Bharat Rakshak

Altair wrote:

ManuT wrote:What is Gujral doctrine?

An Obituary to Indian Intelligence capabilities in Pakistan.

As regards Pakistan, it is seen that in the first half of the 1990s, the relations could not make substantial progress. This section does not deal with Indo-Pak relations as they existed in this period. A major breakthrough was, in fact, achieved at the 1997 Male Summit when Nawaz Sharif and Gujral met and as a result, the secretary level talks commenced with a purpose and the issues to be discussed were spelt out. Later, however, the talks were stalled, to be restarted again under the Vajpayee government. A certain section in Pakistan was of the opinion that one of the aims of the Gujral Doctrine was to isolate Pakistan by building up relations with the other South Asian countries.

Four specific events clearly point towards this understanding: first, the two specific economic proposals spelt out by India at the Tenth SAARC Summit; second, the visit of Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga to India towards the end of 1998, resulting in the conclusion of the historic Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement; third, the visit of the King of Nepal to India in January 1999 as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade in Delhi; last, the historic bus journey by Prime Minister Vajpayee to Lahore.

These four events have led to continuity in the aim of the principles of the Gujral Doctrine to establish friendly relations in the neighbourhood and have, in a certain sense, moved ahead too. For, while the Gujral Doctrine was seen by those in Pakistan as an attempt to isolate it by India, Prime Minister Vajpayee's bus journey to Lahore would have removed this apprehension to a great extent.

If an analysis of the performance of the Vajpayee government in conducting its foreign relations with the neighbours was being undertaken prior to the outbreak of fighting to oust the Pakistani backed infiltrators at the line of control in May, one would have easily concluded that the bus journey from Delhi to Lahore and the consequent Lahore declaration were very significant events. Though the events since the first week of May have shown that the intentions of Pakistan were not sincere, one need not reach a hasty conclusion that the bus diplomacy has failed. Whatever talks take place between India and Pakistan in the future (for there is no other way than dialogue), the Lahore Declaration will be the reference point.

Conclusion

The above discussion clearly brings out the continuity that has existed in the Indian foreign policy in the Nineties, thereby, inaugurating a period in which relations with the neighbours have seen a positive trend. It brings out the importance of the economic aspect of cooperation in the overall relations with the neighbours. The analysis also brings out that the beginning of the Nineties had seen the start of a positive movement between India and its neighbours which got intensified under Gujral. Thus, there was already a positive base on which the Gujral Doctrine could build itself in the absence of which the doctrine would not have been relevant and effective. The Gujral Doctrine played the cardinal role of clearly defining for India the importance of friendly relations with its neighbours. It gave a direction and sense of purpose which will forever remain one of the objectives of the Indian foreign policy. The advantages of the Gujral Doctrine could be clearly felt in the aftermath of the nuclear tests by India, and the international reaction to it contrasted with the reaction of the South Asian neighbours. The manner of articulation of these objectives by various governments may be different but their permanence cannot be questioned.

We, therefore, see that under the Vajpayee government too there was a continuation of these policies without per se saying so. In certain aspects, the Vajpayee government tried to move beyond the Gujral Doctrine, through bus diplomacy with Pakistan. Whichever government comes to power at the centre in India, the principles and purposes of the Gujral Doctrine will remain at the forefront. But it should not be forgotten that the success of the doctrine depends on the attitudes of the neighbours too, towards India and the region. In this sense, it will be dynamic in its implementation, calling for a great degree of maturity from all the countries of the region.

The Gujral Doctrine aims at building a conflict-free cooperative South Asia and at the same time to build bridges of development cooperation with the neighbours of South Asia . Since one of its principal aims is to resolve conflicts, it has significant security dimensions. It believes in concepts of common security, equal security and cooperative security between and among the countries of South Asia , its neighbouring regions as well as their individual members.   

South Asia is a sovereign incarnation of the British empire . Even as the colonial power departed, it left all the fissures of colonial rule behind. For 200 years, Britain practiced the principle of divide and rule in its empire. India and Pakistan were born as two sovereign nations into a pool of mutual hatred, hostility distrust and suspicion. To this inherited pool were added new tensions and confrontations over religion (the two nations theory), territory ( Kashmir ) and national aspirations.  

The departure of colonial rule did not resolve the strategic divide between India and Nepal . Over time, turns and twists of Nepal?s domestic politics led to a strategic deadlock between the two close neighbours. The creation of Bangladesh sharpened the strategic conflict between India and Pakistan . The assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and liquidation of most of the leadership of the Awami League and the military takeover in Dhaka ,subsequently strained India?s relations with Bangladesh . The outbreak of the armed insurgency of Tamil Tigers in Jaffna created an almost inevitable chasm between Colombo and New Delhi . The chasm did not disappear even as India sent to Sri Lanka a peace-keeping force at the explicit request of the Sri Lankan President. The force was withdrawn a little ahead of an agreed schedule. India-Sri Lanka relations thawed as a result, but rebuilding of the close political-strategic relations of the mid-fifties remained only a mutually cherished goal.   

The Gujral Doctrine has for the first time in 50 years reduced tensions and confrontations between India and all its neighbours at the same time. One of its distinguishing marks is that it was launched without a strategic theory or plan . The resolution of the water-sharing dispute with Bangladesh in just three months in 1996-97 almost coincided with the treaty with Nepal for taming the Mahakali river for generation of hydel power. It was followed by agreements with Sri Lanka for expanding development cooperation and was proceeded by certain unilateral initiatives by India to break the long deadlock in Indo-Pakistan relations. All these action-oriented diplomatic thrusts have been the hallmark of the Gujral Doctrine. The Doctrine was not consciously projected as such by its author, India?s foreign minister and (now) also prime minister, Inder Kumar Gujral. It was christened by foreign policy and diplomatic analysts and gradually gained acceptance in all countries of South Asia .    

In projecting his new foreign policy, Mr.Gujral sought to bring South Asian relations to match with a major aspect of global change in the 90s- the end of the cold war. The global trend now was that all countries sought to cooperate with one another despite differences and disputes with only two exceptions, one in South Asia , the other in the Korean peninsula. Gujral sought to bring the global trend to South Asia by simultaneous pursuit of six broad principles of diplomacy. First, he unilaterally stopped the daily polemical exchanges between Pakistan and India . Second, he told the people of Bangladesh that in dealing with neighbours, India would not insist on reciprocity. This tactical line reversed the earlier one of the Congress government whose foreign minister, Pranab Mookherjee, while on a visit to Dhaka in February 1996, declared that if India gave water to Bangladesh , the latter must give India transit through its territory to the North-Eastern states. Thirdly, Gujral also announced that no South Asian country must allow its territory to be used against the interests of a neighbouring country. This principle, rigorously observed, would bring to an end confrontations and conflicts between India and Pakistan , India and Sri Lanka , India and Nepal and India and Bangladesh .   

The fourth principle of the Gujral Doctrine is that neighbours in South Asia must dialogue tirelessly over a long period until they have found mutually acceptable solutions to their disputes and differences. No dispute, however much entangled with rival national ethos, must remain outside the ambit of dialogue. The fifth principle of the doctrine says that in dialogue, neighbours must treat one another as equals, must not intervene in their domestic affairs, and must respect one another?s territorial unity and integrity. Its last, but by no means the least important, principle was that while entire spectrums of relationships came under sincere problem-solving dialogues, cooperation must begin on agreed terms in agreed areas even as certain disputes remained unresolved. The last principle is an echo of one of the five or six principles of Chinese diplomacy that Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, unfolded in a statement before the Pakistan Senate while on a visit to Islamabad in December 1996.   

The Gujral Doctrine produced positive results in a surprising short span of time. The water sharing with Bangladesh passed without problems in the first three months of 1997. Although the Bangladesh opposition tried to question India?s implementation of the accord, the provisions for 24-hour monitoring of the distribution of water by both sides, meant that no complaint of Indian default was supported by monitored statistics. In six months, Dhaka started giving India access to the North-Eastern states where as in Meghalaya, joint industrial projects were quickly approved and began to be implemented. Nepal was happy with the Mahakali river agreement. It employed reputed American consultants to prepare feasibility reports about hydel projects. Nepal was further pleased when India allowed it the use of a 60 km road to export goods to Bangladesh and to ASEAN via the Bangladeshi port of Chittagong . Bhutan offered to augment the supply of water of the Ganga through a canal linking the river to the Santokh river flowing nearby across Bhutanese territory.   

The litmus test of the Gujral Doctrine was India-Pakistan relations. Two rounds of talks have taken place between the foreign secretaries of the two governments since the meeting between Mr.Gujral and Mr.Nawaz Shariff at the SAARC summit in Male, with a third meeting due in September. The two countries have found an agreed methodology to discuss the entire gamut of the flawed relationship including Kashmir , which Pakistan has identified as the "core issue". While Kashmir and several related issues including Siachin, peace and security, confidence-building measures are to be discussed by a joint team led by the foreign secretaries, other joint teams are to be announced in September to go into issues like trade, commerce, cultural exchanges and travel.  

Even before the official level talks have produced results, a soft thaw has descended on the long-confrontational relationship. Pakistan has bought sizeable quantities of Indian wheat and sugar, and India has bought Pakistani cotton. More important, Pakistan has announced that it will allow the proposed oil and gas pipeline from Oman to the Indian west coast to pass through its territory, drawing from the pipeline oil and gas for its own use, if necessary. The two countries worked closely together for the first time on WTO issues that came up at the WTO conference in Singapore recently. India-Pakistan direct official trade has touched $ 1 billion, increasing at the rate of 30% a year, according to Asia News.   

An important thrust of the Gujral Doctrine is to help South Asia to expand its relationship with neighbouring regions. India has adopted the policy of Going East, and Pakistan is following suit. ASEAN has built a visible presence in India?s infrastructure development designs together with South Korea . India?s relations with China have improved significantly. At the latest round of border talks on August 5, 1997, the two sides agreed to identify an interim border and further accelerate the process of demilitarisation of the eastern border. Heavy weapons have been identified for withdrawal from the border regions. Trade and technology transfer relations have been expanding steadily, if rather slowly.   

In just about a year, India is conducting active diplomacy of developmental cooperation with more than 40 countries in the regions close to its immediate South Asian neighbourhood. These nations belong to ASEAN, the newly-spawned Indian Ocean Community, the Gulf and Central Asia . India now confidently expects to be a member of the APEC very soon. The Gujral Doctrine has spurred South-South Cooperation in a big way.   

The Gujral Doctrine has significantly lowered tensions in South Asia and improved bilateral relations. It has not broken swords into ploughshares, but it may indeed do so if it is practiced for another two or three years. {So the 2-3 year period expired on 3 Aug 2000. Right?} Indian threat perceptions of Pakistan and China have been reduced significantly. Traditional security concerns like huge standing armies, unaffordably high military budgets, issues relating to proliferation of nuclear weapons and development and deployment of missiles however remain unresolved. On the positive side, few in India and Pakistan now talk of war, while fear of Indian aggressive designs have largely withered in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.  

Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani man on Tuesday after he was convicted of smuggling a “large amount” of heroin into the kingdom, the interior ministry said.

“Salim Shah Sayed Shah, a Pakistani, was accused of smuggling a large amount of the heroin drug into the kingdom,” said an interior ministry statement carried by state news agency SPA, adding that he was executed in the holy city of Mecca.

Bounty on Hafiz certainly isn't to please India.

There is a debate both inside and outside Pakistan about the size of the middle class in the country. I had suggested in an article written some time ago for Dawn that the size of the middle class was about 40 million. At that time the country’s population was about 170 million. If my estimate was correct, the Pakistani middle class accounted for a bit less than 24 per cent of the population. Based on considerably more robust pieces of analyses carried out by several Indian scholars, it was determined that the Indian middle class accounted for some 40 per cent of that country’s population. This meant that some 500 million people in India could be said to belong to this economic and social class. While the Indian estimate generated considerable excitement among western businesses, my estimate for Pakistan provoked some controversy. At a conference held in Belagio, Italy, some participants from the US doubted my numbers, suggesting that it was a very high estimate. Why this questioning when a much larger one for India was readily accepted?The answer is simple. There is a group of scholars in the US who believe that the endgame has been reached for Pakistan as we (and they) know the country today. They believe that Pakistan is now ripe for takeover by Islamic radicals. Once they have succeeded in overthrowing the current political and social order, they will go on to establish a regime not too different from the one that has been governing for the last several decades.
More serious work has been done on the size of the middle class in Pakistan since I wrote my article. In a recent contribution by the economist Sakib Sherani to Dawn titled “Consumption conundrum” (March 23), he presents a much higher estimate than I had provided, both in terms of the size of the middle class in Pakistan and its proportion in the total population. “I updated the figure arrived at earlier, making one crucial adjustment: for the estimated size of Pakistan’s undocumented (or ‘black’ economy). The adjusted figure for the middle class is a staggering 70 million people, or 40 per cent of the population”, he writes. This brings the Pakistani situation closer to the one that is generally accepted for India. ( Have heart Now, All iz well, Same as India)

RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s aircraft made an emergency landing at the Chaklala airbase in Rawalpindi on Tuesday after experiencing a technical failure, reported Express News.
The pilot called up the air control tower while on its way to Sukkur and reported a technical failure, after which the aircraft landed at the airbase.ll passengers onboard remained safe and the prime minister was also safely escorted from the plane.

Shaashtanga wrote: I mean WTF is going on here, can someone pliss explain me what is of value that we are going to get from Porkistan that would equate in value to moving our forces back in siachen & sir creek so that the porkis can occupy those positions again?

http://www.zemtv.com/2012/04/04/aapas-k ... pril-2012/

Rudradev wrote:

Shaashtanga wrote: I mean WTF is going on here, can someone pliss explain me what is of value that we are going to get from Porkistan that would equate in value to moving our forces back in siachen & sir creek so that the porkis can occupy those positions again?

http://www.zemtv.com/2012/04/04/aapas-k ... pril-2012/

Safe havens for netas' black money. 1.77 lakh crore is a lot. 2Gs may lose elections some day, and banks in Switz/Caymans etc. may come under pressure from new GOI to investigate. Alternative hidey-holes have to be found.

Shaashtanga wrote: So porkistan will be "Safe Haven" for our corrupt politicians black money? How can they be sure that the deal they make with ISI & Army to hide their black money in Porkistan and they won't be double crossed ?

Shaashtanga wrote:Dear Rakshaks, please watch latest episode of Hajam Sethi's latest Apas ki Baat (3rd April) episode and raise your Blood Pressure. In the 3rd part around 7min50sec Hajam tells the reason for Dus Percenti's upcoming 1 day visit to India, first Dus Percenti is going to Ajmer Dargah then have lunch (or Dinner) with MMS and 1 hr meeting. In that meeting 10% is going to tell MMS that Porkistan has given MFN status to India and opening up trade (which was banned from Porki side as a policy since 1965 i.e. resolve Cashmere then we shall talk of trade) so now what will India do to appease PakArmy

http://www.zemtv.com/2012/04/04/aapas-k ... pril-2012/

Rudradev wrote: Easy way for Pakistan to shore up its economy: become the offshore banking destination of choice for Indians with black money. D-company guarantee of security backed up with nooklear bums. High interest rates, low service fees, cash transactions welcome. Accounts virtually untouchable...GOI wouldn't go after Pakistan even following a 26/11, do you think some yoga teacher or some old Maharashtrian gent going on hunger strike will be able to compel them?

Indian economic-liberals and "trade for peace dividend" types (NOT just WKKs) are arguing for increased trade with Pakistan, in the hope of winning over the unter-RAPE and business classes to India's favour. The effect of increasing trade and private enterprise might be just the opposite, given the existence of political-criminal nexus at the GOI's highest levels, and the criminal-army-jihadi nexus next door... the effect might be to create an INDIAN business and political class with more affinity for Pakistan because of all the 400% tax-free offshore accounts they have there.

Rudradev wrote:

Shaashtanga wrote: So porkistan will be "Safe Haven" for our corrupt politicians black money? How can they be sure that the deal they make with ISI & Army to hide their black money in Porkistan and they won't be double crossed ?

Arrey, why do they continue to have very very extensive dealings with D-Company even now, with D himself living in ISI guest house and declared an international terrorist? Our political classes already have a LOT of wealth invested with these types boss. Only the uber-netas, Maino family level, can afford Swiss bank p1ss bank.

Of course they can't be sure they won't be double crossed, but the fact is they have done business with Dawood for years if not decades; so there is a relationship of trust there. Meanwhile how can they be sure that some suited booted banker in Europe won't throw them under the bus (remember the German bank giving out a list of account holders that the 2Gs promptly suppressed?) Also... ISI/TSPA being hungrier than Switzerland, may in fact be counted upon to guard the accounts more zealously no?

Rangudu wrote: My Indian source also believes that Unkil may have caught wind of another 26/11 in the works. This could explain the timing of this bounty.

U.S. Offers Up to $10 Million Reward for Alleged Mumbai Mastermind

Last November, a year-long investigation by FRONTLINE and ProPublica into Pakistani-American Lashkar operative David Headley’s role in the Mumbai attacks revealed that Headley had an inspirational meeting with Saeed in the winter of 2000.

“Saeed made a statement that was Headley’s epiphany: ‘One second spent in jihad is superior to 100 years of worship and prayer,’” ProPublica reporter Sebastian Rotella wrote of the meeting

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... astermind/

ShauryaT wrote:

Rudradev wrote: Easy way for Pakistan to shore up its economy: become the offshore banking destination of choice for Indians with black money. D-company guarantee of security backed up with nooklear bums. High interest rates, low service fees, cash transactions welcome. Accounts virtually untouchable...GOI wouldn't go after Pakistan even following a 26/11, do you think some yoga teacher or some old Maharashtrian gent going on hunger strike will be able to compel them?

Indian economic-liberals and "trade for peace dividend" types (NOT just WKKs) are arguing for increased trade with Pakistan, in the hope of winning over the unter-RAPE and business classes to India's favour. The effect of increasing trade and private enterprise might be just the opposite, given the existence of political-criminal nexus at the GOI's highest levels, and the criminal-army-jihadi nexus next door... the effect might be to create an INDIAN business and political class with more affinity for Pakistan because of all the 400% tax-free offshore accounts they have there.

A version of this has already occurred especially with middle east based Indians and a lot of hard working money was sucked into it. It was called the BCCI fiasco. Around 1991.

Altair wrote:Morning blues only but Now that HS has a bounty, can Brahmos take out Muridke and claim USD 10m? Dr.Sivathanu Pillai can claim it to be a test misfire onlee no?

abhishek_sharma wrote:

Altair wrote:Morning blues only but Now that HS has a bounty, can Brahmos take out Muridke and claim USD 10m? Dr.Sivathanu Pillai can claim it to be a test misfire onlee no?

It is against our values.

abhishek_sharma wrote:

Altair wrote:Morning blues only but Now that HS has a bounty, can Brahmos take out Muridke and claim USD 10m? Dr.Sivathanu Pillai can claim it to be a test misfire onlee no?

It is against our values.

Rudradev wrote:Meanwhile....!
http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/04/ ... rmind.html

Bin Laden's Wives, Children Sentenced in Pakistan
The five will serve a 45-day term before being deported to their home countries.

So! The birds are being encouraged by Pakistan to fly the coop back to Yemen (Amal) and KSA (other two wives). I suppose the children will go along with the appropriate mothers.

One wonders, why now?

I would have thought these wimmens were being kept in jail by ISI because they might spill lots of beans for the Amrikis if handed over.

But now they're being sent home... almost as if ISI has decided "whatever dangerous stuff the US could have learned from these wimmens, they already know by other means... probably by the literature and digital records they confiscated at Abbottabad."

"Pakistan is avoiding giving voice sample of Hafiz Mohammad Saeed as asked by India," said Chidambaram.

The Home Minister further said, "We have shared dossier with Pakistan with all the evidence we have, on his hate speech against India in Pakistan and other things."

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/hafiz-saeed- ... 89-56.html

Satya_anveshi wrote: Instead of this buffoonery of placing $10M bounty, US should make use of one of the drones to eliminate the likes of Hafeez Sayeed. At least that shows some continuum and consistency in eliminating key jihadi leaders that it once created/supported/nurtured.

Ivanev wrote:

Satya_anveshi wrote: Instead of this buffoonery of placing $10M bounty, US should make use of one of the drones to eliminate the likes of Hafeez Sayeed. At least that shows some continuum and consistency in eliminating key jihadi leaders that it once created/supported/nurtured.

Hafiz Saeed is living in Lahore out in the open. The US cannot carry drone strikes in mainstream cities as that would be act of war. The idea of drone strikes in NW is that the Pakis hold it as no man's land and really have no control over it. So drone strikes there are welcome for Pakis and the US, Mush had attacked that area too. The terrorists in that area are pawns and eliminating them pleases everyone.

Rudradev wrote:
Depends who you want to believe.

VK Saraswat: It's within our capability but against our values.

VK Singh: It's not within our capability onlee. Or:

Majboori ka naam Mahatma Gandhi

Rangudu wrote:
Maybe they see the current tussle between Gen. Singh and Anthony and sense a vulenrability?

Altair wrote:"Hindu" terrorists who allegedly attacked Samjauta express can carry out the attack in Lahore and India can condemn it afterwards. India is also a victim of terrorism. Pakistan can also send in dosa's to chidu and he can dip them in his sambhar.

A 50-year-old Pakistani-Canadian has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for providing material support to the Sikh militant group Khalistan Commando Force, blamed for carrying out assassinations and bombings in India.

In a statement, the FBI said KCF comprises Sikh militants seeking a separate Sikh state in Punjab and has been responsible for thousands of deaths in India since it was founded in 1986.