Sridharan Sir, It was expected onlee... Lets forget the past... chalta hai... lets look forward...SSridhar wrote:Just heard Ms. Nirupama Rao say that "we have to look forward and not dwell on the past . . .". I switched the TV off after that. Now, for Chanakyan interpretation please . . .
THIMPHU: Breaking the ice, India and Pakistan on Thursday decided to resume dialogue at the level of foreign ministers as Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yousuf Raza Gilani met here in their first substantive engagement in less than a year.
Asked whether the foreign ministers-level talks amounted to resumption of the Composite Dialogue process between the two countries, Rao said she does not want to get into details about the nomenclature of the talks.
To another question, she declined to go into details of the issues that would constitute the talks, saying "all concerns" would be discussed.
Pakistan Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud is alive, says spy agencyExclusive: Setback for CIA after Pakistan intelligence official admits drone attack failed to kill the Pakistan Taliban commander
Declan Walsh in Islamabad
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 April 2010 18.23 BST
Pakistani Taliban commander Hakimullah Mehsud speaks to the press in 2008. Mehsud was presumed dead in a US drone strike in January but is now thought to be alive. Photograph: A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images
The Taliban leader in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, survived an American drone strike in January and is alive and well, a senior official with Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency told the Guardian today.
Mehsud was reported to have died in a CIA drone strike in South Waziristan in January but, although Pakistan's interior minister claimed he had been killed, the death was never confirmed by either US or Pakistani intelligence.
Today the senior intelligence official said he had seen video footage of the missile attack on Mehsud but other intelligence had since confirmed the insurgent leader survived. He declined to elaborate further.
"He is alive," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He had some wounds but he is basically OK."
Mehsud's apparent survival will be a blow to the CIA, which intensified efforts to kill the flamboyant young Taliban leader early this year after he appeared in a video alongside an al-Qaida operative who killed seven American spies at a base in southern Afghanistan in late December.
The failed attack on Mehsud came at the start of an unprecedented onslaught by CIA-controlled unmanned aircraft in the tribal belt. The CIA has carried out 38 attacks so far this year, the official said, compared with 49 in the whole of 2009.
"The US government is under pressure because it is unable to achieve much in Afghanistan. This is one way of hitting their al-Qaida enemies, as they define them," the official said.
Are they going to coin a new term for these talks? Looks like the words "Composite Dialogue" brings bad images and memories.James B wrote:Asked whether the foreign ministers-level talks amounted to resumption of the Composite Dialogue process between the two countries, Rao said she does not want to get into details about the nomenclature of the talks.
To another question, she declined to go into details of the issues that would constitute the talks, saying "all concerns" would be discussed.
A strong opposition and somewhat of a public interest is needed to keep govt.s under check in a democracy. Unfortunately Bharat has neither at the moment. It is scary if some dhimmi gets to the top and does irreparable damage..Sri wrote:Sridharan Sir, It was expected onlee... Lets forget the past... chalta hai... lets look forward...SSridhar wrote:Just heard Ms. Nirupama Rao say that "we have to look forward and not dwell on the past . . .". I switched the TV off after that. Now, for Chanakyan interpretation please . . .
I think that might not be really true. After SeS, MMS was taken for task on the talks issue. Then there was a BIG hullabaloo on the Secretary level talks. I think MMS has more or less paid what could be extracted off him on 'Talking with Pakistan' issue. For the time being he will be careful to call anything composite... In time nomenclature will be changed and this time there will be pakoras with chai and biscoot...Sen_K wrote:Opposition does not reap dividends on Pakistan issue. Rather issues like IPL, corruption, price rise have a strong impact on our aam aadmi.
So, its a waste of time for opposition in opposing MMS' policy on Pakistan no?
This is exactly what Siddharth Vardharajan has been yelling about in his last 3-4 articles, about how we shouldn't worry about what the talks are called and should move on etc.Asked whether the foreign ministers-level talks amounted to resumption of the Composite Dialogue process between the two countries, Rao said she does not want to get into details about the nomenclature of the talks
VikasRaina wrote:Gagan, I wonder how many people in Pakistan would be watching English News channels of India and even if that is the reason, what forces newspapers to indulge in ==.
Moreover would it mean that if we let Paki news channels to be beamed in India, we will see a change in the tone and tenor of the guests on the channel.
Exactly. The consumer for Indian news channels and Newspapers is almost 100% Indian. Anyways how many Pakis in Pakistan would be watching English sources of media who are prime paddlers of the == BS.chetak wrote:VikasRaina wrote:Gagan, I wonder how many people in Pakistan would be watching English News channels of India and even if that is the reason, what forces newspapers to indulge in ==.
Moreover would it mean that if we let Paki news channels to be beamed in India, we will see a change in the tone and tenor of the guests on the channel.
Its the deep gora and mideast influence on our DDM channels that is responsible for the lies of ==.
If paki channels were allowed, they would go the way of currently available mideast channels, many illegally distributed in most cities, with a surfeit of mullahs pontificating.
Additionally the paki channels will flood you with their false propaganda of all events like they beam across the border in J&K.
Two things India should support:India-Pakistan: Indian Prime Minister Singh and Pakistani Prime Minister Gilani will meet on the 29th on the sidelines of a South Asian summit in Bhutan, the Indian External Affairs Ministry announced on 28 April.
Expect no breakthroughs because Pakistan has not satisfied the Indian terms for talks, which center on suppressing Pakistan-based terrorism against India.
Pakistan: Musharraf is planning to make a political comeback by leading a new political party, according to Pakistani officials. One of his aides and an election official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that Musharraf had applied to register a new political party with the electoral authorities in Islamabad.
Mohammad Ali Saif, a former cabinet minister and now a legal adviser to Musharraf, said election authorities would hear the application on 10 May. I have formally applied for a new political party called All Pakistan Muslim League. Pervez Musharraf is the head of this party and we will formally announce it after getting registered," he told AFP. Saif, an unofficial spokesman for Musharraf, is active in organizing the new political party and "Musharraf will certainly come. He will face all the charges. These are politically motivated cases with no evidence," said Saif
Comment: Musharraf has been in London since ending his nine-years in power two years ago and could face a criminal trial if he returns home. Plus he is wanted for questioning by the government over the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Musharraf reportedly believes he was railroaded from office by politicians. He has a messianic view of his contributions to Pakistan. His return would set back constitutional government more than 20 years.
Security. Pakistan has transferred between 130,000 and 150,000 troops from its Indian frontier to its Afghan border for an offensive against militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Reuters reported 28 April, citing a Pentagon report. The report said the shift represented the biggest deployment of Pakistani troops on the country's western border in its history, but it is unlikely to have an immediate impact on fighting in Afghanistan.
Comment: Something is wrong with the math and with the comment. The numbers would represent a shift of at least eight divisions of infantry combat personnel, according to the Pakistan Army web site and Wikipedia. No reporting sources indicate Pakistan has made a transfer from the Indian border of that magnitude. It simply has not taken place.
Most of the fighting against the militants in the west has been led by the paramilitary Frontier Corps with the Pakistan Army acting in support. The Army has two infantry corps in strategic reserve at Peshawar and Quetta. Major elements of them have been committed to the anti-militant fight and been reinforced by selected units from the forces arrayed against India. Those Corps probably are included in the numbers some Pentagon analysts are counting as a deduction from the frontal glacis facing India.
No significant reduction of force against India is even theoretically possible.
As to the statement about the effects on Afghanistan, it is a bit unfair, by implication, and disingenuous in fact because the Pakistan Army and Frontier Cops has pursued Pakistani Taliban, not Afghan Taliban. The Pakistani operations have never been billed as in support of US operations in Afghanistan. To do so would risk an insurrection in the Pakistan Army.
Ouch. that hurt!Sen_K wrote:Parthasarathy - Why is MMS talking to Gilani? If the topic of focus for India is terror, he should talk to the Paki military. Gilani knows nothing more than an hawaldar standing outside the GHQ.
My question is why should MMS (as representative of India that is, he is personally free to do whatever he wants once he leaves office) even talk to Gilani or any Paki pig? Why can't India's policy be the following: No talks until the following .... terror bench marks are met. And simultaneously strengthen domestic security by cracking down on Paki proxies in India: IM SIMI etc. Why is MMS so keen on engaging the Pakis? The outrage on Mumbai has all but dissipated from him. What a disgrace.Sen_K wrote: Parthasarathy - Why is MMS talking to Gilani? If the topic of focus for India is terror, he should talk to the Paki military. Gilani knows nothing more than an hawaldar standing outside the GHQ.
X-postingramana wrote:MMS is also stalling massa pressure by talking to the hawa (pun intended) ldar. He knows the hawaldar cant deliver, but answers the issue of being on talking terms to defuse the flashpoint bug bear to beat up Indian interests.
Visit Islamabad, Gilani tells ManmohanTHIMPHU: Did the re-enactment of the walk by their predecessors 38 years ago break the ice between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani?
Then, as now, India-Pakistan relations were in a deadlock when Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfiqar Bhutto decided to join his counterpart Indira Gandhi walking alone in the gardens of the hill town of Shimla in the Himalayan ranges. They talked freely and what emerged (after another round of a late night meeting sans aides) was an unexpected agreement, termed as a “diplomatic miracle'' in Fatima Bhutto's recently released book “Songs of Blood and Sword.”
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“Insisted by the leaders of [South Asian] delegations, both the Prime Ministers walked together in the SAARC Village and exchanged views. They strolled for sometime before returning to their respective villas,'' a SAARC press statement said.
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Mr. Qureshi described Dr. Singh as a visionary and academic. He said the Indian Prime Minister had his heart in the right place and he was a well-meaning person. “He is a well-meaning man. He is an academic. He is a visionary. He wants to move on.”
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Informed sources said the Prime Ministers met formally with about 10 aides on each side. They then decided to confer without officials and dispensed with the services of note-takers.
After nearly 70 minutes of one-to-one interaction, senior officials were summoned and a round-up of the discussions held earlier by the Prime Ministers took place for about 20 minutes.
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And we will do another Kargil ...
Taliban militants have resumed targeted killings of local leaders in Pakistan's troubled Swat valley, officials have told the BBC.
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Following a one-to-one session this afternoon — their first since Sharm-el-Sheikh last July — Singh walked his promised, and contentious, “extra mile” by dropping India’s insistence that Pakistan dismantle terror infrastructure on its soil and act against the 26/11 plotters as pre-requisites for resumption of the composite dialogue.
New Delhi is fighting shy of using the term “composite dialogue” but it was apparent that it was clearing the table for across-the-board talks. “I don’t think we have to get stuck with nomenclatures,” said foreign secretary Nirupama Rao, asked whether the neighbours had agreed to resume the composite dialogue India had snapped post-26/11.
Rao said: “The searchlight is on the future, not on the past.”
Asked if that applied to the Mumbai attack and Pakistan’s failure to act against the perpetrators, she added: “Well, we cannot forget the past altogether, the past provides the background that shapes us.”
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A former official felt it was Pakistan that had gained. “The body language of a beaming Pakistan foreign minister and a restrained Indian foreign secretary… indicates that Pakistan has obtained what it always wanted — a resumption of dialogue on all issues without any further action on uprooting the terror network,” said K.C. Singh, a former secretary in the external affairs ministry.
However, former foreign secretary Salman Haider lauded the quiet manner in which the two foreign offices “neatly” brought about today’s bilateral meeting. “I disagree talking is a concession. We need dialogue to pursue our country’s interest. We now need to decide what kind of dialogue it will be. We have concerns and this will give us a forum to raise them,” he said.
Haider added: “It is necessary to get the timing of the dialogue right. There was a time when dialogue was not possible. We cannot keep our mouths shut and stare at each other endlessly.”
Looks like some operation to get India to withdraw troops from LoC. IA had stopped the withdrawl citing raising inflitration. This is probably to provide domestic cover to GoI by USpgbhat wrote:^ also source is ToI and some Indian papers are the peddling this news as per google chacha....western sources are not reporting this news....may be psy-ops.
This is worse than---Morarji Desai-Kahuta & Haji Pir sellout, Indira Gandhi-Shimla accord walk and IK Gujral-Lets dismantle RAW---all put togetherputnanja wrote:Blanket signal for Pak talks
http://www.brecorder.com/index.php?id=1 ... =&supDate=Cooperation on water sought: Gilani addresses 16th Saarc Summit
THIMPHU (April 29 2010): Pakistan on Wednesday asked for a regional cooperation on water conservation and water management may be instituted together with programmes for watershed rehabilitation on major South Asian river systems.While addressing 16th Saarc Summit at grand assembly Thimphu, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has also stressed Saarc countries to build trust, resolve disputes and bridge perceptions for socio-economic development and security of energy, food, water and security from terror.He said that for many years, real progress remained stalled in the region due in part to hesitancy born of historical legacies, differences and disputes, however, the past could not obfuscate the promise of a glorious future.
What has India given up? What was indias stance worth any way? It ment nothing to India, failed to put preshure in Pakistan, and the international community simply did not care.Anujan wrote:This is worse than---Morarji Desai-Kahuta & Haji Pir sellout, Indira Gandhi-Shimla accord walk and IK Gujral-Lets dismantle RAW---all put togetherputnanja wrote:Blanket signal for Pak talks
Agreed that statecraft cannot be constructed on pure leverage-punishment-incentive framework and has to have the human element, but as they say in South - "How can a donkey appreciate the fragrance of camphor" : Pakistani society is simply not mature or willing to react and reciprocate to grandiose gestures. They simply will use this for the next attack, the next point scoring, the next propaganda and the next opportunity to do equal-equal or rile up their population against us about Balochistan or water. The very same Gilani went home after SeS and spewed venom, the very same Qureshi said "India blinked".
I hope I am proved wrong.
While the vision for normalization of ties is Singh’s, the real architect of the new peace agenda is national security adviser Shivshankar Menon. It was the nuances in the engagement crafted by Menon that carried the day, said sources. Of course, his main job will be to try and ensure that the two sides can insulate the dialogue process from terror attacks.
