With Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani having taken charge of Pakistan's foreign policy and succeeded in procuring more sophisticated and lethal weaponry from the United States, India can expect increased tension along its border, more infiltration and higher level of rhetoric on Kashmir from Islamabad. Since Pakistan's creation, its Army has sustained itself on large infusions of American arms aid, kept civilians out of power most of the time and used tension with India to justify its existence and primacy in the power structure. American has been willing and happy to recruit Pakistan as a Cold War ally, bound by military pacts, and pay in cash and kind for the services rendered by it through the decades. The US assigned equally important post-Cold War roles to Islamabad in Afghanistan and continues to build its war potential against India, perceived as "enemy" by the Pakistani military establishment. Inside Pakistan democracy was not allowed to take root, and even after Gen Musharraf's departure from the scene, the Army is back at taking decisions and giving orders to an enfeebled and servile civilian government unsure of its tenure.
The strategic dialogue between the US and Pakistan clearly demonstrated who is giving orders in Pakistan as Gen Kayani, sitting by the side of the US Defence Secretary, watched his Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi read out the brief prepared for him. secretary of State Hillary Clinton was ecstatic at Kayani's presence because the US has always depended on the Pakistan Army to implement its strategic agenda in the region, currently dominated by an honourable exit strategy for the US forces in Afghanistan after handing over power to Pakistan-chosen Taliban. It is well known that the Army retains an incentive to increase Pakistan's sense of insecurity, against evidence to the contrary. In a country where the military has ruled for decades, it is not surprising that a divided Pakistani political leadership is ever willing to too the Army's line.
Distrust of India having become the sole means of survival for elements of Pakistan's civilian and military leadership, they refuse to share India's desire to see the country secure itself, develop and prosper. Instead, they have consistently demonstrated arrogance born out of acquired military strength, enlightened self interest, a penchant for mendacity and willful disregard of the interest of their people, who continue to groan under poverty and suffer under feudal institutions, with the fundamentalists breathing down their necks to focus on India instead of giving vent to their feelings against corrupt and inefficient governments. The fundamentalists, sustained by the Army and its intelligence agencies, are effectively preventing democracy -- that too western, parliamentary-style -- taking root in Pakistan. The money and weapons obtained from the US go to sustain the Army and the fundamentalists and democracy and civil society are suppressed.
The 56-page list of demands handed to the US authorities this time was large and the Army managed to secure its basic interests -- more money and weapons. The military component has made New Delhi feel uneasy because the new weaponry is meant only for use against India and also to suppress the unfulfilled democratic aspirations of the people of Pakistan's who are constantly fed on the rhetoric that their country fears an existential threat from India, which Army alone can meet and protect Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Over the decades Pakistan Army has perfected the art of blackmailing the US into giving it more arms and other aid in exchange for services rendered to protect its interests in the region and further its strategic objectives. The Obama Administration is giving the impression of becoming over-dependent on Pakistan, and this is where the danger for India and the international community lies.
The presence of Gen Kayani and ISI Chief Gen Pasha (who has been given a year's extension of service) at the strategic dialogue underlines the abnormality of the situation. Every time Pakistan is criticised over gaps in its campaign against the Taliban, which has a military component, Islamabad brings up the threat from India. Islamabad has often used the pretext of rising tensions with India to explain why campaign against the Taliban in Waziristan and other places cannot be, expanded. The US can itself verify that there has been no addition to the Indian formations already deployed to defend the western border. In fact, there has been thinning out of troops in Jammu and Kashmir after their withdrawal from towns. Yet the bogey is raised to hoodwink the US, which often laments that although huge sums of money are being paid to Pakistan for anti-Taliban and anti-Al-Qaeda operations, the results are not commensurate with the investment in cash and weaponry. In fact the Taliban have been gaining strength, both inside Pakistan and Afghanistan after the Pakistan Army proclaimed it was launching an offensive against them. Highly inflated figures of casualties suffered by the Pakistan Army during anti-Taliban operations have been given to the Americans to convince they that they too are paying a price.
Pakistan rulers know the one way to blackmail to blackmail and extract more out of Washington is to threaten to slowdown action against the Taliban on its western flank. Negotiating with the Taliban to take over in Afghanistan and also taking military action against them does not, therefore, make sense. Pakistan Army is targeting only those among the Taliban that have run out of its control and are challenging the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba in Punjab. Pakistan Army has been nurturing and protecting the Lashkar which it continues to use for terror attacks against India and crating terror cells within India to give militancy a local colour. The US knows it, its Congressmen have debated the issue and think tanks have warned the Administration against depending on Pakistan deal with terrorism because it maintains a huge terror infrastructure on its soil. But the US has got so badly bogged in Afghanistan that it is prepared to pay any price and overlook anything Pakistan does in order to get out. Islamabad is taking full advantage of the situation and has already started putting pressure on India and kept thousands of terrorists read to infiltrate.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thai unrest, Myanmar overshadow ASEAN summit
Southeast Asian leaders open talks with their vision of building a regional community of nations overshadowed by major unrest in Thailand and Myanmar's widely criticised election plans.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was forced to cancel his trip to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, after a dramatic escalation of anti-government protests in Bangkok.
The political drama in Thailand, where a state of emergency has been declared, is among the domestic issues within the 10-member ASEAN bloc which are distracting it from moving forward collectively, observers say.
Focused on economic issues for most of its existence, ASEAN in 2008 adopted a charter committing it to tighter links. The group aims to form by 2015 a community of 600 million people committed to democratic ideals and free trade.
"The building of the economic community will be one of the focal points during the summit," said Vietnam's assistant foreign minister Pham Quang Vinh.
Although the two-day meeting's slogan is "from vision to action", analysts say ASEAN is weighed down by wide development gaps within the region, entrenched domestic interests and the perennial distraction of Myanmar's failure to embrace democracy.
"I don't see any potential for their vision of an ASEAN community coming through by 2015," said Christopher Roberts, from the University of Canberra.
ASEAN's diverse membership ranges from Laos, one of Asia's poorest nations, to the Westernised city-state of Singapore, the absolute monarchy of Brunei and the vibrant democracy of Indonesia. Other members are Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Thailand had until recent years been one of the region's strongest democracies, but Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo said Thursday that its recent turmoil was "worrying".
"(I) really hope that the situation there will not lead to violence, that good sense will prevail, and that the parties involved will continue to talk."
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that peace in each of ASEAN's members was essential to the group's ambitions for closer linkages.
"In the end, regional integration efforts, regional community building efforts must be anchored by national stability," he said.
But it is military-ruled Myanmar, accused of widespread rights abuses and preparing to hold its first elections in two decades later this year which has long been the bloc's most troublesome issue.
ASEAN members are divided on how to respond to Myanmar -- which is under European Union and United States sanctions -- but has always escape formal censure from the group which adheres to a principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs.
Analysts expect this time to be no different, but individual nations have taken a stronger stand on new election laws that effectively bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating.
"We see this as a potentially extremely important election," Indonesia's Natalegawa said, urging Myanmar to live up to its commitments that the polls would be free and democratic.
Ahead of the summit, ASEAN took another step towards addressing
long-neglected human rights concerns with the inauguration of a commission to address the rights of women and children.
But economic issues will remain a focus of the leaders' talks.
In a draft statement seen by AFP, they call on regional governments to prepare to wind down economic stimulus measures brought in during the global financial crisis.
The leaders also say they want vital road, sea and air links completed more quickly to complement efforts to integrate regional economies, according to the draft of the statement, to be issued on Friday.
In a separate draft document, the leaders also call for a legally binding global pact on climate change.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was forced to cancel his trip to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, after a dramatic escalation of anti-government protests in Bangkok.
The political drama in Thailand, where a state of emergency has been declared, is among the domestic issues within the 10-member ASEAN bloc which are distracting it from moving forward collectively, observers say.
Focused on economic issues for most of its existence, ASEAN in 2008 adopted a charter committing it to tighter links. The group aims to form by 2015 a community of 600 million people committed to democratic ideals and free trade.
"The building of the economic community will be one of the focal points during the summit," said Vietnam's assistant foreign minister Pham Quang Vinh.
Although the two-day meeting's slogan is "from vision to action", analysts say ASEAN is weighed down by wide development gaps within the region, entrenched domestic interests and the perennial distraction of Myanmar's failure to embrace democracy.
"I don't see any potential for their vision of an ASEAN community coming through by 2015," said Christopher Roberts, from the University of Canberra.
ASEAN's diverse membership ranges from Laos, one of Asia's poorest nations, to the Westernised city-state of Singapore, the absolute monarchy of Brunei and the vibrant democracy of Indonesia. Other members are Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Thailand had until recent years been one of the region's strongest democracies, but Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo said Thursday that its recent turmoil was "worrying".
"(I) really hope that the situation there will not lead to violence, that good sense will prevail, and that the parties involved will continue to talk."
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that peace in each of ASEAN's members was essential to the group's ambitions for closer linkages.
"In the end, regional integration efforts, regional community building efforts must be anchored by national stability," he said.
But it is military-ruled Myanmar, accused of widespread rights abuses and preparing to hold its first elections in two decades later this year which has long been the bloc's most troublesome issue.
ASEAN members are divided on how to respond to Myanmar -- which is under European Union and United States sanctions -- but has always escape formal censure from the group which adheres to a principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs.
Analysts expect this time to be no different, but individual nations have taken a stronger stand on new election laws that effectively bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating.
"We see this as a potentially extremely important election," Indonesia's Natalegawa said, urging Myanmar to live up to its commitments that the polls would be free and democratic.
Ahead of the summit, ASEAN took another step towards addressing
long-neglected human rights concerns with the inauguration of a commission to address the rights of women and children.
But economic issues will remain a focus of the leaders' talks.
In a draft statement seen by AFP, they call on regional governments to prepare to wind down economic stimulus measures brought in during the global financial crisis.
The leaders also say they want vital road, sea and air links completed more quickly to complement efforts to integrate regional economies, according to the draft of the statement, to be issued on Friday.
In a separate draft document, the leaders also call for a legally binding global pact on climate change.
Obama to limit use of US nuclear weapons
President Barack Obama plans to place new restrictions on the use of atomic weapons as part of a major US nuclear policy overhaul, a senior administration official said on Monday. In an interview with The New York Times, Obama said he would make exceptions for "outliers like Iran and North Korea," but stress non-nuclear deterrence and eliminate Cold War ambiguities about when such weapons could be used.
Obama unveils his strategy on Tuesday, two days before signing a treaty with Russia to slash stockpiles of long-range nuclear warheads by a third, and less than a week before hosting world leaders at a key nuclear summit in Washington. A senior administration official told AFP that the upcoming signing of the new START treaty with Russia, the summit, and the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) will see the administration "embracing a 21st century approach to nuclear weapons."
"The NPR focuses on preventing nuclear terrorism and proliferation and reducing the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, while sustaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent for the United States and our allies," the official added. In order to pursue a key foreign policy aim of halting nuclear proliferation, Obama has committed the United States -- the only country ever to unleash an wartime atomic bomb -- to a series of nuclear arms cuts. "Now, the Nuclear Posture Review states very clearly, if you are a non-nuclear weapons state that is compliant with the NPT, you have a negative assurance we will not be using nuclear weapons against you," he told The Times.
Obama unveils his strategy on Tuesday, two days before signing a treaty with Russia to slash stockpiles of long-range nuclear warheads by a third, and less than a week before hosting world leaders at a key nuclear summit in Washington. A senior administration official told AFP that the upcoming signing of the new START treaty with Russia, the summit, and the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) will see the administration "embracing a 21st century approach to nuclear weapons."
"The NPR focuses on preventing nuclear terrorism and proliferation and reducing the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, while sustaining a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent for the United States and our allies," the official added. In order to pursue a key foreign policy aim of halting nuclear proliferation, Obama has committed the United States -- the only country ever to unleash an wartime atomic bomb -- to a series of nuclear arms cuts. "Now, the Nuclear Posture Review states very clearly, if you are a non-nuclear weapons state that is compliant with the NPT, you have a negative assurance we will not be using nuclear weapons against you," he told The Times.
Christian marks Good Friday
Pope Benedict XVI marked Good Friday, the Christian world's most solemn day, with the Roman Catholic Church under a dark cloud battling paedophile priest scandals.
With new cases being reported almost daily, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope's vicar for Rome, told Vatican Radio that it was a "moment of suffering" for the Church.
Benedict, 82, is to hold a special service at St Peter's Basilica before presiding over a traditional procession at Rome's Colosseum re-enacting Jesus Christ's final hours and crucifixion. Since 2008, Benedict has not completed the Way of The Cross walk, taking up the wooden cross only at the very end of the dramatic ritual attended by thousands of pilgrims carrying candles.
Catholic bishops have sought to rally around the pope ahead of the Easter weekend commemorations, which have increased the spotlight on the Vatican's actions.
The leader of Germany's Roman Catholic bishops, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, said in a special message that Good Friday must "mark a new departure which we so badly need."
The German church has been thrown into crisis as dozens of people have come forward alleging they were abused as minors by priests. Most cases date back several years.
The abuse cases fill the hearts of Catholics with "pain, fear, and shame," Zollitsch said.
He said Catholics were were aware of the "pain which has been inflicted on victims who often, for decades, were unable to express their pain in words."
In his own archdiocese of Friburg, the church prepared a special prayer for victims to be said during Good Friday services. "Pray for the children and the young who, in the middle of the people of God and in the Church community, were wronged, abused and wounded in their body and soul," said the prayer.
The child abuse scandal has engulfed much of Europe and the United States, drawing in the Vatican for harsh criticism over its handling of the affair.
On Thursday, France became the latest European country to implicate paedophile priests, one accused of sexual aggression against a boy in 1992 and 1993 and another suspected of possessing pornographic images of minors.
But while acknowledging the abuse, many Church leaders say the pope has been unfairly targeted.
Ruini told Vatican Radio: "There are two motives of suffering that are together: suffering for the faults of the children of the Church, in particular of priests, and suffering because of this hostile will to the Church."
The Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano last week denounced what it called an "ignoble attempt" to smear the pope and his closest aides "at all costs."
Benedict has come under intense pressure with allegations that, as archbishop of Munich and later as the chief Vatican enforcer of Catholic doctrine and morals, he failed to act against priests accused of child abuse.
For the Church, this "is the hardest moment since the publication of the 'Humanae Vitae' (Of Human Life) by Paul VI in 1968," Vatican expert Bruno Bartoloni told AFP, referring to a papal encyclical that attacked use of the birth control pill as a mortal sin.
"At that time the crisis was as deep, with personal attacks against the pope and the Church in general," Bartoloni said.
The pontiff received a boost from the head of the US Church who praised Benedict's record in introducing measures to combat paedophile priests.
"It was Pope Benedict who gave us, in different ways, the ability to handle this crisis more quickly and in a way that helps to heal," Chicago Archbishop Francis George told Vatican Radio.
George said that when the pope was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he "enabled us to keep the predators out of the priesthood permanently in ways that were not possible before and... encouraged us to reach out to victims." Benedict headed the body which is responsible for disciplining priests from 1981 to 2005.
On Saturday, Benedict will hold an Easter vigil in St Peter's Square, where he will also celebrate Easter mass on Sunday to be followed by his "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing.
With new cases being reported almost daily, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope's vicar for Rome, told Vatican Radio that it was a "moment of suffering" for the Church.
Benedict, 82, is to hold a special service at St Peter's Basilica before presiding over a traditional procession at Rome's Colosseum re-enacting Jesus Christ's final hours and crucifixion. Since 2008, Benedict has not completed the Way of The Cross walk, taking up the wooden cross only at the very end of the dramatic ritual attended by thousands of pilgrims carrying candles.
Catholic bishops have sought to rally around the pope ahead of the Easter weekend commemorations, which have increased the spotlight on the Vatican's actions.
The leader of Germany's Roman Catholic bishops, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, said in a special message that Good Friday must "mark a new departure which we so badly need."
The German church has been thrown into crisis as dozens of people have come forward alleging they were abused as minors by priests. Most cases date back several years.
The abuse cases fill the hearts of Catholics with "pain, fear, and shame," Zollitsch said.
He said Catholics were were aware of the "pain which has been inflicted on victims who often, for decades, were unable to express their pain in words."
In his own archdiocese of Friburg, the church prepared a special prayer for victims to be said during Good Friday services. "Pray for the children and the young who, in the middle of the people of God and in the Church community, were wronged, abused and wounded in their body and soul," said the prayer.
The child abuse scandal has engulfed much of Europe and the United States, drawing in the Vatican for harsh criticism over its handling of the affair.
On Thursday, France became the latest European country to implicate paedophile priests, one accused of sexual aggression against a boy in 1992 and 1993 and another suspected of possessing pornographic images of minors.
But while acknowledging the abuse, many Church leaders say the pope has been unfairly targeted.
Ruini told Vatican Radio: "There are two motives of suffering that are together: suffering for the faults of the children of the Church, in particular of priests, and suffering because of this hostile will to the Church."
The Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano last week denounced what it called an "ignoble attempt" to smear the pope and his closest aides "at all costs."
Benedict has come under intense pressure with allegations that, as archbishop of Munich and later as the chief Vatican enforcer of Catholic doctrine and morals, he failed to act against priests accused of child abuse.
For the Church, this "is the hardest moment since the publication of the 'Humanae Vitae' (Of Human Life) by Paul VI in 1968," Vatican expert Bruno Bartoloni told AFP, referring to a papal encyclical that attacked use of the birth control pill as a mortal sin.
"At that time the crisis was as deep, with personal attacks against the pope and the Church in general," Bartoloni said.
The pontiff received a boost from the head of the US Church who praised Benedict's record in introducing measures to combat paedophile priests.
"It was Pope Benedict who gave us, in different ways, the ability to handle this crisis more quickly and in a way that helps to heal," Chicago Archbishop Francis George told Vatican Radio.
George said that when the pope was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he "enabled us to keep the predators out of the priesthood permanently in ways that were not possible before and... encouraged us to reach out to victims." Benedict headed the body which is responsible for disciplining priests from 1981 to 2005.
On Saturday, Benedict will hold an Easter vigil in St Peter's Square, where he will also celebrate Easter mass on Sunday to be followed by his "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing.
75 countries set carbon emission targets for 2020: UN
Seventy-five countries accounting for more than 80 percent of greenhouse gases from energy use have filed pledges to cut or curb carbon emissions by 2020, the UN climate convention said on Wednesday.
The promises were made under the Copenhagen Accord, the outcome of the global climate summit in the Danish capital last December, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in a press release.
A total of 111 countries plus the European Union (EU) "have indicated their support for the Accord," the UNFCCC said.
Cobbled together in the crisis-ridden final hours of the summit, the Copenhagen Accord sets the goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and gathered rich and poor countries in specific pledges for curbing carbon emissions.
It also promises money: 30 billion dollars for climate-vulnerable poor countries by 2012, with as much as 100 billion dollars annually by 2020.
Critics say there is no roadmap for reaching the warming target and point out the pledges are voluntary.
The UNFCCC's official report on Wednesday on Copenhagen lifts lingering doubt that major emitters, including China, India and Brazil, would not give the Accord their political blessing.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said the promises were significant but had to be followed up.
"It is clear that while the pledges on the table are an important step towards the objective of limiting growth of emissions, they will not in themselves suffice to limit warming to below 2 C (3.6 F)," he said.
The promises were made under the Copenhagen Accord, the outcome of the global climate summit in the Danish capital last December, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in a press release.
A total of 111 countries plus the European Union (EU) "have indicated their support for the Accord," the UNFCCC said.
Cobbled together in the crisis-ridden final hours of the summit, the Copenhagen Accord sets the goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and gathered rich and poor countries in specific pledges for curbing carbon emissions.
It also promises money: 30 billion dollars for climate-vulnerable poor countries by 2012, with as much as 100 billion dollars annually by 2020.
Critics say there is no roadmap for reaching the warming target and point out the pledges are voluntary.
The UNFCCC's official report on Wednesday on Copenhagen lifts lingering doubt that major emitters, including China, India and Brazil, would not give the Accord their political blessing.
UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer said the promises were significant but had to be followed up.
"It is clear that while the pledges on the table are an important step towards the objective of limiting growth of emissions, they will not in themselves suffice to limit warming to below 2 C (3.6 F)," he said.
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