at your own risk.

So whatâ€™s the conclusion Iâ€™m driving at? Actually, there are three. I donâ€™t think the Dutch were wrong. Once the Northwest Airlines plane chose to return to Amsterdam it would have been irresponsible not to thoroughly investigate the 12. And, frankly, even if you think the reaction of the crew and airline marshals was exaggerated it was, in the circumstances, understandable. As a frequent flier, Iâ€™d rather an over-reaction than complacency. At 35,000 feet, you canâ€™t take chances.

Second, were we right to demand an apology before we knew the full facts? If this ever happens again â€” and it might â€” I would advise discretion and silence until all the details are known. Itâ€™s never too late to ask someone to say sorry. But to hastily demand an apology and get it wrong is a little embarrassing.

Third, a lesson for all of us: whilst we must never accuse someone because heâ€™s Muslim, donâ€™t excuse him on those grounds either. Regardless of faith, dress or beard, stupid behaviour is indefensible. In times of stress it provokes panicky and harsh reactions. When that happens the fault lies more in the behaviour than in the over-reaction. And, without doubt, our 12 behaved like yokels.

None of this is to deny thereâ€™s racism and the West is often guilty of it. And there have been racist responses to the Heathrow scare. But what happened to our 12 was different.

Finally, before accusing others shouldnâ€™t we check if weâ€™re free of the same prejudice? Itâ€™s easy to get angry â€” itâ€™s a lot more difficult to accept you are at fault yourself.

Laks · Post by **Laks** » 04 Sep 2006 19:33

UK Conservative leader David Cameron is in India.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archiv ... india.html

He is blogging his tour as well!
http://www.dcindia06.blogspot.com/

We in Britain should be especially interested in the huge changes going on in India. We share so many ties, particularly the many people of Indian origin who live in Britain and make an enormous contribution to it.

Our relationship with India goes deep. But I think it can and should go deeper. Our special relationship with America is well known. But as the worldâ€™s centre of gravity moves from Europe and the Atlantic to the south and the east, I think it's time for Britain and India to forge a new special relationship for the twenty-first century.

For too long, politics in this country has been obsessed with Europe and America. Of course these relationships are, and will continue to be, vital. But serious and responsible leadership today means engaging with much more energy in the parts of the world where our strategic interests will increasingly lie.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 04 Sep 2006 19:41

Laks wrote:
He is blogging his tour as well!
http://www.dcindia06.blogspot.com/
Man in a shed said...

It would be great if you could bring back some of the ambition and hope for the future that India seems to have ( at least seen from my visits ).

We need more than just well run government and health services - also a sense of purpose and real progress. Whilst they have tremendous problems and challenges I still envy India its optimism.

1:34 AM
tapestry said...

Tell Liam Fox and William Hague not to come back with endless 'China is the future megapower' stories. Countries always show the good stuff, and hide the downside, making it hard for politicians to see the balance. India is shockingly poor, but they might well protect you from seeing it.

2:26 AM

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr Cameron,

As an Indian let me first of all thank your country's role in the creation of this soup of a nation, but also convey my annoyance about the British role which made us lose much of our Muslim brethern. But all is good now, and will be better tomorrow.
Enjoy
SunnyO

Vick · Post by **Vick** » 05 Sep 2006 20:22

Cameron wants special relationship with India

Laks · Post by **Laks** » 05 Sep 2006 23:02

I guess 'Shadow' Chancellor in the UK means the finance guy in the Conservative Party.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 37,00.html
The future is Indian: so wake up, Whitehall
George Osborne
Each month five million new mobile-phone users sign up there. But Britain is missing out on the bonanza

we need to get rid of the patronising assumption that the only thing India has to offer is a giant back office. I have met here Indian companies who have bought pharmaceutical factories in Huddersfield, opened call centres in Northern Ireland and, in the case of Tata Consultancy Services, have UK operations that employ more than 7,000 people. Yet many tell me that the British Government, unlike our competitors, still does not see this as a partnership of equals. If Britain is to compete in the new global economy, it is time to think again.

George Osborne is the Shadow Chancellor

Nice comment from this dude:

As an American living in London and having offices in India, I can speak of my own experience. Our office in India does research on telecom technolgies, and I often find it amusing when others presume we run our call center in India. I find that the Brits are totally unaware of reality and have a very narrow world view. Perhaps still holding on to a cultural or traditional view or perhaps they think Britain still rules half the world! It's time you guys wake up, visit Gurgaon near Delhi.

Ron Capellini, London / Atlanta, UK

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 06 Sep 2006 01:02

Seems we missed this somehow

. RahulG's views on certain issues in an interview in The Times. Has anyone seen an interview by him in any Indian newspaper?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... _1,00.html

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 06 Sep 2006 05:21

JEWhad JEWhad JEWhad
http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=22814
MAzari Madam from LAwhore ,Says Bush may push Ranga- Khush

In any event, at the rate Bush is proceeding down the slippery definitional slope, he may soon resolve our dilemma for us by defining America's war against terror as simply a war against Islam. He is already getting close and there seems no force strong enough in the US, and amongst his allies, to stop this madness. Or perhaps they do not want to?

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 06 Sep 2006 05:31

http://www.time.com/time/asia/news/inte ... 44,00.html

Another Article on RG by Alex "Got Drain?" Perry, dated Sep. 3

JEM, no sign of any RG interviews in Indian media...but something will appear either in HT or Indian Express surely...

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 06 Sep 2006 07:21

India links partnership to arms sales by France

PARIS: India and France are keen on jointly developing cruise missiles, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told presspersons after talks with his French counterpart, Michele Alliot-Marie, here on Monday.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been talking to MBDA, the French-European missile manufacturer, and is close to reaching a technical arrangement for joint development.

During the talks at the Defence Ministry, India expressed interest in French participation in the co-production of state-of-the-art weapons, sensors, communications and surveillance systems.

Mr. Mukherjee linked the Indo-French strategic partnership with that of arms sales by Paris to Pakistan and China. New Delhi, he said, would like a French response to a strategic partnership with India to be reflected in its arms sales policies to China and Pakistan and investment in India's defence industry.

New Delhi is using this clout to restrict French arms sales not just to Pakistan, but China as well. According to Indian officials, if the French sell, for instance, submarines to both New Delhi and Islamabad, it creates a major issue.

Mr. Mukherjee raised with Ms. Alliot-Marie the issue of export clearances for the transfer of technology relating to "ring laser gyro," a component used in high-tech navigation systems. He also referred to "proposals" relating to the Air Force, and pointed out that certain technologies had either not been provided or were withdrawn by the French side. On the Scorpene submarine deal, the French agreed to set up a "task force" to enable the implementation of the contract signed last year.

India said it had no intention of withdrawing its contingent from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. The French not only command the UNIFIL but have also taken

India is using it's clout to shut off the European arms spigot to our friendly neighbours. Shows a new found confidence in negotiations. If we can squeeze the Frenchies on the Marlins, then the Pakis will be in a state of panic....may have to go to the Germans as an alternate source.

This is just the beginning....the real games begin when the negotiations for MRCA start in earnest.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 06 Sep 2006 21:05

Laks wrote:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 37,00.html
The future is Indian: so wake up, Whitehall
George Osborne

I like the Indian people; they are hard working and have good values. Their values, though, came from us; they kept them, our people lost them. I spent a Christmas with an Indian family and they were more Engish than the English and so polite. They play cricket as well so that puts them high up in my esteem. This Government is now blind to what's really happening in the world. Don't worry about China, they will change one day (it's already changing, especially when the old Communists die off). Britain is more a Communist country than China!

George Birch, Bampton Devon, UK

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 07 Sep 2006 20:23

BLiar,Bush's pood;e and sancho panza is on the roeps,gasping for breath,desperate to go out in the style of a Roman "triumph"!However,this latter day Nero,is more likely to deaprt from the stage in the manner of another Roman,Julius Caesar! "Mischief,thou art afoot" indeed in the Palace of Westminister and the corridors of Whitehall are fille dwith intrigue and conspiracy.

Goodbye Tiny Blur and good riddance.Your legacy will be a footnote in history,clubbed along with your White House war criminal,as the two "Buffoons and Butchers of Baghdad".

Blair has nothing more to say to us: he should go at once
By Boris Johnson

(Filed: 07/09/2006)

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Whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. You have only to read the latest memo from Downing Street to see that something in the bunker has finally snapped. Maybe they are putting Orozac in the water cooler. Maybe they've disconnected the television. Maybe they have special dummy editions of the papers, produced by Alastair Campbell's gnomes in the dungeons and then brought up on silver salvers to where Tony and Cherie recline on their couches and dangle grapes into their crazy mouths.

Here we are, with British soldiers being killed almost daily in Iraq and Afghanistan on missions that are growing in scale and horror. We have rises in gun crime, rises in unemployment, rises in interest rates â€” and these flaming lunatics in Downing Street seriously expect the nation to line the streets with bunting and shower Tony with confetti as he goes on a six-month lap of honour, a "farewell tour" in which he accepts the praises of a smiling people.

Rather than sorting out Iraq, it is proposed that he should "reconnect" with his public and spend his glorious swansong on shows such as Blue Peter and Songs of Praise. We must rebuild public affection for the grand finale, say the Downing Street maniacs, thought to be Lord Gould, Jonathan Powell and Benjamin Wegg-Prosser. "He needs to go with the crowds wanting more. He should be the star who won't even play that last encore."

advertisementI don't know which of the three wrote that last sentence, but he must be clinically insane. Do they seriously imagine that, after nine years of irritation, culminating in the Iraq war, they can persuade the British public to give way to a fever of Blair-o-mania, with women throwing their knickers at his departing beam and men sobbing and begging him to play that "last encore"?

How monstrous, how sickening, that they should target poor old Songs of Praise, watched by millions of lusty religious warblers in a state of apolitical innocence. They want to sing hymns. They don't want Tony Blair popping out from behind a pew and using the programme to reinsert himself in public esteem. They want to Praise the Lord, not the blasted Prime Minister.

And yet the really terrifying thing is that Blair seems to share the assumptions behind the Downing Street memo. He wants to go out with that sensation of triumph. He wants the laurels on his brow, and the captive tribesmen manacled before his chariot, and the matrons ululating his name from the rooftops.

In his indifference to reality, he is chilling, Neronian. This is no longer about the interests of the country. It is not even about the Labour Party. It is all about him, his desire to prosecute his long-running feud with Gordon Brown, and his vainglorious desire to be well remembered â€” to have a "legacy".

Well, it is not a good enough reason to remain in office. The point of being prime minister is to serve the interests of the country, not himself. It is obvious that Blair intends to spend his last year simply luxuriating in power, while all 3,000-odd government spin Ã©doctors (or as many as remain loyal) squander untold millions burnishing his image.

It is a disgraceful project, and it must be prevented. I say this with no selfish, strategic or party objective. In fact, from the Tory point of view, it would be ideal if he stayed on and on and on. Blair has the distinction of bringing civil war not just to Iraq, but also to the Labour Party. It is quite stupefying that SiÃ´n Simon MP â€” the man we all assumed would be Ney to Blair's Napoleon â€” should revolt in this way. How many ministers and understrappers resigned yesterday, because their Prime Minister would not resign immediately himself? Was it six or seven? For 10 years, we in the Tory party have became used to Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing; and so it is with a happy amazement that we watch as the madness engulfs the Labour Party.

There is a case for hoping that Blair hangs on, and that the violence intensifies, and that, when Brown finally takes over, the damage is irreparable and the earth sown with salt. Let them spend another six months in strife, and then the whole party will be riddled with resentments of Bosnian durability.

Yet even as I make this case, I feel a sense of weariness. Whatever the narrow calculations of party-political interest, they are outweighed by my overwhelming feeling that Blair has had his chips. If we are going to have Gordon Brown or Alan Johnson in six months or a year, why can't we have them now? Let's see what they have to say, and get stuck into them. What's the point of a Blair Queen's Speech in November, when we know that none of its promises will be enacted by Blair?

It was absolutely fatal for Downing Street to concede this week that he would definitely be gone by next May 31, because that means there is no reason why he should not go by February; and, if he might go by February, there is no reason why he should not go now.

Except one, as we discover. He wants his "farewell tour", complete with cheering crowds at "iconic buildings". We should not waste a penny of taxpayers' money in supporting this fantasy. He should scrap his trip to the Middle East, not least since Brown (or Johnson) may take a very different line next year. The venture has no function beyond show-boating and self-puffery.

Blair has failed in his great ambition to take Britain into the euro; he has failed to reform the welfare state. He has done some good things and he has some excellent qualities. But he has nothing more to say to the British public except that he wants to give them another six months to show that they really love him and will really miss him.

That is no basis on which to claim the tenancy of Downing Street. If he wishes to avoid an assassination, he should stay not upon the order of his going, but go at once.

Boris Johnson is MP for Henley

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News: Blair's leadership goes into meltdown

Comments
Well said Boris, though ideally both he and Labour should go as soon as possible, and the repair job for the past 10 years of destruction can begin before its truly too late.

The failings under the 'Bliar' government are too long to list, but sadly the identity of this Great country are in tatters, and his legacy will be that he has sold this country out, to Europe, the do-gooders, the nanny state and political correctness, as well as all of the long lasting implications that they bring with them.
Posted by Chris on September 7, 2006 2:29 PM
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shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 16 Sep 2006 06:20

Change policy towards India, Sikhs to tell British govt

Europe's first â€“ and only â€“ Sikh political party is to call on Sunday from a podium shared by at least one British minister and several MPs, for Britain to change its "policy towards India ...and take a tougher stand on abuse of human rights, discrimination against minorities, degradation of the environment and economic assistance for the Punjab".

At its third national convention, expected to be attended by 10,000 Sikhs, the Sikh Federation, which was established in 2003, called for Britain to stand true to its "moral and historic responsibility to help Sikhs regain their lost sovereignty".

Sikh Federation officials told TOI that they expected to share the limelight with cabinet office minister Pat McFadden, Rob Marris Labour Party MP for the heavily Sikh-dominant Wolverhampton South-West constituency and Sayeeda Warsi, the vice-chair of Conservative Party.

The convention is described as the largest political gathering of Sikhs in the UK. The federation, which has run a high-pitched and concerted campaign for Sikh rights across Europe admitted it was flirting with controversy in suggesting a wholesale change in British foreign policy at this point of time.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 16 Sep 2006 06:46

I'm all for carving out a Khalistan somewhere in South England for these folk.

Right after we create Pakdesh, the British muslim homeland.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 22 Sep 2006 07:06

Dutch diplomat drops mask, curses Delhi

Arnold Parzer, the most senior diplomat after the ambassador and his deputy at the Royal Netherlands Embassy in New Delhi, recently told Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad about the Capital: "Anything that can go wrong, does go wrong; everyone interferes with everyone else; the people are a darn nuisance; the climate is hell; the city a garbage dump." He also said, "New Delhi is the most miserable place I have ever lived in."

Parzer, 63, who has been the counsellor for agriculture for the past three years, is reportedly in the doghouse for his comments. Shashi U Tripathi, secretary (West) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said the remarks were "in bad taste". Another official said, "You do not trash your host country in the press."

After the interview appeared on September 9, the Indian embassy in The Hague sent its translated copy to the MEA, seeking redress. When the joint secretary (Europe-West) summoned Dutch Ambassador Eric Niehe to the South Block, the latter said he had "taken the officer to task".

Hans Schutte, a spokesman for the Dutch Embassy, told HT on Thursday, "The statements in question do not in any way reflect the opinion of the Netherlands government."

Since Parzer completes his tenure next month, the MEA has decided not to issue a dÃ©marche.

Raju · Post by **Raju** » 22 Sep 2006 07:12

It probably takes a lot for 63 yr old man to blow his top. But dilli genuinely has a lot of what it takes..

Bharat Rakshak

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