NSA talks and the English media

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it here for reference. 

“Ask original questions please”. Thus pleaded the spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, more than once, to the journalists who were merely repeating questions to Sushma Swaraj. That one line summed up the pitiful state of affairs in our media (especially the English language media based out of Delhi).

Sushma Swaraj explained in detail, why Pakistan was deviating from an agreed agenda. She read out the operative part of the Ufa agreement which said that the NSAs of the two countries would meet to “discuss all issues connected to terrorism”. Pakistan Prime Minister signed this agreement – as common sense would suggest, that means he agreed to these talks.

As has been its wont, Pakistan started to add more items to the agenda of the NSA – none of which were either discussed or agreed upon. Sushma Swaraj also clearly mentioned that they are ready for talks on other topics, but not at the NSA level. The NSA level talks must be on terrorism, as agreed upon. Sushma Swaraj was quite emphatic that our NSA cannot talk to Pak’s NSA if the agenda has items other than terrorism.

In such a crystal clear environment, what does the Delhi media understand? Let’s start by looking at this image below. The first tweet is the bottom one, and the latest is the top one.

She first says – “India says, Don’t come if you go beyond terror”. And then asks – Isn’t this in effect India saying that “Don’t come unless you only want to talk terror”. Either she forgot what she heard, or she was trying to sound intelligent by re-phrasing her earlier tweet as a question. It is beyond amusing to note how these people are regarded as some of the top journalists in India!

During the press conference, Nidhi Razdan asks Sushma Swaraj (after she clearly says No talks if they go beyond terror), “So if they don’t respond by day-after-tomorrow, then there will be no talks?” It is precisely this kind of dumbness that invited that appeal from the spokesperson – “Ask original questions please”.

Siddarth Varadarajan went a step further. He went as a guest on a Pakistan TV channel and bashed up the Indian government for having unfair expectations from Pakistan. He asked why the Indian government did not tell Pakistan in Ufa that talks with Hurriyat are not agreeable to India? India already cancelled FS level talks earlier precisely because of this reason – instead of calling out the mind-numbing ignorance of Pakistan, he faults Indian government for not asking Pakistan! And then he says, Pakistan always will want to talk about Kashmir, so India just making a big deal out of it. The genius fails to read the Ufa agreement that clearly says NSA talks will be about terrorism – and this agreement was signed by Pakistan too! Instead of calling out the duplicity of Pakistan in going back on a signed agreement, he is happy at blaming Indian government for trusting Pakistan for the same! It is scary to imagine that he was once a part of some Track-2 dialogue with Pakistan.

Here is the biggest irony – all the three journalists I have mentioned constantly advocate “constructive engagement” with Pakistan, even if Pakistan behaves in the most irrational manner. All the three journalists are also well known to block a lot of people on twitter and are least interested in any “constructive engagement”. It is pretty rich for them to give lectures on “constructive engagement”.

The Hindu’s editorial lists out the sequence of events, that clearly show how Pakistan has been refusing to co-operate with India with regards to the latest round. And then they end the editorial with this line – “There is simply no alternative to talks.” They forgot to mention that Prime Minister Modi has said this many times. They forgot to mention that Sushma Swaraj herself said this many times. We are ready to talk – as agreed let the NSA’s talk about terrorism first. Then we will talk about other topics, including J&K.

The loss is not of India’s as this section of media wants you to believe. The loss is Pakistan’s. Or perhaps the loss is for this section of the media.

That's all, Your Honour!: April 8-14

The first two topics this week are something on which I wanted some more time to collate thoughts and write in detail. Hence, will only passingly mention them. Hopefully will get to blog about them soon! Moving on to other happenings this week... 

1. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Right to Education Act and has also upheld the government's rule that says minority institutions are exempt from this act. More on this topic later. 

2. Also this week, 23 people were convicted in the case of post-Godhra riots. 23 others were acquitted. The Special Investigation Team set up by the Supreme Court to investigate another massacre during that time has found the Chief Minister, Narendra Modi as not guilty. More on this topic too, later. 

3. Yet again, leaders of India and Pakistan met this week! This time though, India requested Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari to accomodate a meeting with the Prime Minister during his planned private trip to Ajmer dargha. Such is our desperation to talk with Pakistan that we want to grab every available opportunity, even if the other side is not as willing. And just so that we don't feel too much outraged, the media has been fed with stories like these - the PM bought up Hafiz Saeed's case "upfront"! So what was the crying need to meet Zardari for 40 minutes? What was the crying need to arrange a lavish lunch for him? On the day, the talks happened, it looked as if nothing had yielded. And then slowly we began to see what these talks actually resulted in. India has apparently decided to open the FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) gate for companies in Pakistan! While trade is good, how are we going to ensure that someone like Hafiz Saeed will not open a benami company and "invest" in India? Apparently "encouraged" by Pakistan's "pro-active steps" in improving trade, the Indian government will now further look at increasing the list of traded items too. Now the visit of the President makes a lot of sense - we wanted to get trade going. Leaders of this government and multiple commentators in the media never tire of telling us that the post Godhra riots in Gujarat should never be forgotten. The same guys also emphatically want us to move on from the multiple terror attacks perpetrated from the Pakistani soil. Some consistency these people maintain! 

4. Did you know that this UPA government still believes that there is no scam in the 2G spectrum sale? This week, this UPA cabinet okayed a Presidential reference to the Supreme Court. In this, the UPA government (technically the President is asking these questions but in reality President just acts on the advice of the cabinet) wants the SC to clarify about all spectrum allocated since 1994 !! The UPA government still continues to peddle lies that Raja merely followed the policy of earlier governments. While the name First Come First Serve (FCFS) did not change, Raja and the UPA government arbitrarily changed many by-laws thus making it totally different from originally envisaged FCFS. However, as is the norm with this government, the continue to peddle lies. Read this brilliant article in The Hindu which exposes many more such lies that are being peddled shamelessly by this government. 

That's all, Your Honour! : Nov 6 -12

After a break for about 2 months, trying to revive back this weekly series. Starting with a short update this week... hopefully from next week, will be giving full time updates :)

1. Indian english TV media continues to fool the viewers and get away with such crap. Last week, the famous Sagarika Ghose who runs a show "Face the nation" (FTN at 10pm on CNN-IBN every night, openly cheated her viewers. FTN planned to carry a live debate on Sri Sri Ravishankar ji's "campaign" in UP against corruption. The recorded an interview with him a couple of hours before the show. And then at 10pm, Sagarika Ghose informed the viewers that Sri Sri is live with them along with three other panelists !! Shocked? Here's more shocking news.... at about 9 minutes into the program, Sagarika actually asks Sri Sri to respond to severe criticism by one of the panelists! Please watch the program to see the despicable manner in which Sagarika "questions" Sri Sri. Knowing fully well that Sri Sri cannot respond, this great journalist with a totally condescending tone, demanded that Sri Sri "respond" to criticism! This Indian Express article tears apart the entire program and her defense after that. Please read to understand the depth of the deceit this journalist resorted to. And they apologized later in the night - not because their conscience said so, but because their bluff was called by alert viewers. From her defense, Sagarika Ghose has clearly implied that these things happen very regularly. And they got away with a "small apology". That's what Sagarika Ghose said on at the end of her show the next day - - before ending, a "small apology". A pity really.

2. Here's more pitiful stuff. Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh again met Pakistan's Prime Minister. That's not the pituful stuff. Returning from that meeting (actually there was a SAARC summit in Maldives but we all know that the only purpose SAARC serves is these bilateral meetings), our Prime Minister had this to say - "Indo-Pak relations are subject to accidents". That's right - he terms all those multiple terror attacks that emanated from Pakistan's soil as "accidents". Worse, he calls the despicable 26/11 attacks as an "incident". This man's obsession with Pakistan is worse than that of jilted lover. This Prime Minister is ready to go to any extent to appease international community that he will lose sight of domestic apprehensions. Simple question - for starters can this man answer what exactly has Pakistan done in the three years since 26/11 happened? That's all, your honour!

Indo-Pak talks - A Chronology of Compromises

"We will work to defeat the evil designs of terrorists and will not allow them to succeed.". This statement was given by the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh after the serial blastsin Mumbai's local trains on July 11, 2006. Wait a minute - the only Mumbai attacks we know are 26/11 right? Well, that's because our English media has all but ensured that all terror attacks before 26/11 are erased from public memory. Anyways, let's back to the issue.

So our Prime Minister has ensured us that he will work towards defeating the "evil designs of terrorists". Who are these terrorists? He himself enlightens us some months later - "There is credible evidence of Pakistani involvement in these blasts." Remember, this statement is coming from the highest authority in India. The dialogue process was suspended after these attacks, only to be revived very soon. Without any "credible" action by Pakistan, the foreign secretaries of both the countries tell us - " We have both agreed that the peace process between the two countries is important and all possible efforts should be made to see that this process is not adversely affected."

Just a quick question - who exactly is making effort to see these efforts fail? Pakistan right? Whom are these people fooling?

Cut to November 26, 2008. Again the same banal statements were issued. The dialogue was suspended. This time we thought this was serious. Because, these attacks were audacious enough to ensure that we stick to our stand. Here's where our Prime Minister decides to stump us. Within months on announcing that there will be no dialogue with Pakistan unless action is taken against the terror perpetrators, the Prime Minister decides to start talking to Pakistan.

Following is the chronology:

The meeting with Zardari - June 16,2009 (about seven months after the 26/11 attack)

It was decided at this meeting that the foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet to discuss our primary concern - Terrorism. Actually this meeting was the only meeting where the PM showed some spine. In the full glare of the media, he said this to Zardari - "But I must tell you quite frankly that I have come with the limited mandate of discussing how Pakistan can deliver on its assurances that its territory would not be used for terrorist attacks on India." We kind of rejoiced that the PM is indeed serious about ensuring that we don't talk to Pakistan until they take action on terror. Maybe because of the international flak he received or some strange external influence or some bizzare inner calling - things started changing drastically from here on.

The summit at Egypt - July 15, 2009 (about a month after the above mentioned meeting)

India and Pakistan Prime Ministers issued a joint statement. Two things stood out in this joint statement. One is that for the first time, Balochistan was included in the Joint statement. Only Pak PM's reference to Balochistan was included. Our PM's response was not. Second was more damning. And the clarification after that statement was even more confusing! Let's take a quick look.

Statement 1:

Excerpt from the Joint Statement issued by India and Pakistan in Egypt: "Action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue process and these [sic] should not be bracketed."

Statement 2: Excerpt from the Prime Minister's answer to a query later in the day: "..dialogue cannot begin unless and until the terrorist acts of Mumbai are fully accounted for and the perpetrators are brought to book"

So, now, can someone tell me how both these statements are the same?! Which statement should we give credence to? The first one issued by the two governments, or the second one by our Prime Minister? Or is there going to be a third statement in Parliament after he returns?

According to The Hindu report, Indian side interprets the first statement like this: "Pakistan should not wait for the resumption of the composite dialogue to take action against terrorism" And the Pakistani side interprets like this: "..this meant the future of the dialogue process should not be held hostage to the perception in New Delhi that Pakistan had not done enough to stop the activities of terrorists operating from its territory". And therefore both sides see this statement as a breakthrough!! Wow, diplomacy and interpretation just took a new turn towards naiviety.

Geo TV head, Mir responded like this after the meeting - "According to our information the meeting of India and Pakistan foreign secretaries in the last 48 hours in Egypt has been crucial.Pakistan's Bashir took a tough stand against Menon. Bashir told Menon if you bracket the Mumbai attack with the comprehensive talks between the two countries then there is no possibility of a joint statement.""

Pakistan took a strong stand against us?!?! If true, how do we even begin to react? And if false, isn't our climbdown on the "delinking" giving them enough leeway to make these statements? Why is it that, it is us who always end up making compromises. What are we losing if there is no joint statement?! What are we losing if we don't to talk to a country that has least respect to our concerns?

This Joint Statement was issued just four days, yeah, just four days after the External Affairs Minister told Parliament that enough was not done by Pakistan. And within four days, we decided to delink action on terrorism from the composite dialogue.

The Foreign Secretary, S.S.Menon said this was a case of bad drafting. The Prime Minister never clarified on this. The then Minister of State, Shashi Tharoor said this was a not a legal document, so why worry? The Prime Minister never clarified on this. The Prime Minister never replied why his reply to Pak PM on Baluchistan was not included in the statement. And ofcourse, he berated the opposition, called it names and left it at that!

"Literature" and all that...

On friday, February 25, 2010 - the two foreign secretaries met in New Delhi (for something like, to give peace a chance, blah blah). After the meeting, the Indian foreign secretary met the press, and took some questions. All answers were on expected lines. We discussed terror, they did bring up Kashmir and we stated our positions etc etc. So far so good.

At around 5:40pm, the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr Salman Bashir (hereinafter referred to as the Dude!), started addressing his press conference. And all pieces slowly started falling apart. The Dude tells us not to lecture Pakistan. When asked about the dosseirs, the Dude tells us they want concrete proof and not "literature". And then the Dude goes on to lecture us on how the talks should be held, and how we are being unreasonable in talking about only terror, and how Kashmir is the core issue blah blah...yaawwwnnnn. The Dude then tells us that their country has seen 1000's of Mumbai and how their country is also a victim of terror. Never mind that the Dude forgot that terror was of their own making, and that they are trapped in the grave that they have dug!

The "stroll" at Thimpu - April 29, 2010

At the above mentioned foreign secretaries meetings, as has been the trend, India gave 3 dossiers to Pakistan and then said that the next round of talks will happen after Pakistan responds to them. And Pakistan hasn't yet responded to them. True to our stand, the secretaries did not meet. But hey, we never said the Prime Ministers will not meet right? Hence, the Prime Ministers of both the countries met. Infact, they even went for a stroll, at the "insistence" of the summit leaders. (by the way,If you are wondering what Summit - the SAARC summit. Wouldn't blame you for forgetting that, given the fact that SAARC has been reduced to this bilateral farce long ago! ) Anyways, post the "stroll" and then a one-on-one meeting, it was decided that the dialogue process will be put back on track.

Nothing changed after the Feb. 26th meeting; nothing changed from the time Chidambarampublicly rebuked the High Commisioner of Pakistan; nothing changed from the last time A.K.Anthony told us that there are 42 training camps across the LoC. And yet our Prime Minister decides to put the dialogue "back on track".

The "useful" and "constructive" talks between SM Krishna and S.M.Qureshi. July 15, 2010

India's External Affairs Minister, S.M.Krishna (SMK) met his Pakistan counterpart, S.M.Qureshi (SMQ). They addressed a joint press conference. When Pakistan's Foreign Minister was asked this "We are talking about taking the dialogue process (between India and Pakistan) ahead. In this scenario, Hafiz Saeed's anti-India tirade is affecting the environment, was this issue discussed"

To which he replied (it's a long answer, but you will have to read it in its entirety. "We discussed it. Incidentally, the minister (referring to India's S M Krishna) raised the question that he was concerned about hate speeches that incite people, and that we should avoid them. I do agree that both sides need to create an enabling environment, and not let the climate of engagement be vitiated by these speeches, should refrain from negative propaganda against each other"

Perhaps even he was bored with the same crap being dished out always and therefore continued thus - (here comes the actual stuff). "When you point out to Saeed's speech, or speeches, let me draw your attention to the Indian Home Secretary's (G K Pillai) statement. The dialogue which was reported in all Pakistani papers.. Tell me, to what extent it has helped? We were of the opinion that it was uncalled for"

So first he gives a long winded answer, and then goes about equating our Home Secretary with noted terrorist Hafiz Saeed. Hafiz Saaed is on record for his vitroil against the Indian state. It has been our long standing demand that he be tried for crimes against India. And Pakistan now has the gall to equate that guy with the Home Secretary of the country (who said that ISI is behind the 26/11 attacks). So now blaming ISI and threatening India are on the same page. Yet, we chose to remain silent on this.

Our great External Affairs Minister didn't refute the "we agree" statement. The silence is defeaning. No no, we just don't remain silent - we are desperate to talk to them. We are desperate to see to it that the talks do not fail at any cost. Happen what may, the end statement has to be that the talks will continue. Our Prime Minister is just so desperate to have the talks at any cost - it doesn't matter what people feel in India about it.

And ohh by the way, for the record, Pakistan found the talks "useful" and India found the talks "constructive"

S.M.Qureshi vented further frustration the day after it too. And all that while our minister Mr. S.M.Krishna was still in Islamabad. He said that our "selective approach" is taking us nowhere, and he doesn't want to just meet for photo oppurtunities! As always, we have refuted his comments, and then said we will continue to talk. SMQ then later says, that he believes in talks. Also, he againchanges track and says if he is going to visit New Delhi for further negotiations, he will do so only if we are prepared for a "result oriented dialogue" and will not come for "leisure trips"!

The $5 million flood aid.

India offered $5 million aid to Pakistan, as a humanitarian gesture towards its relief efforts relating to the devastating floods. Guess what - Pakistan took eternity to decide on whether or not to accep this offer! That's right - Pakistan took about a week to decide on whether this money can be accepted! Reason: Because it is coming from India! While Pakistan was still debating whether to accept the aid or not, our Prime Minister calls up their Prime Minister and offers more aid! Again, that's right! We offered them more aid even before they "accepted" our aid. Anyways, finally saner sense prevailed and Pakistan "accepted" our aid offer (which by the way, The Hindu felt was too low!), and as a mark of gratitude, Pakistan Prime Minister sent mangoes to our Prime Minister!

And now - the cricket diplomacy. March 30, 2011

The Prime Ministers decided to take forward the recently started dialogue process to achieve “more permanent normalisation of relations in an uninterrupted manner.” Uninterrupted manner. Which means, if god forbid, another dastardly attack happens on innocent citizens in India, such an attack will have no bearing on the dialogue process. In other words - happen what may, we will always be ready to talk - even if you kill our people.

"Mohali diplomacy successful" screamed some headlines. They followed that headline with "Pak PM invites Sonia" and "Pak PM invites Team India to come and play in Pak". Now, is this what successful diplomacy has been reduced to? We invite them, they come here and invite us - and all is well? Pakistan is yet to take any serious action on our terror related complaints, and here we are - ever ready to showcase that we are willing to forget all those lives lost. This blatant display of over enthusiastic intent to pursue talks that will lead nowhere is baffling.

Yet, we shall continue to talk.

That's all, Your Honour! : Mar.27 - Apr.2

1. Maybe not a billion, but surely tens of millions of citizens were rejoicing since last night. The reason - Indian cricket team won the World Cup last night :) :) . We won this cup after a gap of 28 years (6 World Cups have passed by since we won in 1983). We came close to winning in 2003, but lost out very badly in the finals against Australia. We had a very disastrous World Cup campaign in 2007, when we got eliminated in the first round only. Since then, Team India has shown new initiative and new enthusiasm in getting back on track. The team won the T20 World Cup in 2007 (though we lost early in the subsequent 2 World Cups). The team then rose steadily to become the top ranked team in Tests too. This was a stupendous achievement given the difficulty in playing Test cricket. We then went onto become the top ranked team in ODIs too (I think currently we are second). This slow and steady rise has also ensured the hopes of fans also rise :). The initial round of this world cup saw India winning 3 matches, losing one and tieing one. Sachin Tendulkar (yes, even after 21 years in International cricket, he was our best batsmen!), Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan were in top form in this tournament. However, we lost to South Africa due to a disastrous batting collapse and the tied match against England was due to some very shoddy bowling and batting at death. This had sceptics again wondering - we are winning against small teams and losing against the top teams. Amidst this background, we took on Australia (which won the last three World Cups!) in the Quarter Finals. Some superb performances by team members ensured that we beat them comprehensively. Next came the big match - Semifinals against arch rivals Pakistan! This match was hyped to unbelievable levels by our media. The Prime Minister of India invited his counterpart from Pakistan to view the match (more on this "diplomacy" in the next point). Amidst this pressure, Team India again came out with flying colours. Sachin Tendulkar was adjudged the Man of the Match for his 85. Each Indian bowler took 2 wickets. The win again reinforced belief in team effort. And then the finals - another superb team effort. Dhoni, who did not click with his bat in the entire tournament stuck form at the right time. Along with Gambhir, who made a superb 97, Dhoni ensured that we won the match with enough wickets to spare. From a first round exit in 2007 to winning the cup in 2011, the team has come a very long way. In the early 2000s, Sourav Ganguly exemplified leadership, and inspired confidence in the team to very high levels. It was during his time that "Team India" was born. And that spirit was continued by M.S.Dhoni and the results are now there for everyone to see. We won T20 World, are on top of Test rankings and we are now World Champions! What more can a cricket fan ask for :).

2. "Mohali diplomacy successful" screamed some headlines. They followed that headline with "Pak PM invites Sonia" and "Pak PM invites Team India to come and play in Pak". Now, is this what successful diplomacy has been reduced to? We invite them, they come here and invite us - and all is well? Pakistan is yet to take any serious action on our terror related complaints, and here we are - ever ready to showcase that we are willing to forget all those lives lost. A separate blog post to detail the PM's obsession with Pakistan to follow. Until then, enjoy the world cup victory your Honour!

That's all, Your Honour! : Mar.20-26

Quick blogpost :)

1. For the past two weeks, The Hindu has been releasing cables (through wikileaks) emanating from US offices in India. These cables have established beyond doubt how our Prime Minister has been over reaching to the US on many policy issues. The vote against Iran at IAEA meeting was just one case in point. For months, our diplomats were playing hardball with the US on this issue. US wanted us to vote against Iran. Our diplomats were against it. The US Ambassador to India writes to the US, asking them to urge the Prime Minister when he comes to the US. The Prime Minister meets the President. Shortly after that meeting, instructions go out to the foreign secretary to vote against Iran. An uproar did happen at that time, but then back in 2008, you were not supposed to question the intentions of our Prime Minister, for he was "honest and decent". Murli Deora was bought in as Petroleum minister, and Mani Shankar Aiyar was sacked. Wikileaks reveal that US was very happy with this move. Yet, no outrage because you cannot question this Prime Minister. We buy a Boeing aircraft for VVIP (President, and PM). The US suddenly inserts a clause that says it will inspect them every year. They are high security aircrafts - why should we agree for such inspections? The diplomats were strong enough to resist, but our political leadership again asked our diplomats to compromise. So instead of the word "inspection", we agreed for a "review" and patted ourselves in the back.

The most revealing stuff so far from wikileaks is this subservience to the US, and not the cash for votes revelation. The Prime Minister as usual has denied all allegations. It is futile to go into what he argued, for his arrogance is very telling. More cables are coming out daily, and most of the time we are getting to see how this honest and decent Prime Minister has agreed to anything and everything just to get his favourite Nuclear Deal passed. Surprisingly (or not), the English media is not picking up on our subservience to the US. They are just picking up some political stories here and there. Infact, the first few days when the government was being exposed, the english media has been alert to warn us to wait for BJP leaks also to come out. How does it matter to the media?

Some cables did come out on BJP leaders meeting with US officials. Desperate attempts were made by the english media to look for controversies, but nothing big has come out so far, much to their chargin. So they began to distort! This blog here, gives one such example.

Also, am eagerly waiting for the cables to reveal the names of journalists! All cables are accessible at www.thehindu.com

2. Election heat is picking up in the five states that are going to elections. In Tamil Nadu, DMK has offered more free stuff (laptops, grinders etc!!). Not to be left behind, AIADMK has offered more free stuff ! The TN elections are turning out to be very very similar to how the Andhra Pradesh elections were, in 2009. In West Bengal, Congress wanted 102 seats out of 294, from Mamta Banerjee. Infact, media played it out that Sonia Gandhi was very adamant on getting 102 seats. Guess how many seats Congress was finally offered - 64! And then not a word from the media criticizing Sonia Gandhi! Assam seems to be pretty straight forward - looks like Congress will win again and BJP might make some inroads. Kerala result is also pretty obvious - the Left Front will lose this time. Only TN seems to be the most interesting battle so far.

3. And our Prime Minister is at it again! India and Pakistan will play the semifinal match of World Cup cricket, in Mohali. Not to lose any opportunity to beg Pakistanis, he invites both their President and Prime Minister to watch the match along with him. No ground breaking stuff will be achieved. Pakistan has so far NOT co-operated on ANY terror related investigation and yet our Prime Minister leaves no stone unturned to insult the memories of all those innocent people killed. But then, you don't question the Prime Minister, your honour!

That's all, Your honour! : August 15-21

1. The Nuclear Liability bill is back in the news - and with a bang that too! First leaks this week, suggested that the supplier liability cap be raised from Rs. 500cr to Rs. 1500cr. Also, the time period before which a person can file for damages is now 20 years, as opposed to the 10 years before. And no private sector participation will be allowed in the nuclear sector too. With these changes in, the BJP also agreed to support the bill when it is introduced in Parliament. Great politicians like Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav now accused Congress and BJP reaching to the following deal - CBI will not investigate Narendra Modi and therefore BJP agreed to the deal! And they even stalled Parliament for a couple of days, over this ridiculous suggestion! The next day, The Hindu gives in a detalied report as to how the government is letting the supplier off, by making certain conditions contingent upon each other instead of being mutually exculsive. With the new proposed change, the supplier can be held liable only if there is a contract between the supplier and operator, and the damage is caused because of wilful negligence. BJP then submitted a note to the government saying that this change was not run by them, and they don't accept it. Government now had no option, but to remove "and", and the cabinet thus approved it. Now, if you think the story ends well - the government gives us another surprise! In it's final cleared version, the cabinet adds a clause saying the supplier can be liable only if it is proven that it was his intention in the first place, to supply faulty equipment! How do you even get to prove "intention"?? It is shocking, to say the least, that this government intends to appease suppliers amidst such widespread (and informed) apprehensions in this country. Also, as always Pilid Lao has an excellent take on the new bill. Please read.

2. You know, it pays to have a high profile Chief Minister for your state. Because then every bad thing that happens in your state gets national attention. Here's why I feel so. Last week, the Uttar Pradesh police opened fire on protesting farmers in Aligarh. 3 were killed, including a jawan. Next day, Parliament was stalled by unruly members. That next day, BSP stalled Rajya Sabha asking for a enquiry on mining scam in Karnataka (revenge on BJP for "embarassing it" the previous day). The farmers were basically demanding that their lands be bought at market rates instead of the low rates the UP govt. is offering them. The violence later spread to Agra too. The saviour of all ills in the country, Shri Rahul Gandhi visited Aligarh to "console" the farmers. National media had a field time with this whole issue. Now, how many of you remember the Sompeta incident in Andhra Pradesh. Leave remembering, how many of you know it even happened! Farmers and residents of Sompeta in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh were protesting against the setting up of a power plant in their area. 4 people were killed in the police firing that day. That's right - 4 people were killed. No high profile visits for these guys. No continous coverage in media. And the event was forgotten within no time. Poor farmers - their fate that their Chief Minister is not as high profile as a Mayawati!

3. Do you want further proof of the dogmatic levels to which Pakistan government can stoop down to, through its idiotic thought process? India offered $5 million aid to Pakistan, as a humanitarian gesture towards its relief efforts relating to the devastating floods. Guess what - Pakistan took eternity to decide on whether or not to accep this offer! That's right - Pakistan took about a week to decide on whether this money can be accepted! Reason: Because it is coming from India! While Pakistan was still debating whether to accept the aid or not, our Prime Minister calls up their Prime Minister and offers more aid! Again, that's right! We offered them more aid even before they "accepted" our aid. Anyways, finally saner sense prevailed and Pakistan "accepted" our aid offer (which by the way, The Hindu felt was too low!), and as a mark of gratitude, Pakistan Prime Minister sent mangoes to our Prime Minister! That's all, your honour!

That's all, Your honour! : July 11-17

1. In yet another success story, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched it's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C15) and placed five satellites in their orbits. The biggest highlight of this launch is the placing of the StudSAT - a pico-satellite developed by a group of undergraduate students in collaboration with ISRO. 35 students of 7 different engineering colleges in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh designed this pico-satellite, which is now beaming back signals to the earth. This launch is a big leap in the faith of engineering students across the country, more so because the students are NOT from the famed IIT's and NIT's!

2. After weeks of tumultous scenes in parts of the Kashmir valley, curfew was finally lifted. An all party meeting was also held in this week, which was boycotted by the main opposition party PDP. Even the Prime Minister appealed to the leader of PDP, Mehbooba Mufti, who still refused to attend the meeting saying that there was nothing substantial anyway that will happen in that meeting. True to the prophecy, the all party meeting decided to "appeal for peace" and one NDTV journalist found that a very good outcome. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also met both the Prime Minister and UPA Chairperson, who assured him of full support - now we just have to hope that such incidents don't happen again - even if they do, sadly no one will be held accountable.

3. Karnataka Governor H.R.Bharadwaj is a man on a mission now. He wants corrupt ministers in the BJP led government in Karnataka, who are involved in illegal mining to resign. He met the Prime Minister and also the President on this matter. And then he publicly demands that these ministers should go. Now it is nobody's case that such corrupt ministers need to stay, but the Governor must know his limits and act accordingly. He cannot fancy himself to be the sole arbiterer while dealing with an elected government. And while his Congress roots are definetely playing an important role in this over activism, it is important that we read this article in rediff that gives a clear picture of the entire Iron Ore mining scam issue. Particulary it is of interest to note that the fake licenses to the trucks got issued from Kadapa, whose MP is Jagan Mohan Reddy and the district is a YSR stronghold !

4. As if his rebuke in the joint Press Conference was not enough, Pakistan Foreign Minister S.M.Qureshi vented further frustration the day after it too. And all that while our minister Mr. S.M.Krishna was still in Islamabad. SMQ alleged that SMK got frequent orders from Delhi (duh - if true, where else will he get them from!), and that the Indian side has come unprepared. He also said that our "selective approach" is taking us nowhere, and he doesn't want to just meet for photo oppurtunities! As always, we have refuted his comments, and then said we will continue to talk. SMQ then later says, that he believes in talks. And as of yesterday, he again changes track and says if he is going to visit New Delhi for further negotiations, he will do so only if we are prepared for a "result oriented dialogue" and will not come for "leisure trips"! Speaking of results, Mr. SMQ - how about you show some results on the 26/11 investigations?? That's all, your honour!

"Useful" and "Constructive"

India's External Affairs Minister met his Pakistan counterpart yesterday. They addressed a joint press conference.

When Pakistan's Foreign Minister was asked this "We are talking about taking the dialogue process (between India and Pakistan) ahead. In this scenario, Hafiz Saeed's anti-India tirade is affecting the environment, was this issue discussed"

To which he replied (it's a long answer, but you will have to read it in its entirety. "We discussed it. Incidentally, the minister (referring to India's S M Krishna) raised the question that he was concerned about hate speeches that incite people, and that we should avoid them. I do agree that both sides need to create an enabling environment, and not let the climate of engagement be vitiated by these speeches, should refrain from negative propaganda against each other"

Perhaps even he was bored with the same crap being dished out always and therefore continued thus - (here comes the actual stuff). "When you point out to Saeed's speech, or speeches, let me draw your attention to the Indian Home Secretary's (G K Pillai) statement. The dialogue which was reported in all Pakistani papers.. Tell me, to what extent it has helped? We were of the opinion that it was uncalled for"

So first he gives a long winded answer, and then goes about equating our Home Secretary with noted terrorist Hafiz Saeed. Hafiz Saaed is on record for his vitroil against the Indian state. It has been our long standing demand that he be tried for crimes against India. And Pakistan now has the gall to equate that guy with the Home Secretary of the country (who said that ISI is behind the 26/11 attacks). So now blaming ISI and threatening India are on the same page. Infact this report in The Hindu calls the Home Secretary's statement as the biggest irritant. Wow - look to where we have stooped down to. Yet, we chose to remain silent on this. Our great External Affairs Minister didn't refute the "we agree" statement. The silence is defeaning.

No no, we just don't remain silent - we are desperate to talk to them. We are desperate to see to it that the talks do not fail at any cost. Happen what may, the end statement has to be that the talks will continue. Our Prime Minister is just so desperate to have the talks at any cost - it doesn't matter what people feel in India about it.

Every single time talks are held, we are told that "Terror is high on our agenda", and then we are also told that we will seek answers from Pakistan on the progress of their investigations. Now, has any progress been made? Is India satisfied with their response? If they are, then why do they have to rake it up each time there is a meeting? If they are not, then what on earth is stopping us from saying that we really can't move further if you don't co-operate? Why are we treated to this shameful spectacle with alarming regularity these days?

There is one more dimension - the media's role in this whole saga. Why are sections of the media so desperate to cover up the failures of the two governments, when it comes to these talks? Why don't they show more guts and demand better answers from our government as to what exactly is the strategy? Why this blind following of the shameful planning by the government. Many journalists just dish out the same stuff again and again, and never once do they talk about the need for us to be tough with Pak for encouraging terrorists (who by the way, kill our citizens). Even now, sections of the Indian media are making desperate attempts to see the "positive" side of these talks - we will talk further!

Ofcourse, we will talk further. It doesn't matter what kind of shit is thrown at us; it doesn't matter what kind of vitroil is directed at us. We will talk, even if you don't wish to. Even if you continue to encourage those who kill us.

And ohh by the way, for the record, Pakistan found the talks "useful" and India found the talks "constructive"

That's all, Your Honour! : June 20-26

1. "The world over governments through their price support programmes, consisting of assured minimum prices and subsidies, encourage the cultivation of specific crops that are in short supply or are environment friendly." So basically any government is expected to announce it's minimum support prices before the crop season begins so that farmers can decide, right? Now, take a guess as to when our agricultural ministry, headed by Shri Sharad Pawar, announced the fresh set of MSP's? One week after the monsoon's arrived! This is just one of his many many screw-ups at the Agricultural ministry, yet he stays! This editorial in The Hindu is a must read to understand the whole pricing stuff better.

2. The government has increased the prices of Petrol and Diesel this week. It has also decided to deregulate the prices of petrol, which means government will no more decide on the prices unless the international market is very volatile. As far as I understand, the oil companies will decide on pricing every 15 days based on the international situation. By the way, the current increase in prices will ensure that the government's coffers will fill with money needed for it's social welfare schemes. It will also ensure that the inflation will go up much further. Don't you guys see a pattern? The "social welfare" schemes of the government are actually burdening the tax payer more and more every year? Revenue through taxes and price increases is how the government is running it's schemes, burdening the working middle class.... good economics? That too, with a economist PM at the helm?

3. Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan met in Islamabad this week. Yawwnn. 2 days later Home Minister P. Chidambaram met his counterpart Rehman Mallik. yawwwnnn. PC asked for the same things (voice samples, stronger action on 26/11 suspects etc). Rehman Mallik answered the same things (we will "consider", "look into"). yaawnnnn. Next week, Shri S.M.Krishna, the Foriegn Minister, is going to Islamabad. YAWWWNN.

4. Like the editorial truly states, this is the most bizzarre indictment for a "crime", EVER. 6 Italian Scientists and one government official could face charges of manslaughter for failing to predict..... a earthquake! That's right - for failing to predict an earthquake!!! That's all, your honour!

And yet, we shall talk!

On February 26, 2010, the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan met in New Delhi. As has been the trend, India gave 3 dossiers to Pakistan and then said that the next round of talks will happen after Pakistan responds to them. And Pakistan hasn't yet responded to them. True to our stand, the secretaries did not meet. But hey, we never said the Prime Ministers will not meet right? So, in Thimpu this week, the Prime Ministers of both the countries met. Infact, they even went for a stroll, at the "insistence" of the summit leaders. (by the way,If you are wondering what Summit - the SAARC summit. Wouldn't blame you for forgetting that, given the fact that SAARC has been reduced to this bilateral farce long ago! )

Anyways, post the "stroll" and then a one-on-one meeting, it was decided that the dialogue process will be put back on track. A cursory (and not even careful) reading of the news reports clearly tells us there are no specifics that have been decided as of yet. What will the two countries talk about? Siddarth Varadarajan "analyses" that "...but the Manmohan Singh government will need more than mere words in order to convince sceptics at home.". What is very conveiniently forgotten is that the Prime Minister himself is not convinced, so where does the option arise to convince "sceptics" at home?

We have not been told what action has been taken by Pakistan. Frequently, we hear the Home Minister, the External Affairs Minister, and the Defence Minister say they are not at all satisfied with what Pakistan has done. Yet, the Prime Minister does not care for these sentiments. He seems to be trying hard to please the world community, that he is ready to leave a legacy of peace behind him, no matter how many times we are attacked. The sense of urgency the Prime Minister is showing to get talks back on track is plain baffling. And more importantly, the reasons cited (if any) are totally misleading. The only lesson that we seem to have learnt from the Sharm-el-Sheikh summit is that there will no joint statements after the two PM's meet.

Pakistan now knows that happen what may, we will continue to give dossiers. And then we will talk. It doesn't matter if any action has been taken on the Dossier. Talks will happen, and it is always a win-win situation for Pak at the world stage.

Nothing changed after the Feb. 26th meeting; nothing changed from the time Chidambaram, recently, publicly rebuked the High Commisioner of Pakistan; nothing changed from the last time A.K.Anthony told us that there are 42 training camps across the LoC, training for we all know what; Hell, nothing changed from the last time, I wrote this letter to the Prime Minister. Every single point is valid today too. Yet, we shall talk.

Salman Bashir - The Dude!

Yaawwnnn. This is how practically every journalist who was the press conference of the Forieign Secretary of Pakistan felt last evening. Any question was invariably answered to test the patience limits of all those present there. And more importantly, the tone, the language and the content of his answers was just so despicable that one started wondering as to why we are even talking to Pakistan.

Yesterday was when the two foreign secretaries met in New Delhi (for something like, to give peace a chance, blah blah). After the meeting, the Indian foreign secretary met the press, and took some questions. All answers were on expected lines. We discussed terror, they did bring up Kashmir and we stated our positions etc etc. So far so good.

At around 5:40pm, the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr Salman Bashir (hereinafter referred to as the Dude!), started addressing his press conference. And all pieces slowly started falling apart. The Dude tells us not to lecture Pakistan. When asked about the dosseirs, the Dude tells us they want concrete proof and not "literature". And then the Dude goes on to lecture us on how the talks should be held, and how we are being unreasonable in talking about only terror, and how Kashmir is the core issue blah blah...yaawwwnnnn. The Dude then tells us that their country has seen 1000's of Mumbai and how their country is also a victim of terror. Never mind that the Dude forgot that terror was of their own making, and that they are trapped in the grave that they have dug!

Hey, if you think the Dude was only serious and had no sense of humour, then you are mistaken my friend. With a wry smile, our Dude tells us "We know that all is not well". What a humour, man...what a humour. Also, the Dude also tells that our Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, is a man of vision. The Dude used our country to tell us how we should be handling terror related issues and he also reminded us that his country is a also a victim of terror. The Dude spoke like a politician, and rubbed tonnes of salt on our wounds. This prompted some "sources" to tell CNN-IBN that India is not desperate for talks; the Dude has been briefed by the army; 85% of the talks concentrated on terror; that the Dude's country is not serious about dealing with terrorists.

And so ended the farce called Indo-Pak talks.

No future date has been set, but common sense suggests that we hold off till action is taken against the 33 new names of the conspirators we gave to them in the 3 new dossiers yesterday. However, the big question is - at the higher echelons of the government, will common sense prevail?

Dear Mr. Prime Minister…

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I was a big proponent of talks till the terror attacks intensified. I am not talking about just Mumbai here. Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai train blasts – all have hit the psyche of normal Indians who suddenly feared that going out for a stroll might mean death. Fortunately, I have not lost any dear ones in these attacks. But, I still cannot forget how I felt the day after the blasts in Hyderabad – an uneasy calm, and a disturbed mind torn between sympathizing for those who died and anger at those who were responsible.

All along, we have known that elements in our neighbourhood were directly assisting these activities. And when 26/11 happened, that was the last nail in the coffin, and rightly so (and like we have done multiple times before) we decided not to talk to Pakistan until "action" was taken on terror. The whole country was in grief and majority of us forgot to ask then, what exactly does "action" mean? And in the busy times you have had since then, I am sure even you must not have thought about actually defining what "action" you were expecting from Pakistan.

The joint statement released in Egypt has been discussed before on many forums, and many questions were asked right from drafting to issues included. And while you rose to answer all your critics, I waited in anticipation to see if you would answer these following questions:

1. The Foreign Secretary, S.S.Menon said this was a case of bad drafting. Do you agree?
   
2. Minister of State, Shashi Tharoor said this was a not a legal document, so why worry? Do you agree?
   
3. If Baluchistan was included because the Pak PM raised the issue with you, why was your reply to Pak PM's claim not included in the statement?
   
4. Leave alone what changed in the two months between meeting Zardari and Gilani, what changed between four days of your External Affairs Minister telling Parliament that enough has not been done, and the joint statement?
   
5. What exactly are you expecting Pakistan to do? And if you are not happy with what has been done, why is there a sense of urgency to talk to them?
   
6. If India and Pakistan are interpreting the "delinking" clause according to each one's conveinience, what is the point in having that clause in the first place? Who was it intended to satisfy?
   

Sadly sir, I got the answer to only question number 4. You have mentioned in your reply that just two days before the summit, you received a 34-page dossier from Pakistan in which Pakistan accepted that the LeT was chiefly responsible for the attacks in Mumbai. Very well, sir. So, it took just two days for you and the entire foreign ministry and home ministry to read, analyse and arrive at the conclusion that this dossier is a good step forward, so let's drastically alter our approach too! Just 2 days, not even two months!

While you gloat over your contention that "The reality is that this is far more than the NDA government was ever able to extract from Pakistan during its entire tenure despite all their tall talk.", I would have given you full marks to that statement had you achieved this same result in the exact same circumstances that NDA government functioned under. Had you been able to extract this confession without so many terror attacks, you (and we too) have every reason to be proud about the "achievement".

I do not doubt your intention to bring in peace, but what severly bothers me is your sense of urgency to engage in dialogue with Pakistan while the wounds of the terror attacks have still not healed. In your hurry to outpace every other Prime Minister and propogate to the world that we are willing to adjust to changing scenarios more quickly than one would expect, you seem to be drifting away from the track laid by none other than you yourself! You are not happy with what has been done so far, your Home Minister is not happy, your External Affairs Minister is not happy, most of the people in the country are not happy, and yet we are witness to this spectacle of you walking more than halfway, in an attempt to appease the international community, because "this is much more than what has been done before". Where exactly are we drawing a line as to when to talk and when not to, sir?

From your statement yesterday (forgive me sir if I sound like the "opposition" you don't want to listen to), all that my small mind could sense was that our approach which was clear till a fortnight ago, took an unwarranted and unnecessary detour. We owe it to those who died and to those who mourn that we could have atleast waited till some substantial arrests were made, not when Hafeez Saeed was released because the case mounted by Pakistan was weak. We owe it to those died and to those who mourn that, in international fora, we sound stern and not appeasing. We owe it to them that they feel justice is being served, slowly but surely. Everything else can wait.

I believe the majority of people in the country agree with you that "dialogue is the only option, since war is ruled out." I belong to that majority, but the timing is just so ill-timed. Surely, it is not too much to ask to wait for a little longer, to verify and trust and not vice versa.

Yours sincerely,

Sudhir

The other side of the argument..

We've been hearing a lot about the fiasco in Egypt by the Indian delegation. If you are interested in listening to the other side of the argument (nope, it is not from the government!), today's article in The Hindu by Siddarth Varadarajan gives it. Click here to read the article.

I just thought we should also listen to the other side to get a complete picture, and I still stick to the fact this whole bungling could have been avoided. I will write more about this topic tomorrow, since the PM is scheduled to make a statement today in Parliament.

The Foreign Secretary said this was a case of bad drafting. The Minister of State for External Affairs said that this is not a legal document, so why the ruckus about it? The Minister for External Affairs said...well, nothing! Let's see what the PM has to say and then continue the debate ...

No “forward movement” this…

Statement 1:
Excerpt from the Joint Statement issued by India and Pakistan in Egypt: "Action on terrorism should not be linked to the Composite Dialogue process and these [sic] should not be bracketed."

Statement 2:
Excerpt from the Prime Minister's answer to a query later in the day: "..dialogue cannot begin unless and until the terrorist acts of Mumbai are fully accounted for and the perpetrators are brought to book"

So, now, can someone tell me how both these statements are the same?! Which statement should we give credence to? The first one issued by the two governments, or the second one by our Prime Minister? Or is there going to be a third statement in Parliament after he returns?

According to The Hindu report, Indian side interprets the first statement like this: "Pakistan should not wait for the resumption of the composite dialogue to take action against terrorism" And the Pakistani side interprets like this: "..this meant the future of the dialogue process should not be held hostage to the perception in New Delhi that Pakistan had not done enough to stop the activities of terrorists operating from its territory". And therefore both sides see this statement as a breakthrough!! Wow, diplomacy and interpretation just took a new turn towards naiviety.

There is a third way to interpret this. With statement 1, we have tried to please the International audience. With statement 2, we have tried to please the National audience. My question is – why should we please the international audience?! How can we even agree not to link the action on terrror to talking to Pakistan on "outstanding" issues? Why are we sounding even more eager than Pakistan to talk? Our point till today, was very clear – we will not talk till something is done. And we are talking to them when nothing was done (oops sorry, something was done – Hafeez Saeed was let off!).

The Pakistani side sees this as a victory to its diplomacy. The head of GEO Television in Pakistan has this to say on rediff: ""It was a great victory for Pakistan but not a defeat for India. Surely, India gave concessions to Pakistan keeping in mind a long term goal. I think Dr Singh has made a sacrifice to gain bigger things in future. We understand he has taken a risk by going against public opinion in India. Dr Singh has shown some flexibility.""

I would suggest you to read the full article here , but here's another excerpt from there "When asked why and how the Indian stand changed dramatically in Egypt when compared with its stand during talks between Singh and President Asif Ali Zardari in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 16, Mir responded, "According to our information the meeting of India and Pakistan foreign secretaries in the last 48 hours in Egypt has been crucial. Pakistan's Bashir took a tough stand against Menon. Bashir told Menon if you bracket the Mumbai attack with the comprehensive talks between the two countries then there is no possibility of a joint statement.""

Pakistan took a strong stand against us?!?! Seriously?! If true, I don't even know how to react! And if false, isn't our climbdown on the "delinking" giving them enough leeway to make these statements? Why is it us, who always end up making compromises. What are we losing if there is no joint statement?! What are we losing if we don't to talk to a country that has least respect to our concerns? Some of the media still sounded optimistic ( The Hindu, CNN-IBN, NDTV ), and some gave the true picture ( Times of India, Indian Express ). Whatever the coverage is, the fact that the Indian side wants to generate a "feel good" factor is what disturbs us.

Optimism is good. I am not denying that. Till recently, even I was a big supporter of the dialogue process. Peace is what brings ever lasting prosperity, and therefore I sincerely believed the talks will lead to such peace. And each time, that peace was broken, we have returned to the table after a while. I thought this time would be different, but it did not turn out to be.

Ohh, and here's something I found hilarious. Apparently, the two countries have agreed to share intelligence regarding terror! Yeah right, ISI and RAW will work together!! You know what actually; the day ISI genuinely co-operates with RAW is when there will be forward movement. This summit in Egypt is no forward movement.