India-US Strategic News and Discussion

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 30 May 2011 14:22

RajeshA wrote:
At the diplomatic level, best is not to make a big deal of the issue but always pay in kind.

Exactly what you suggested Rajeshji. No need to mistreat the diplobrat (nice term btw

) but keep him/her locked up for atleast a few days. Let the foggy bottom diplomats sweat a bit. Tit for tat indeed.

Harassment of our diplomats by the americans has been going on for too long now, and its time to put an end to this nonsense. American diplomats should be treated the same way ours are treated by them.

And if the US press goes rabid wrt India...who gives a sh*t? We have been getting hammered in the western press for the last 50 years for everything from 'oppression of biss loving kashmiris' to 'human rights violations' and 'oppression of wimmens'. Why should we worry about it now?

If we desist from protecting our diplomats out of fear of american disapproval or 'military action', we might as well disband the Indian Parliament and President's office, and sign on officially as a US dependent colony.

PS: Remember the case of Michael Faye?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_P._Fay
Even tiny Singapore showed a middle finger to the US when it came to implementing its laws, despite Bill Clinton's personal intervention. India is much bigger and more powerful.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 30 May 2011 14:31

^^
+1.

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 30 May 2011 14:33

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 30 May 2011 14:41

rajanb wrote:maybe in parallel go to some human Rights organisation. Lot of intellectuals out there to recruit for the cause.

You must realize, the left wing rah-rah types are extension of foreign policy of GoTUS. They do not take sides with external people against GoTUS for value systems.

Their utility is limited to using "useful idiots" and or sell-outs outside for (agent) Orange revolution.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 30 May 2011 22:22

rajanb wrote:maybe in parallel go to some human Rights organisation. Lot of intellectuals out there to recruit for the cause.

Your understanding of US is limited. Human rights BS is not there to castigate US or its lackeys like UK, its there to talk about India oppressing the oh so poor Kashmiri Muslims or embarassing other civilizational rivals of US. As SankuJi said, they & their leftist Indian counterparts are "useful idiots". Rajiv Malhotra points out in his book how human rights BS is invoked to further evangelical prosyletization objectives in India. Enough said.

But guys, I did some googling, and noticed that this barabaric treatment of Krithika Biswas in complete violation of Geneva accords on diplomatic immunity has not made the US media scene. In fact, I seafrched through NYT, and couldn't find even report. Is this because of the SDRE factor as expected, or is it because of some other reason?

Altair · Post by **Altair** » 30 May 2011 22:30

I am not a particular fan of diplomacy but I think SD types are in complete disconnect with WH. It is like the right hand has absolutely no idea what the left is doing. The best response now would be to restrict the embassy staff to the city itself. No more junkets,no more meeting nobody. They must be aggressively followed wherever they go until they snap. All diplomats must be groped.Jeez I actually said that!

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 30 May 2011 22:51

Altair wrote:I am not a particular fan of diplomacy but I think SD types are in complete disconnect with WH. It is like the right hand has absolutely no idea what the left is doing. The best response now would be to restrict the embassy staff to the city itself. No more junkets,no more meeting nobody. They must be aggressively followed wherever they go until they snap. All diplomats must be groped.Jeez I actually said that!

SD is not there anymore and most of the foriegn policy is being done by Pentagon

Altair · Post by **Altair** » 30 May 2011 23:05

Acharya wrote: SD is not there anymore and most of the foriegn policy is being done by Pentagon

I think that explains everything that is going on in our part of the world. thanks!

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 31 May 2011 10:14

Court sets date for pre-trial in 1984 riots case

A US Federal Court has set September 21 for pre-trial oral arguments in a case against urban development minister Kamal Nath and Congress for their alleged role in the November 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 31 May 2011 13:21

Time to file some cases in the Patna High Court against cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Feith, Chalabi etc for the genocide of peace-loving Iraqi people.

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 31 May 2011 13:42

What about Warren Anderson ?

Advait · Post by **Advait** » 31 May 2011 13:50

Guys, we all know what needs to be done to get justice for Krittika Biswas.

Throw the teenage daughter of some US diplomat in Tihar and don't release her until US Fed gov, NYC Mayor and police chief all issue an apology. The school prinicpal and the Chinese guy who did it are thrown in jail (I believe that there's a case to be made against the principal too). And millions in a court settlement for Krittika Biswas. Also, chai biskoot with Obama.

But we know nothing remotely like this is going to happen.

Why? Because our babus and netas are afraid of US retaliation. Their interests will be hurt, not ours (the aam adami). In fact, GOI has and will continue to try to cover it up. I read the report which said the events happened in Feb. And we are only now hearing about it. That itself tells you everything you need to know.

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 31 May 2011 13:59

vera_k wrote:Court sets date for pre-trial in 1984 riots case

A US Federal Court has set September 21 for pre-trial oral arguments in a case against urban development minister Kamal Nath and Congress for their alleged role in the November 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Hope , some people file cases against the 2Gs and MMS also.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 31 May 2011 19:43

who is SD?

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 31 May 2011 20:25

State Department.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 31 May 2011 20:30

Chinmayanand wrote:
vera_k wrote:Court sets date for pre-trial in 1984 riots case
Hope , some people file cases against the 2Gs and MMS also.

This is not funny at all. It shows how ineffective the justice system has become in India. If there is one thing I would import from massa to desh, it would be their law-and-order and justice system.

Yes it may have an unpleasant Krittika Biswas here and there but if she has a case, she can be assured of receiving $Ms from the guilty. That is fair IMO.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 31 May 2011 21:40

Indo- American Chamber of Commerce Announces the Curtain Raiser of 7th Indo- American Corporate Excellence (I-ACE) Awards in Mumbai Data file
Awards ceremony to be held on 1st July 2011
http://www.businesswireindia.com/PressR ... 2mid=27052

India, US sign cyber-security cooperation agreement
Anirban Bhaumik, New Delhi, May 27, DHNS:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/164 ... urity.html

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 01 Jun 2011 00:56

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/image ... /rel9e.pdf
Interviews with 1,007 adult Americans conducted by telephone
by Opinion Research Corporation on May 24-26, 2011. The
margin of sampling error for results based on the total sample is
plus or minus 3 percentage point

Very Mostly Mostly Very No
favorable favorable unfavorable unfavorable opinion

Great Britain
May 24-26, 2011 38% 51% 6% 4% 1%
Pakistan
May 24-26, 2011 3% 13% 47% 34% 2%
India
May 24-26, 2011 11% 58% 22% 7% 2%

Nandu · Post by **Nandu** » 01 Jun 2011 05:22

Other stats on TSP from that poll. 71% think TSP is either unfriendly to or an enemy of America.
Same percentage thinks that aid to TSP should be stopped altogether or cut.

anmol · Post by **anmol** » 01 Jun 2011 05:41

Prem wrote:http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/image ... /rel9e.pdf
Interviews with 1,007 adult Americans conducted by telephone
by Opinion Research Corporation on May 24-26, 2011. The
margin of sampling error for results based on the total sample is
plus or minus 3 percentage point
Very Mostly Mostly Very No
favorable favorable unfavorable unfavorable opinion

Great Britain
May 24-26, 2011 38% 51% 6% 4% 1%
Pakistan
May 24-26, 2011 3% 13% 47% 34% 2%
India
May 24-26, 2011 11% 58% 22% 7% 2%

From the report :-

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 01 Jun 2011 06:08

Read the next nation down: Israel and compare it to India.

India 11% 58% 22% 7% 2%

Israel 23% 42% 24% 9% 2%

Overall, in the 'favorable' category, India and Israel are equal. On the unfavorable, India has fewer negatives than Israel. Draw your own conclusions.

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 01 Jun 2011 06:36

CRamS wrote:
UBanerjee wrote: Ironically I know quite a few deracinated Jews as well, there are many in the US.
I would say very few. But by & large, all of them are culturally Jewish, may not be fundamentalist or even devout in their practice of Judaisam. But every one, fundamentalist, devout, or not is committed to the cause of Israel. One tiny bit of suggestion that Israel ought to make some modicum of concessions to Palestinians, and boy, will you see every one of them and their apologits come down like a ton of bricks.

Forget them, you will get tonnes of BRFites descending on you too :rotfl:BRFites and some select Indians have a soft corner for Israel. Possibly it could be because of their enmity with Islam and Arabs.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 01 Jun 2011 07:48

^^^
I for one believe that it is absolutely essential for Israel to not only survive but expand and thrive in the region where Christianity and Islam were born. if we think on a timeline of centuries, Israel could play the kind of role in the Middle East that India needed someone to play a 1000 years ago. had there been a powerful Jewish state in ME when Islam was born, by GOD, the history of Bharat and the entire world would have been radically different. Judaism needs to grow, in terms of demographics and geography. we need to understand that X-tianity and Islam could just be temporary phases in World History. alternate philosophies could very well replace these two "Desert-block" (Anurag Sanghi's vocabulary) theologies. for that to happen, Judaism must thrive in the birth place of these two religions. Judaism is much more richer than the other two. for one, there is room for a lot of personal feelings and emotions to be expressed, without the fear of getting labelled heresy.

the only concern I have is that Israel presently is hand in hand with Anglo Saxon imperialism. but I find it hard to blame them for it, b/c they don't have any other options. no other nation is willing or capable enough to give them the kind of security that they need b/c of neighborhood.

but once again thinking over long term, trends are emerging that we should be watching. any possible weakening or reversal of Islam from the Indian subcontinent and Iran can set the dominoes rolling for Islam. it is a religion which can't sustain losses. one loss, especially in this day and age, will be a nail in the coffin of Islam. another trend is the demographic change of America. another is India's rise.

it is too early to say, but if these trends play out, we'll be looking at a radically different world in 100-150 years. history is not linear. it is full of surprises and Black Swans.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 03 Jun 2011 01:30

Military's first Hindu chaplain brings a diverse background

She feels the same decades later. The U.S. Army, where she holds the rank of captain, and the United States itself, where she immigrated just months before the 9/11 attacks, were founded on the idea that people can be united while worshipping differently, she said.
Advertisement

Dharm, 40, has been named the first Hindu chaplain to serve the Department of Defense. Hinduism, with nearly a billion adherents worldwide — but fewer than 1,000 active servicemembers, according to Pentagon statistics — was the largest of the world faiths not represented by a chaplain.

Though the Army hasn’t yet publicized her appointment, the rumor has spread among Hindu servicemembers around the world. And Dharm, a chaplain on the medical staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, has started getting emails from them.

“I’m already on the job,” she said. “There’s this tremendous sense of hope and relief that there is someone who understands their story at a deeper level, coming from the background I do.”

Still, most of her time at Walter Reed is spent reaching across faiths to minister to anyone who needs it. That’s a key responsibility of military chaplains, she said.

Manny · Post by **Manny** » 03 Jun 2011 02:44

Prem and anmol,

Thank you for that post.

IF you see the democrats vs Republicans who has unfavorable opinion of Pakistan, there is more than 12% more of Republicans who have unfavorable opinions pf Pakistan. I always knew its the lefties of the US not unlike Lefties of India who seemed to like Pakistan and seem to have a soft corner for the terrorists and seem to take great pleasure when Hindus are killed or hurt.

If you look at that afpak website, many of those articles and editorials are by the American lefitists that seemed to apologize for the terrorists of Pakistan

Cosmo_R · Post by **Cosmo_R** » 03 Jun 2011 05:23

@Devesh^^^: I agree Israel needs to survive and even expand. However, in the vein of Woody Allen, Jews are Jews—their own worst enemies. Demographic studies (just Google) show that by 2018, Israeli Arabs (currently 20%) will be more than half of the population.

So what is Israel going to do? getting more land is not the issue when the land around contains more Arabs. Couple that with an increasingly strident orthodox Jewish segment that demands that the reformed Jews need to get with it, you have the makings of a disaster. The Orthos are are doing a creep on the freedoms and liberalism of the reformers. Sound familiar? That's always happens to non-secular states.

Israel has choices: 1. Build walls within walls, 2. Kill the Arabs (shades of Nazi Germany and not acceptable to 99% of Jews) or 3. Expand the concept of Judaism--IOW who is a Jew. I would expect some movement to discovering more 'lost tribes' in NE India and maybe a 'Hinjew" connection

Just kidding the Onion.com has a whole satirical piece on it.

harbans · Post by **harbans** » 03 Jun 2011 20:26

While Pakibarians are getting heard in courts in Chicago and New Years, aam Joe 6 pack is looking at Indians in the US this way:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1JP17Q.DTL

6 or 7 finalists of Indian origin and 4 winners in 13 years shows up on the priorities of both nations quite clearly.

Course these 2 also count in aam Joe eye balls (Geography bee and miss teen MA):

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/ ... 696139.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/ ... 586201.cms

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 03 Jun 2011 20:33

Watched the finals last night. The winner was Sukanya Roy from Pennsylvania. She was amazing in her understanding of word origins and spelling. She wants to be in International Relations. With her command of word origins, she would already know a lot about the people, places and things!

Most of the words that were given were not even English! Looks like the sponsors have run out of English words and are delving for obscure words from all over the world and claim they are part of English. Quite unfair to the kids but they still did it.

I liked the sporting spirit of Arvind Mahankali and the runner up Laura Newcomb.

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 03 Jun 2011 21:11

Jimmy Kimmel had a bit about the ubiquity of desis among spelling bee winners.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 04 Jun 2011 18:42

India-U.S. partnership to help stability in South Asia: Robert Gates

US had one Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, India has half-a-dozen: US think tank

Mort Walker · Post by **Mort Walker** » 04 Jun 2011 19:57

harbans wrote:While Pakibarians are getting heard in courts in Chicago and New Years, aam Joe 6 pack is looking at Indians in the US this way:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1JP17Q.DTL

6 or 7 finalists of Indian origin and 4 winners in 13 years shows up on the priorities of both nations quite clearly.

Course these 2 also count in aam Joe eye balls (Geography bee and miss teen MA):

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/ ... 696139.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/ ... 586201.cms

Harbans,

Take a look at the US National Merit Scholar finalists and US Presidential Scholars (much more selective than NMS) to see how many Indian origin kids there are. You will see about 10% Indian origin and 30% Chinese+SE Asia origin. Very very few names that are Muslim in origin, perhaps less than half-dozen.

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 04 Jun 2011 21:46

Decoding India's MMRCA Decision - Ashley Tellis

A long and involved piece detailing how the US planes were rejected on technical grounds rather than political or strategic ones, and what they could have done about it.

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 05 Jun 2011 22:55

At long last, something I have been saying for about 10 years:

Should (Could) America and Pakistan's Bond Be Broken?

Combined with the recent Russian navy's behavior this convergence should accelerate.

rajanb · Post by **rajanb** » 06 Jun 2011 14:04

US had one Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, ... think tank

From this article:

"The fundamental problem is that the Pakistani military and intelligence service has not been held accountable, over a long period of time, adequately, by its partners or by its own people. It has made it difficult for its own people to hold the services accountable by often ruling directly, or suppressing those who question the military's supremacy," he said.

I think instead of the word "supremacy" he should have used "dictatorial mindset"

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 06 Jun 2011 19:32

WSJ Article..
India Confirms $4.1 Billion Boeing Order

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 06 Jun 2011 21:25

A friend of Congress party is running for US President.

Santorum kicks off 2012 bid in Pennsylvania

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 07 Jun 2011 06:11

The decision to buy C-17s is part of the "quid-pro-quo" promised by MMS for the N-deal.The US was hoping to swing the MMRCA deal,but an astute IAF and Def. Min. who could not be swayed saw to that,as the C-17 is far less crucial to the IAF than its cutting-edge multi-role req.,as we also operate a large fleet of Il-76s some of which will be upgraded whose logistic support is being offered on a global tender.

While deeply disappointed at losing the MMRCA race,which would've given the US the inside track to control of the IAF's future strategy,and capturing it into the US's orbit of allies,the "CONSOLATION" prize of C-17s is not to be sniffed at.It is a huge order whih will please US industry no end,apart from Pres."O" and ensures Boeing's desperate attempts at keeping C-17 production line open for a few more years .The cost per aircraft to India is going to be definitely higher than that of earlier sales (when one reads the fine print),that is the price we will be paying.Political developments at home are another factor why some mega-deals are being rushed through in case the political "dam" bursts!

We now have to see where the two highly contested helo contests with Russia for heavy-lift helos and attack helos go.Add to that the req. for naval ASW helos and light utiity helos go being fought mainly between Europe and Russia,will see how India divides its defence "cake" between its old and new pals and suppliers.

UBanerjee · Post by **UBanerjee** » 07 Jun 2011 07:49

Power to the Peaceful: 11 Black Yogis

Heralding the use of yoga and Indic philosophy among prominent black figures in the US.

Raja Bose · Post by **Raja Bose** » 07 Jun 2011 08:14

UBanerjee wrote:Decoding India's MMRCA Decision - Ashley Tellis

A long and involved piece detailing how the US planes were rejected on technical grounds rather than political or strategic ones, and what they could have done about it.

At one point he says:

In fact, the lack of political content
in the Indian ministry of defence’s
decision-making actually worked to
America’s disadvantage in this competition...

and in the next breath we have this gem:

While India ought to review
the merits of this procurement process
for the future...

So India needs to make its procurement process corrupt and politically motivated at the cost of its soldiers' lives to enable the Great Khan to peddle his warez.

Have they ever heard of the term "self-interest" given that it is the bedrock of their own strategy.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 07 Jun 2011 08:18

Raja Bose wrote:
So India needs to make its procurement process corrupt and politically motivated at the cost of its soldiers' lives to enable the Great Khan to peddle his warez. Have they ever heard of the term "self-interest" given that it is the bedrock of their own strategy.

What he is saying is that politicized defence ministry would have been penetrated easily by the US lobby easily.
They may try to change the system in the future.

Indian ministry of defence’s decision-making actually worked to America’s disadvantage in this competition...

The lobby may look for political alliance at every layer of the govt.