Vol: 22 | No. 6 | June 2014 | R20

www.opinionexpress.in A MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE

Cover Story INDIA MODIfied It’s a wave very few could see. However, sheer disenchantment with UPA, makes Modi a phenomenon

editorial Modi leads BJP to RNI UP–ENG 70032/92, Volume 22, No 6 EDITOR PRASHANT TEWARI a historic victory ASSOSIATE EDITOR DR RAHUL MISRA ight months after the BJP named him its prime ministerial candidate, Na- POLITICAL EDITOR rendra Modi, 63, proved he was worth the opposition the party originally PRAKHAR MISRA Eencountered over its decision. Mr Modi has delivered the BJP’s best result BUREAU CHIEF ever, giving it more than the 272 seats it needs to form a gov- GOPAL CHOPRA (DELHI), VEELAAS KENJALE ernment. This is the first parliamentary majority by a single (MUMBAI), SOUMEN ACHARYA (KOLKATA), LAKSHMI party since 1984. DEVI ( BANGALORE ) DIVYASH BAJPAI (USA), KAPIL DUDAKIA (U.K.) RAJIV AGNIHOTRI (MAURITIUS), India has won, good days are coming, Mr Modi said at a ROMIL RAJ (DUBAI), HERMAN SILOCHAN (CANADA), rally in Vadodara in his home state of Gujarat, where thou- YASHWANT AMIN (AUS/NZ) sands chanted his name. In a clear message to those who have

CONTENT PARTNER tagged him a polarising leader, he said, “Even if we’ve clear PRATHAM PRAVAKTA majority to run the government, it’s our responsibility to take everyone along in running India.” LEGAL ADVISOR Through his campaign, Mr Modi had vowed to reboot ASHOKA KUMAR THAKUR the economy and deliver efficient governance -he said today “development for MARKETING DIRECTOR all” would be his mission. With its allies, the BJP now has over 300 of the 543 DIWAKAR SHETTY parliamentary seats. The stunning numbers provide incontrovertible evidence of

ADMINITRATION DIRECTOR the “Modi wave” that the BJP name-dropped for months. The twin headline to BAL MUKUND GAUR Mr Modi’s phenomenal win is the colossal defeat that he has enforced upon the incumbent Congress. Headed by Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the party has crashed to CORPORATE COMMUNICATION its worst performance with less than 50 seats after 10 years in power. SANJAY MENDIRATTA Modi himself has been elected to parliament from Vadodara and the holy city of GRAPHICS & DESIGN Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, which he is expected to choose as his constituency. GREY CELLS The multinational search effort for the aircraft is the largest and most expen-

ONLINE PRESENTATION sive in aviation history.The search began in the Gulf of Thailand and the South AMIT SONI China Sea, where the aircraft’s signal was last detected on secondary surveillance radar, and was soon extended to the Strait of Malacca and Andaman Sea. Analy- PHOTOGRAPHER sis of satellite communications between the aircraft and Inmarsat’s satellite com- RATAN SHUKLA munications network concluded that the flight continued until at least 08:19 and OVERSEAS MARKETING flew south into the southern Indian Ocean, although the precise location cannot OEMCL (MAURITIUS), OEHCL (DUBAI) be determined. Australia took charge of the search on 17 March when the search ADVERTISEMENT / PR / CIRCULATION DELHI / moved to the southern Indian Ocean. On 24 March, the Malaysian government NCR: CAPT. VINAY GOYAL DHRUV JANAK & CO. R -51 noted that the final location determined by the satellite communication is far from BASEMENT, RAMESH PARK,LAXMI NAGAR,DELHI-92 any possible landing sites, and concluded that “Flight MH370 ended in the south- TELE: +919871232631FAX: 011-22056817 ern Indian Ocean.” MUMBAI: VIJAY KALANTRI - ADVISOR NEW EXCELSIOR BUILDING, 6TH FLOOR, A.K. NAYAK The law allows doctors to kill a child if they and their parents consent, and MARG, FORT, MUMBAI - 400 001 (INDIA). there is thought to be no treatment for their intense suffering. They must also be PHONE: 91 - 22 - 2201 9265 / 2201 9160 FAX : assessed by a psychologist and be “capable of discernment.” One man in the public 91-22- 2201 9764 / 2201 9760 gallery shouted “murderers” in French when the vote was passed after what had The magazine is published and printed by Rajiv been a heated debate between lawmakers the previous day, according to Reuters. Agnihotri for Opinion Express Communications To become entrenched in law, the bill needs to be signed by the country’s mon- & Entertainments Pvt Ltd, from 2 Ashok Nagar, arch, King Philippe, but this is seen as a formality.Euthanasia, the act of a doctor Lucknow And printed at Kumpu Graphic Press directly killing a patient, has seen a rapid rise in popularity for adults in Belgium, EDITORIAL & CORPORATE OFFICE: where it was legalized in 2002. The Netherlands and Luxembourg are the only OPINION EXPRESS HOUSE 24 - A CLYDE ROAD, countries where the practice is legal. LUCKNOW-226001 (INDIA) PH: 91-522-4045728/4060880 FAX: 91-522- However the elections in five states have proved that BJP is not unbeatable. 4060880 24X7 MOBILITY +91 9984437000 Wherever the opposition has a slightly good leadership to answer back BJP with the Email: [email protected] capacity to consolidate anti BJP vote, BJP can be defeated. Though various states

All content published may be subject to copyright, have formidable regional leaders, the nation has absolutely none. As long as Rahul seek written permission to re-produce. Opinion Gandhi is the perceived choice for PM against Modi, irrespective of how much he has Express is trade mark brand of Opinion Express improved, he comes absolutely nowhere near Modi. Sonia is getting old and keeping Communications & Entertainment Private Limited a bit unwell to really run around amassing support. All disputes are subject to be under jurisdiction of —Prashant Tewari , courts in Delhi. Editor-in-Chief

Opinion Express June 2014 3 June 2014 COVER STORY: P6-17 UPA BACK TO POWER

NEIGHBOURHOOD TIGERS TAMED P18-23

ENTERTAINMENT P42-44 P32-36 OPENING OF DOORS NUKE MENACE DEFIANT KOREA

In News: The coming of age of Rahul Money matters A stress test for world P5 Gandhi P37and how India is best placed Concerns: The clear and present AIAI news: Iran for better relations P22danger of taliban menace P47with India US politics: The road ahead for Gopio world: GOIPO helps Hoover P29Barrack Obama P49 Medal Board to honour Kalam IN NEWS ho is the real Rahul Gandhi? An upstart with childish retorts, or a master strategist? A mama’s boy, or a leader in his own right? AW destiny’s child, or the one who makes his own destiny? One must accept that Elections-2009 has given answer to most of these questions. Rahul Gandhi, the scion of arguably the first family of Indian politics has evolved from his protected self. Years of grooming in the hinterland politics is clearing show- ing its result. And the verdict has given a decisive judgement on the 38-year-old Gandhi’s acumen as a campaigner and political tactician. If one talks of stats, Congress won nearly 60% of seats where he went to campaign for his party’s candidate. And in UP, where he has been devoting much of his time, Congress sprang back to life with 21 seats, from 9 in 2004.

If one talks of stats, Congress won nearly 60% of seats where he went to campagin for his party’s candidate. And in UP, where he has been devoting much of his time, Congress sprang back to life with 21 seats, from 9 in 2004

Somewhere in the course of the cam- paign, he changed from an apprentice politician to a tactician, shunning and wooing allies with the ease of a natural. He gambled on Congress going it alone in Uttar Pradesh, and it paid off handsome- EVOLVED POLITICIAN: RAHUL GANDHI ly. He complimented Nitish Kumar, Chandrababu Naidu and the Left, leaving party leaders confused and allies fuming. Rahul was setting the political agenda COMING OF AGE on his terms. He could be king right away. But he has chosen not to. Instead of don't respond to his comments." It came proved a tireless campaigner. And it can basking in the glory in Delhi, he reached on the back of a dismissive description be said with some evidence that he struck Sultanpur in UP with sister Priyanka to from Narendra Modi who compared Rahul a chord with the youth across the country. thank his voters. Surely, the man is dif- to an aquarium fish. The show may only have begun, feel par- ferent. Inside a month, on a hot sunny tymen. His focus has been UP, which he knows is key for Congress to regain its old glory. Saturday, the saffron brass was left lick- With UPA back in power with more Expect him to possibly change the leader- ing its wounds as everything with a stamp strength, now his primary goal is to reju- ship by bringing in someone younger. of the Gandhi family scion — strategy and venate the party cadre in UP. With people Midway through the high-voltage cam- candidates — came up trumps, leaving a of UP already showing signs of disen- paigning came a patronizing snub from virtual carnage in the BJP camp. chantment with the BSP regime, he can BJP chief Rajnath Singh when he refused For a man to have clocked 125 meet- have his best shot in the 2012 state to react to a barb from Rahul Gandhi: "I ings, covering 87,000km, Rahul also polls.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 5 COVER STORY MAN OF THE MOMENT COVER STORY Thumbs Up For Brand Manmohan It’s a mandate that has surprised all, including Congress. Result: Manmohan Singh becomes only the second Prime Minister after Jawahar Lal Nehru to be re-elected to the chair

JOY OF VICTORY: IT’S CELEBRATION TIME FOR THE CONGRESS FAMILY

Prashant Tewari

eople of India have delivered a clear verdict, In the highly polarised and seem- ingly unpredictable general election of 2009 at a historic threshold of coalition politics in the country, the Indian people have given a clear-cut thoughtful ver- dict by voting for stability, predictability and moderation. Indians have clearly opt- ed for the centrist views in politics, diplomacy and economy. While taking up the Pchallenge to seek a renewed mandate from the people, the Congress projected Dr Manmohan Singh as the persona of predictability and stability in national politics. Sonia Gandhi provid- ed much-needed balance in the Congress's public discourses. The Congress duo has ob- tained a pan-Indian approval. Nobody can doubt that after reading the much-awaited num- bers.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 7 COVER STORY

CENTRE OF GRAVITY: RAHUL GANDHI HAS EMERGED AS A NEW FORCE India is alive and young, the nation is since last three decade. All the leaders talk about inclusive growth as it did last full of optimism. The world is looking at formulated developmental policy for the time, but in the coming days the stock ex- India with respect and hope to provide nation resulting in major surge in Indian change will have reasons to rejoice as the qualitative leadership in science and tech- position globally. Left parties are out of New Delhi's power nology. Every night, young radiologists in The Congress-led incumbent govern- structure. Bangalore read CT scans e-mailed to The Prakash Karat-led era of Left domi- them by emergency-room doctors in the The quintessence of nance in New Delhi is ending on a highly U.S. Few modern Americans are surprised controversial and humiliating note. No to find that their dentist or lawyer is of Election 2009 lies is that doubt, the Communist Party of India- Indian origin, or are shocked to hear how India still remains what Marxist is being rocked to its very foun- vital Indians have been to California's dations. A historic turning point is at hand high-tech industry. In ways big and small, it always has been for the Indian Left, comparable in magni- Indians are changing the world. tude to the split in 1964. For the conceiv- That's possible because India--the sec- through millennia — able future, the CPI-M will be forced into a ond most populous nation in the world, a centrist country of mood of introspection and a painful and projected to be by 2015 the most course correction. populous--is itself being transformed. people who opt for In sum, the quintessence of Election Writers like to attach catchy tags to na- 2009 lies is that India still remains what tions, which is why you have read plenty moderation and balance, it always has been through millennia -- a about the rise of Asian tigers and the especially in troubled centrist country of people who opt for Chinese dragon. Now here comes the ele- moderation and balance, especially in phant. India's economy is growing more times in their troubled times in their tumultuous history. than 8% a year, and the country is mod- Indian electorate have elected this gov- ernizing so fast that old friends are bewil- tumultuous history. ernment headed by Dr Manmohan Singh dered by the changes that occurred be- to fight economic downtrend, hostile bor- tween visits. The major credit of writing ment has got such a convincing mandate der states promoting rouge ideologies and the entire script goes to present Prime that it is well-placed to provide a stronger terrorism, growing naxal trouble challeng- Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, though government than it provided from 2004 to ing internal security and to counter cor- India is fortunate to have successive qual- 2009. People can heave a sigh of relief ruption in public life to make government ity leadership in late Rajiv Gandhi, late PV that a period of political stability lies apparatus more transparent. Narsimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee ahead for five years. The Congress will (Writer is Editor , Opinion Express Group)

8 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS COVER STORY

THREE FOR JOY: MANMOHAN, SONIA AND RAHUL HAVE EMERGED AS A POTENT COMBO Congress had better strategic plans and preparations Sanjaya Baru Communists. Analysing Indian policies and politics over the past two he day of the psephologist is over. It is time for the po- decades, watching these being shaped in the Prime Minister's litical analyst. The election results are not just num- Office for over four years, and writing speeches for the prime bers, they define a nation's ideological contours. Much minister, I often recalled Mohit Sen's wise words. India can not of the post-poll discussion has been focused on per- be governed either from the 'right' or the 'left'. India can only sonalities. Its time to reflect on policies. be governed from the 'centre'.Individual states could lurch in TThe verdict of the 2009 general election has once again one direction and remain there for long periods of time, like brought the 'centre' in Indian politics to centre-stage. India has West Bengal on the left and Gujarat on the right. But this sub- returned to an even keel, I learnt the ABC of Indian politics from continental, civilisational republic can only be governed from the a Communist ideologue called Mohit Sen in his Narayanaguda political 'centre'.That political centre has been empowered flat in Hyderabad in the early 1970s. The one thing he kept once again by the results of the 2009 general election. drilling into my teenage mind all the time was the idea that India The Indian National Congress always occupied the political can only be ruled from the 'political centre.' That is how he jus- centre. It may have lurched to the left at times and to the right tified the Communist Party of India's support to Indira Gandhi at times, but its destiny was in the centre because it emerged and that is why he was finally excommunicated by the as the consensual voice of a plural nation.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 9 COVER STORY All those political scientists who theo- rised about the so-called 'era of coali- tions' in the post-Emergency period forgot that the Congress party was always a coalition. Its success is defined by re- maining so. The Congress entered the 2004 cam- paign on a weak wicket because Atal Bihari Vajpayee had tried, fairly success- fully, to usurp that centre space from the Congress. I was pilloried by many in the Congress and on the left for writing an ed- itorial entitled 'Atal Bihari Nehru.' But that precisely was Vajpayee's project, and that is why he became the first non- Congress prime minister to serve a full term in office. Because the BJP grabbed a bit of that centre space, the Congress was forced to turn left to regain ground. The problem with the 2004 verdict was that the Left Front, and some in the Congress, actually interpreted the result to mean India had moved left.

Because the BJP grabbed a bit of that centre space, the Congress was forced to turn left to regain ground. The problem with the 2004 verdict was that the Left Front, and some in the Congress, actually interpreted the result to mean India had moved left.The Left's '60' in 2004 came from a pro-Achutanandan wave in Kerala, after he was initially denied a ticket by the party bosses in Delhi, and a pro- Buddhadev wave in Bengal. Recall those T-shirts Thiruvanantpuram's teenagers wore with 'VS' emblazoned on them? The ideologues of the left however in- terpreted this 'regional' result as an en- dorsement of their political platform, and tried to impose this on the Congress through the National Common Minimum Programme. Many in the Congress happi- ly walked into this trap because they were so dazed by the result and were so happy to return to government after almost a decade. In a classic Communist party manoeu- vre Prakash Karat took charge of the Communist Party of India-Marxist by stag- ing a virtual coup at the Party Congress in 2005 and tried to push the entire United END OF DREAM: BJP UNDER ADVANI FAILED TO GET RIGHT DIRECTION

10 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS COVER STORY

NON-STARTER: KARAT AND NAIDU IN A PRE-POLL PARLEYS. THIRD FRONT GOT IT ALL WRONG

Progressive Alliance leftwards. He tried to put the Congress was in fact the original political coalition in India. on the defensive by charging it of abandoning the nationalist Early in the election campaign Prime Minister Manmohan platform on foreign policy. Singh hit out at casteism and regionalism and identified these The Left painted Manmohan Singh as a 'neo-liberal' econo- as equally damaging as communalism to the future of our mist, knowing full well that he was and has always been a Republic. Further, by rejecting the Third Front's attempts to give 'Keynesian' liberal, and charged him of a pro-US bias. the Congress a character certificate on nationalism, the Some in the Congress, like Mani Shankar Aiyar, seemed to Congress regained the centre space that they were trying to fall into this trap and echoed the Left view that the 2004 verdict take away.The Left's stance on the India-US nuclear deal was was in favour of pro-left policies. This created an ideological con- motivated by a Bolshevik instinct to hijack the Congress agen- fusion within the Congress that the Left exploited by seeking to da. By guilt tripping the Congress and accusing the prime min- drive a wedge between the party and the government. The India- ister of abandoning 'an independent foreign policy' they were US civil nuclear cooperation agreement was used as an instru- hoping to shape Indian foreign policy in the manner they sought ment to stage that coup. to shape economic policy in the past. In the meanwhile, the BJP dumped Vajpayee's centrism and If the Congress had gone along with the Left and dumped the moved right without reflecting on why Vajpayee had tried to take nuclear deal it would have once again surrendered 'its' politi- the party away from its core ideology. Vajpayee was trying to cal space to the Left. 'Congressise' the BJP. Once the BJP abandoned that project Wisdom lay in asserting its own independence and, above all, under the leadership of Lal Kishen Advani] and Narendra Modi] in reclaiming the centre space of Indian political life for itself. it lost 'middle India'.So what contributed to the revival of the That is precisely what the Congress did in 2009. Congress? I believe it was the Congress' decision to strike out Returning to the ideological centre, enabled the Congress to on its own, unencumbered by the ideological prejudices of the return to the Centre. Left and the caste-based and regional parties. The Congress re- (Sanjaya Baru served as media advisor to asserted its independent centrist identity. It remembered that it Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, from 2004 to 2008)

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 11 COVER STORY INDIAN ELECTIONS 2009

Strength Weaknesses O pportunities T hreats analysis he official results in the election to the Lok Sabha, the lower House of the Indian Parliament are out, it is clear that the Congress has not only retained Tits position as the largest single party, but has even improved its position as com- pared to the results of the 2004 election by over 60 seats. The parties, which belonged to the United Progressive Alliance, as the coali- tion led by it is known, are well set to have a near absolute majority -- more than 50 per cent of the total seats -- if not an ab- solute majority. This enabled the Congress to form a coalition government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh as the prime minister once again for five years. There is likely to be greater ideological cohesion in the new coalition and this should enable the new government to give a fresh momentum to the implementation of much-needed economic reforms. Under the departing government, also led by Manmohan Singh, the lack of an ideologi- cal cohesion stood in the way of such im- plementation. There has to be a caveat here. The Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee which has a won a remarkable victory in West Bengal and which will be an important member of the new coali- tion, has its own retrograde baggage in economic matters -- like its unrelenting op- position to special economic zones and its allergy to corporate houses. This bag- gage might come in the way of the need- ed economic reforms if the prime minister and Sonia Gandhi, the Congress presi- dent, are unable to persuade her to bury DREAM SHATTRED: DEAM OF REGIONAL PLAYERS TO PLAY KING MAKERS WAS her economic baggage. DASHED. MAYAWATI AND BSP WERE TARGETTING 40+ FROM UP. THEY GOT 20 The three most significant features of Advani had been unable to enthuse voters UPA government was doing. the election are: outside committed supporters of the BJP Negativism tires people after some l L K Advani, the leader of the and its sister organisations. They also felt time. He also committed many tactical Bharatiya Janata Party, has failed to con- that Advani was amenable to accepting mistakes. The most serious of them was vince the electorate that he will be a bet- wrong advice and that this could come in his focussing on attacking the prime min- ter alternative to Manmohan Singh as the the way of the BJP coming back to power. ister as an individual leader than on his prime minister. Many of the local BJP I myself felt that he came out during the policies. Attacks of a personal nature do cadres with whom I have an opportunity of election campaign as a negativist leader, not go well in our civil society. They create interacting periodically, were not opti- who was good in criticising the govern- a feeling of revulsion in people. mistic even before the election about the ment and Manmohan Singh, but was un- party's chances. able to come out with a positive policy l The cynicism, which in the past char- During their interactions with me, they package which he could place before the acterised the attitude of large sections of attributed their pessimism to the fact that electorate as an alternative to what the the people towards the Congress because

12 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS COVER STORY

PERFORM OR PERISH: NAVEEN PATNAIK (LEFT) AND NITISH KUMAR HAVE SHOWN THAT NOW ONLY PERFORMANCE WILL COUNT of allegations of corruption, inefficiency ing West Bengal from the asphyxiating What will be the impact of the election etc, has got diluted and people have once clutches of the Communists should go to on the Hindutva forces constituted by the again started looking up to the Congress Mamata Bannerjee. BJP and its allied organisations? as a party capable of re-inventing and re- For years, she fought single-handed Will they realise that playing an exclu- forming itself. against them and has ultimately succeed- sively Hindu card has proved counter-pro- In many parts of the country, the ed.What will be the impact of the election ductive and that the time has come to Congress is still looked upon as the party on the common man? All the parties, give themselves an expanded agenda not of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, which will be in the new coalition, have confined to the interests of the Hindu Lal Bahadur Shastri, K Kamaraj, Indira had a reputation of giving equal priority to community? Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha the needs of the common man as well as The BJP has done well in the election Rao. the business class, whereas the BJP was despite its lack-lustre election campaign, Manmohan Singh's unquestioned rep- always seen as a party which felt more though it has not done as well as in 1999 utation as an honest leader has helped comfortable with the business world. and even in 2004, but if it has to appeal the Congress in getting over this cynicism There will be conflicting pressures on to a larger spectrum of people of different surrounding it. The Congress has a past religions and different regions it has to do of which it can be proud. The same thing the new government -- from the corporate a sincere introspection and embark on an cannot be said about the BJP. The votes world for more and speedier economic re- exercise to rid itself of the negative as- for the BJP came largely --if not exclusive- forms and from the middle and poorer pects of its image. ly -- from its committed supporters. The classes for more populist measures like Congress was able to tap a much larger writing off bank loans, subsidised sale of Is it capable of such an honest intro- reservoir -- consisting of its committed essential articles etc. spection? supporters as well as others. If the Trinamool Congress continues to The history of many religion-based par- l Wherever the Communists had act as a speed-breaker in the way of meet- ties in other countries often is that when come to power anywhere in the world ei- ing the expectations of the corporate they do badly electorally, the die-hards in ther through a revolution or through the world, inner conflicts would once again the party manage to convince themselves ballot box, they have shown a tendency to distort the economic reforms and further that their poor performance was due to see to it that they cannot be dislodged delay our catching up with China. not their over-focus on religion, but be- from power by infiltrating the governmen- How to meet the expectations of the cause of their not focussing sufficiently tal machinery through their cadres and corporate world without sacrificing the in- on religion-related issues. Instead of di- through intimidation of those opposed to terests of the common man? How to meet luting polarising tendencies, they further them. That is what they succeeded in do- the expectations of the common man strengthen them. The BJP has to resist ing in West Bengal. without sacrificing the needs of the cor- such a retrograde step if it has to regain The entire credit for breaking their porate world? These questions will haunt its elan and come back to power. What is stranglehold on the governmental ma- the prime minister as he gets going for a required is not more of the Hindutva ide- chinery and initiating the process of free- second innings. ology, but less of it.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 13 COVER STORY IMPACT ASSESSMENT What will be the impact on India's place in the international community? B Raman

any countries in the world must have heaved a sigh of relief over the bad perform- ance of the Communists. Apart from China, North KoreaM and Cuba, no other country in the world would have relished the prospect of the Communists coming to power in New Delhi.Many Islamic and even Western countries would have heaved a sigh of re- lief over the BJP's poor performance. The BJP was seen in the Islamic world as a party of Hindu extremists. It was seen in the Western world as a party of Hindu na- tionalists. Its anti-Communist ideology attracted the Western world. The West had no diffi- culty in getting along with the government headed by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but it was increasingly con- cerned by what it saw as an attempt of Hindutva elements to create a divide be- LOTUS WILTS: MANY ISLAMIC AND EVEN WESTERN COUNTRIES WOULD HAVE HEAVED A SIGH tween the Hindus and Christians. OF RELIEF OVER THE BJP'S POOR PERFORMANCE The world as a whole would be happy any decision to resume the dialogue. The Obama administration has been with Manmohan Singh's continuance as Despite the fact that counter-terrorism supportive of India's assistance in the prime minister. The political leaderships did not play any major role in influencing economic development of Afghanistan of many countries felt more comfortable the attitude of voters during the election, and as such the first two demands of with him than they would have been with public opinion in India might find it difficult Pakistan do not seem to have much sup- Advani. He was perceived as a moderate, to support any decision to resume the di- port in Washington. Though the US has balanced person, who avoids rhetoric and alogue despite Pakistan's obduracy on not accepted Pakistani allegations re- confrontational attitudes.The previous the Lashkar issue. garding the functioning of the consulates, Bush administration in the US was very Since Pakistan's attitude shows no it may still want the new government in happy with him as prime minister. The signs of changing, do we continue to keep New Delhi to address this third concern Obama administration would be equally the dialogue process in cold storage? The suitably. The new government should re- happy with him. Since coming to office on new government should make any re- ject this firmly. January 20, the Obama administration sumption of the dialogue conditional on Even though the Chinese would have has been adopting a low-profile, inactivist the US making Pakistan give satisfaction been disappointed by the Communists's role vis-a-vis India because of the election. to India on the Lashkar issue. poor performance in the election, they Now that the election is over, one can Pakistan's perceived concerns about would be happy with Manmohan Singh's expect a more high profile and activist India's role in Afghanistan relate to three continuance in power. The Chinese lead- role. Such activism would be directed to- issues. ership felt comfortable with him despite wards nudging Manmohan Singh into re- Firstly, India's role in the economic de- their concerns over the India's close suming the composite dialogue with velopment of Afghanistan and particularly strategic relations with the US under the Pakistan, which was interrupted by the its role in the development of the infra- Bush administration. These concerns terror attacks in Mumbai, and towards ad- structure. would be less now in view of the greater dressing at least some of Pakistan's con- Secondly, the alleged presence in importance attached by the Obama ad- cerns relating to India's role in Afghanistan of a large number of Indo- ministration to the US's relations with Afghanistan. Tibetan Border Police personnel to protect China than with India. On the question of the suspended dia- the economic reconstruction teams. The economic relations and the people- logue with Pakistan, the failure of Asif Ali Thirdly, the presence in Afghan towns to-people contact between India and Zardari's government to arrest and pros- near the border with Pakistan of Indian China would continue to develop, but the ecute or hand over to India the leaders of consulates. Pakistan alleges that these border dispute will defy an early solution the Lashkar-e-Tayiba involved in the consulates are being used to assist polit- unless there is a dramatic change in the Mumbai attacks would come in the way of ical dissidents in Balochistan. Chinese attitude, which is unlikely.

14 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS COVER STORY Manmohan Singh a very wise leader: Obama

ongratulating Manmohan Singh for his second conveyed his felicitations on the recent elections term as the Prime Minister of India, US in India. He said that Singh is a very wise CPresident Barack Obama on Thursday said leader whom he respects. Obama said he is Singh is a very wise leader whom he respects looking forward to visiting India at an early and is looking forward to visit New Delhi at an date. early date. Shankar conveyed the greetings from Obama said this to the new Indian Indian President Pratibha Patil and the Ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, at his Prime Minister to the US President and Oval Office in the White House. Shankar pre- First Lady Michelle Obama. sented her credentials to the US President as The envoy said that she was looking for- the top Indian diplomat in the US. ward to strengthen the strategic partnership During the brief credential ceremony, Obama between India and the United States.

While continuing to negotiate on the bor- share of responsibility for reducing the de- der dispute, Manmohan Singh will avoid a bate to the level of Hyde Park oratory. confrontational situation. This would suit The nation and its people have to be the Chinese for the time being. They know gratified that the election went off the art of patience. smoothly, belying apprehensions that ji- Sri Lanka and Nepal will be ticklish is- hadi terrorists would try to disrupt the sues. The humanitarian crisis affecting electoral process. the Sri Lankan Tamils did not have any im- The credit for the excellent security pact on the election results, but it is an arrangements should go to the entire se- emotional issue with sections of the Tamil curity bureaucracy and specially to P population and can lead to an outbreak of Chidambaram , the home minister, violence and cause strains in the Madhukar Gupta, the home secretary, Congress's relations with the Dravida and his colleagues in the home ministry Munnetra Kazhagam if the sequel to the as well as to our intelligence commu- impending final defeat of the Liberation nity. Tigers of Tamil Eelam is not handled sen- At the same time, one should not over- sitively by President Mahinda There has been no act of look the possibility that the jihadis them- Rajapaksa's government. terrorism by the Indian selves decided not to indulge in any act of In Nepal, the dilemma faced by the new terrorism lest the people's resentment government will be of a different nature. Mujahideen since result in additional support for the BJP. How not to come in the way of the September when they There has been no act of terrorism by Maoists's insistence on the acceptance the Indian Mujahideen since September of civilian supremacy over the armed struck in New Delhi. when they struck in New Delhi. There has forces and the prime minister's primacy There has been no incident been no incident of Pakistan-conspired in decision-making in all matters relating of Pakistan-conspired terrorism since the Mumbai attacks of to the armed forces? November 2008. This should not be in- How to address concerns in the officer terrorism since the terpreted to mean that their capabilities class over the possible ideological infec- Mumbai attacks of have withered away. tion of the army due to the wholescale in- One must view this more as a tactical tegration of the Maoist People's November 2008. This pause and one should be prepared for a Liberation Army? should not be interpreted resumption of jihadi attacks. The compre- How to prevent legitimate Indian inter- hensive plan for strengthening our count- est in these issues from being misinter- to mean that their capabil- er-terrorism apparatus worked out by preted by the Maoists as intereference in ities have withered away. Chidambaram should be implemented vig- Nepal's internal affairs and thereby driv- orously. Complacency would be suicidal. ing them further into the arms of the The BJP leaders and their advisers han- Though there was no act of jihadi ter- Chinese? dled the national security debate in a rorism in the months leading up to the Mutually compatible answers to these shockingly inept manner, forgetting that election, the Maoists repeatedly struck questions have to be found. The when they were in power they were not killing nearly 50 members of the security Communists's poor performance in the paragons of national security manage- forces during the election campaign. election will hopefully prevent their exer- ment and that they had skeletons in their This speaks of continuing weaknesses cising any distoring influence on our poli- cupboard. in our counter-terrorism capability against cy-making on Nepal. What one saw during the election cam- the Maoists, who operate essentially from What will be the impact on national se- paign was more Hyde Park-style mud- the rural areas as against the jihadis, who curity management? The national security slinging than a well-informed debate. are mainly urban-based. This should re- management did not receive the attention Advani and Narendra Modi, the chief min- ceive the priority attention of the new gov- it deserved during the election campaign. ister of Gujarat, cannot escape a major ernment.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 15 THE OLD GUARD: PRANAB MUKHERJEE, SM KIRSHNA AND FAROOQ ABDULLAH

M Veerappa Moily | LAW CABINET MINISTERS Mallikarjun Kharge | LABOUR S Jaipal Reddy | URBAN DEVELOPMENT Kamal Nath | SURFACE TRANSPORT Meira Kumar | WATER RESOURCES Kapil Sibal | HUMAN RESOURCES Pawan K Bansal | PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS Kumari Selja | HOUSING, TOURISM B K Handique | MINES, NE DEVELOPMENT C P Joshi | RURAL DEVELOP., PANCHAYATI M K Azhagiri | CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS Subodh Kant Sahay | FOOD PROCESSING Kantilal Bhuria | TRIBAL AFFAIRS Virbhadra Singh | STEEL Farooq Abdullah | RENEWABLE ENERGY

THE OLD GUARD: FIRST-TIMER VILASRAO DESHMUKH MOS (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)

A K Antony | DEFENCE Praful Patel | CIVIL AVIATION S M Krishna | EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Jairam Ramesh | ENVIRONMENT & FOREST Ghulam Nabi Azad | HEALTH Prithivi Raj Chavan | SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Vayalar Ravi | OVERSEAS INDIAN AFFAIRS Salam Khursheed | CORPORATE AFFAIRS, MINORITY AFFAIRS Murli Deora | PETROLEUM Krishna Tirath | WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT Ambika Soni | INFORMATION & BROADCASTING Dinsha Patel | SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES Anand Sharma | COMMERCE & INDUSTRY Sriprakash Jaiswal | COAL, STATISTICS G K Vasan | SHIPPING Vilasrao Deshmukh | HEAVY INDUSTRIES M S Gill | YOUTH AFFAIRS & SPORTS Pranab Mukherjee | FINANCE Mukul Wasnik | SOCIAL JUSTICE Sharad Pawar | AGRICULTURE Dayanidhi Maran | TEXTILES P Chidambaram | HOME AFFAIRS A Raja | COMMUNICATIONS & IT Mamata Banerjee | RAILWAYS Sushilkumar Shinde | POWER OLD HAND: JAIRAM RAMESH

16 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS ...AND THE YOUNG BLOOD: SACHIN PILOT, AGATHA SANGAMA AND JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA

Gurudas Kamat | 55 | MINISTERS OF STATE Communications & IT Jyotiraditya Scindia | 38 | Commerce & Industry Ajay Maken | 45 | Home Affairs Shashi Tharoor | 53 | External Affairs V Narayanasamy | 61 | Planning; Parliamentary Affairs Agatha K Sangama | 28 | Rural Development D Purandeswari | 50 | D Napoleon | 46| Social Justice & Empowerment Commerce & Industry Sachin Pilot | 31 | Communication & IT Srikant Jena | 58 | Chemicals & Fertilizers E Ahamed | 71 | Railways Panabaka Lakshmi | 50 | Textiles Mullappalli Ramachandran | 53 | Home Affairs K H Muniyappa | 61 | Railways Sisir Adhikari | 66 | Rural Development Namo Narain Meena | 65 | Dinesh Trivedi | 59 | Health Finance & Family Welfare A Sai Prathap | 64 | Steel Preneet Kaur | 64 | External Affairs M M Pallam Raju | 46 | GLAMOUR QUOTIENT: Harish Rawat | 62 | Labour & Employment Defence D NAPOLEON Saugata Roy | 62 | Urban Development Jitin Prasada | 36 | Petroleum & Natural Gas Vincent Pala | 41 | Water Resources Sultan Ahmed | 56 | Tourism K V Thomas | 63 | Agriculture; Consumer Affairs, Food & Public S S Palanimanickam | 58 | Finance Distribution Mohan Jatua | 71 | I&B S Gandhiselvan | 46 | Health & Family Welfare S Jagathrakshakan | 61 | I&B Bharatsinh Solanki | 55 | Power Mukul Roy | 55 | Shipping Tusharbhai Chaudhary | 42 | Tribal Affairs Mahadev Khandela | 65 | Road Transport & Highways Arun Yadav | 35 | Youth Affairs & Sports Prateek Patil | 35 | Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Pradeep Jain | 49 | Rural Development R P N Singh | 39 | Road Transport & Highways SOUTHERN SURGE: P LAKSHMI TAKES OATH

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 17 TIGERS TAMED AROUND US Sri Lankan army may have given a mortal blow to LTTE, but Tamil problem in the Island nation is far from over

ri Lanka's 26-year-long insur- gency ended with a blaze of bul- lets as Velupillai Prabhakaran, Sthe dreaded chief of the Tamil Tigers that was responsible for assassi- nating Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and several leaders of the island nation, was killed Monday while trying to flee the battle zone. Wild celebrations erupted in large parts of Sri Lanka, including capital Colombo, as the authorities announced that the elu- sive 54-year-old - who fled his home in 1972 with nothing more than a dream to carve out an independent Tamil homeland - had died, ending one of the world's longest running insurgencies that bled the tiny country of 20 million people dominat- ed by the Sinhalese. Soldiers fired at an ambulance in which Prabhakaran was being taken by his loy- alists from the war zone in the north. His face apparently caught fire and he END OF TERROR: A TV GRAB OF LTTE CHIEF PRABHAKARAN’S BODY BEING breathed his last in a small stretch of land DISPLAYED BY THE LANKAN ARMY near the coast in Mullaitivu district, an area about 400 km from here, which he Shanmugalingam Shivashankar alias brokered ceasefire agreement between had made his hideout a long time ago, Pottu Amman, the dreaded chief of the in- Colombo and the LTTE from 2002 until it building seemingly impregnable under- telligence wing that was responsible for collapsed under renewed violence within ground bunkers. all the high profile assassinations the a few years. The death came hours after his elder Tigers carried out in its long and murder- The deaths sparked frenzied celebra- son Charles Anthony, who headed the ous history.Other key LTTE leaders whose tions in Colombo and vast parts of the group's IT wing and was being groomed bodies were found were Soosai, the Sinhalese populated central and southern to succeed him, was also killed. It marked provinces as people poured out of their the collapse of the Liberation Tigers of Wild celebrations erupted in homes, waved national flags and distrib- Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which Prabhakaran uted sweets. set up in 1976 and which became one of large parts of Sri Lanka, in- Born into a Hindu middle class family of the most well-armed and ruthless insur- cluding capital Colombo, as Jaffna in 1954, Prabhakaran was the gent groups in the world with its own the authorities announced youngest of two sons and two daughters army, navy and air force. that the elusive 54-year-old - of a junior government employee in the Sri It also came three days before the 18th Lankan government. anniversary of the assassination of Rajiv who fled his home in 1972 A school dropout, he set up the Tamil Gandhi, who was blown up by a woman with nothing more than a New Tigers (TNT) group in 1972, which be- Tamil Tiger suicide bomber at an election dream to carve out an inde- came the LTTE in 1976. He singlehand- rally near Chennai in India on May 21, pendent Tamil homeland - edly built it into an awesome military ma- 1991. The LTTE also similarly killed Sri chine that at one point controlled a third Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa had died, ending one of the of Sri Lanka's land territory and two- and several Sri Lankan ministers, politi- world's longest running in- thirds of its coastline. cians and other leading personalities in surgencies that bled the tiny The discovery of the bodies of its quarter-century reign of terror which it country of 20 million people Prabhakaran and the others - television conducted in defence of minority Tamil footage showed the blown up face of rights. dominated by the Sinhalese. Prabhakaran's son Anthony - marks the A triumphant Sri Lankan army chief, Lt macabre end of a group which still com- Gen Sarath Fonseka, told state-owned TV: LTTE's naval wing leader; Balasingham mands a lot of support among Tamil ex- ' We have now completed our task of lib- Nadesan, who headed its political wing; patriates spread all over the West as well erating the north and east from terror- S. Puleedevan, head of the Peace as in sections of Tamil Nadu, where ists.' Fonseka was badly wounded when Secretariat; Ramesh, a military leader; Prabhakaran lived 1983-87 and where the an LTTE suicide bomber sneaked into the Ilango, chief of the LTTE police; and Kapil LTTE once had training camps and offices. fortified army headquarters in Colombo Amman from the LTTE intelligence wing. Anthony's body was found at and tried to blow him up. Puleedevan dealt extensively with the Karayamullavaikkal in Mullaitivu district, Also killed with Prabhakaran was diplomatic community during the Norway- 'after an unsuccessful and half-hearted

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 19 AROUND US attempt by LTTE cadres to evacuate their leader's son early this morning', the de- fence ministry said. Tamil sources told IANS that a large number of LTTE fighters may have com- mitted mass suicide in Mullaitivu district by blowing themselves up so as to avoid falling into the hands of the military. Prabhakaran's death also came a day after the LTTE made a momentous an- nouncement that it had decided to 'si- lence' its guns as the 'battle has reached its bitter end'. But the Sri Lankan military, determined to have a total victory over the LTTE, con- tinued the last of its mopping up opera- tions. President Mahinda Rajapaksa is at the peak of his popularity, but to be remembered as the man who truly brought peace to Sri Lanka, he will have to reach a political consensus - quickly - with a shat- tered, fractured Tamil mi- nority while responding to increasing international pressure...

More than 250,000 civilians who fled rebel-held areas were being housed in camps in the northern province with prom- ises from the government that they would be resettled in their original villages as soon as possible. The Sri Lankan national flag is every- where in Colombo these days. In the last months of the Sri Lankan government's 26-year war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the national flag - a sword-bearing lion on a deep red field - was flown at rallies each time the Sri RELIEVED: LANKAN PRESIDENT RAJAPAKSA BOWS TO THE MOTHERLAND AFTER HIS ARRIVAL Lankan army gained ground against the IN THE COUNTRY FROM A FOREIGN TRIP LTTE. With the army now victorious and peak of his popularity, but to be remem- Rajapaksa opened his speech with a few the LTTE's leadership - including the no- bered as the man who truly brought peace sentences in Tamil and told parliament torious Velupillai Prabhakaran - wiped out, to Sri Lanka, he will have to reach a polit- that he would take care of the Tamils and every vehicle on the road, including the bi- ical consensus - quickly - with a shattered, not let military victory lead to discrimina- cycles, seems to be flying a flag, some- fractured Tamil minority while responding tion. "He made all the right remarks," times two or three. to increasing international pressure over says Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, of the But not everyone is feeling the nation- the tactics used to win a war that, ac- Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Colombo- alist euphoria. The island's 2.5 million cording to the United Nations, saw a large based think tank. "A lot now will depend ethnic Tamils, who have long felt discrim- number of civilian deaths in its final on what kind of power-sharing proposals inated against by the nation's Sinhalese weeks. are put on the table." majority - are no closer to a political agree- Rajapaksa struck a reconciliatory note The baseline for any discussion of pow- ment with the Sri Lankan government than when he addressed the nation on May 19, er-sharing is the 13th Amendment to Sri when the war began in the 1980s. a few hours before state TV channels Lanka's constitution. It was ratified in President Mahinda Rajapaksa is at the beamed images of Prabhakaran's body. 1987 after the intervention of India, Sri

20 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS AROUND US

PRICE OF VICTORY: THE VICTORY FOR LANKAN ARMY HAS COME AFTER IMMENSE CIVILIAN CADUALTY

Lanka's powerful neighbor. The amend- Lankan Tamils and ruthlessly eliminated out of 225 seats, the Tamil National ment set up regional provincial councils their political opponents. The government Alliance (TNA) has the largest Tamil rep- that were supposed to give more power to resentation in parliament, but it has been the Tamil majority north and east. Foreign What Rajapaksa is offer- closely aligned with the Tigers, undermin- Minister Rohitha Bogollagama admits that ing its credibility. the 22-year-old law has failed to live up to ing today is an absolute "There was no difference between the its promise. "It remains unimplemented minimum, according to TNA and the Tigers," says Vinayagamorthi in its totality," Bogollagama says, so the Muralitharan, alias "Karuna," the former government is ready to go beyond it. "The some Tamil politicians Tiger military commander who broke President has already said that we are who have long clamored ranks with Prabhakaran in 2004 and is willing to go 13 plus 1." now a minister in Rajapaksa's Sri Lanka What Rajapaksa is offering today is an for more than just regional Freedom Party. "What the Tigers said, the absolute minimum, according to some councils. They want auton- TNA did." Some consider Karuna's de- Tamil politicians who have long clamored fection the beginning of the Tigers' losing for more than just regional councils. They omy over land, natural re- battle. want autonomy over land, natural re- sources and police powers TNA leaders are already positioning sources and police powers - demands themselves as hard-liners whose goals that go far beyond the concessions of the - demands that go far be- are in step with the Tigers' long fight for 13th Amendment. "It was something that yond the concessions of the an independent Tamil homeland."We do came into being 20 years back. Times not know what the other Tamil parties are have changed; situations have changed. 13th Amendment. up to, or what they are looking for," says We have to take all that into account," Suresh Premachandran, a senior member says veteran Tamil politician V. has refused to negotiate with what's left of Parliament with the TNA. Anandasangaree, the leader of the Tamil of the Tigers and will instead try to use "However, if they too are looking for a United Liberation Front (TULF). the All Party Representative Committee to solution that gives greater autonomy to Without the LTTE, there is a vacuum on reach a consensus with the civilian Tamil the northeast, then we have no problem the Tamil side of the negotiating table. parties that remain. Most of those are in holding discussions with the Tamil par- Throughout the war, Tigers insisted that willing to unite and negotiate with the gov- ties. There must be a radical change in they were the only legitimate voice of Sri ernment, but it will not be easy. With 22 the constitution. Both the north and east

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 21 AROUND US the army declared victory over the LTTE - of three Tamil doctors who gave informa- tion to the media about civilian casualties is a reminder that Sri Lanka is still far from that ideal. (Read "Behind Colombo's P.R. Battle Against The Tamil Tigers.")

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon landed in Sri Lanka late in the evening of May 22 and said at the end of his 24-hour visit that the first step toward rebuilding the devastated north is restor- ing displaced people to their homes. More than 260,000 Tamil civilians from the north are being held in camps run by the government authorities, and unless they can return, elections there will be mean- ingless. Rajapaksa had pledged to Ban that 80% of those displaced by the fight- ing in Sri Lanka's north would be reset- tled within this year. "The challenges fac- ing the government are huge," Ban warned. "If issues of reconciliation and social inclusion are not dealt with, history could repeat itself." The 800,000-strong Tamil diaspora, meanwhile, is pushing to hold the Sri Lankan government accountable for what happened during the war. Canada and the U.K., home to the two largest communi- ties of expatriate Sri Lankan Tamils, backed a proposal brought before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to dis- cuss possible violations of international humanitarian law by both sides. Sri Lanka was widely criticized because of the large number of civilian casualties - at least 8,000 this year, according to the UN - and for the severe restrictions being placed on civilians in the government-run camps. Sri Lanka mustered the support of 12 allies, including India and China, against the pro- posal. "There is no question of violations FALLEN HERO: A CHILD HOLDS A POSTER OF PRABHAKARAN DURING A PROTEST RALLY TAK- or war crimes," Bogollagama says, indi- EN OUT BY PRO-LTTE GROUPS IN COLOMBO cating that Sri Lanka will continue its ag- should be merged and should be given a Tigers, military and paramilitary forces gressive resistance to any accusations of greater autonomy with more powers." can erupt without any notice. human rights violations. Forming a large, semi-autonomous re- There is also mounting international Few expect the LTTE to ever return as a gion by merging the newly conquered pressure on the government to deliver on fighting force. Still, it has not completely north with the eastern provinces - parts of its promises of power-sharing and to re- disappeared. Some remnants - maybe a which include Sri Lanka's Tamil majority store the civil liberties that have been few dozen - are hiding in the eastern jun- areas and have been, at times, under suspended during the war. "Bold actions gles and could regroup in some form Tiger control - is unlikely given the growing are needed now to share power and to as- among Tamil diaspora communities in instability in the east. The eastern sure all of Sri Lanka's communities a fu- Canada, the U.K., Australia or the U.S. provinces have been under the govern- ture of hope, respect and dignity," outgo- The leadership of the organization has fall- ment's control since 2007. Elections ing U.S. Ambassador Robert Blake said in en on Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the for- were held there in 2008 and the his remarks on May 20 before leaving Sri mer Tiger chief arms procurer, who is be- provinces have been held up as a model Lanka to become Assistant Secretary of lieved to be in Malaysia. Pathmananthan for what Rajapaksa's government hopes State for South Asia. "Through such ac- acknowledged for the first time on May 24 to do for the former Tiger-controlled areas tions, a truly united Sri Lanka can emerge that Prabhakaran was dead, but insisted in the north. But peace in the east has - a Sri Lanka that is rooted in democracy that the deceased leader's dream of ee- proved to be extremely fragile. The politi- and tolerance, where human rights are re- lam, a separate Tamil homeland, lives on. cal leadership has already split into two spected, where media can operate freely "His final request was for the struggle to feuding factions, and human rights groups and independently." Human rights advo- continue until we achieved the freedom are worried that violence involving former cates say that the arrests - one day after for his people."

22 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS AROUND US

SHORT-LIVED PEACE: LTTE CHIEF PRABHAKARAN SIGNING PEACE ACCORD WITH LANKAN GOVERNMENT IN 2002 BLOOD-SOAKED HISTORY Following are some of the major events 1987: Sri Lankan troops push LTTE 1993: LTTE suicide bomber kills Sri of the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis: back into northern city of Jaffna. Lankan President Premadasa. Government signs accords creating new 1994: Chandrika Kumaratunga comes 1972: Ceylon changes its name to Sri councils for Tamil areas in north and east to power. Opens talks with the LTTE. Lanka and Buddhism given primary place 2002: Sri Lanka and LTTE sign a cease- as country's religion, which further an- fire agreement brokered by Norway. tagonised the ethnic Tamil minorities, who 2004: Tamil Tiger commander Karuna already felt that they are being margin- leads split in rebel movement and goes alised. underground with his supporters. 1976: Velupillai Prabhakaran forms 2005: Foreign Minister Lakshman Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Kadirgamar killed by LTTE sniper. 1977: Tamil United Liberation Front, a January 2008: Government abrogates separatist party, wins all seats in the the ceasefire. Tamil-dominated areas in Sri Lanka's July 2008: Sri Lankan military says it north-east. Anti-Tamil riots leave more has captured the important Tamil Tiger than 100 Tamils dead. PRABHAKARAN’S SON CHARLES ANTHO- naval base of Vidattaltivu in the north. 1981: Public library in Jaffna, cultural NY WHO WAS KILLED IN THE WAR January 2009: Troops capture Tigers capital of the Sri Lankan Tamils, set on fire de-facto capital of Kilinochchi. causing further resentment among the and reaches agreement with India on de- April 2009: Troops capture the last Tamil community. ployment of Indian peace-keeping force. town held by LTTE in the Mullaittivu dis- 1983: 13 soldiers killed in LTTE am- 1990: IPKF leaves Sri Lanka. Violence trict. bush, sparking anti-Tamil riots across the between Sri Lankan army and the Tamil May 16, 2009: President Mahinda north-east leading to the deaths of sever- Tigers escalates. Rajapaksa announces that the LTTE has al hundred community members. 1991: Former prime minister Rajiv been militarily defeated. 1985: First peace talks between the Sri Gandhi killed in a suicide attack near May 17, 2009: LTTE concedes defeat. Lankan government and LTTE fails. Chennai. LTTE accused of carrying out the (Report filed by Rajiv Agnihotri, Inputs from killing. various global news agencies)

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 23 CONCERN

DANGEROUS SIGNS: PRO-TALIBAN GROUPS PROTESTING IN PAKISTAN The Clear And Present Danger Taliban must be taken seriously by World, India should prepare for a comprehensive proxy war hmed Rashid, one of the Taliban government as its neighbour. Afghanistan and Central Asia, under the world's foremost experts on the "If you think infiltration into Kashmir is aegis of the Asia Society, said, "In 2001, Taliban, has predicted that with bad now, wait until the Taliban become we expected after the US attack (in the af- the resurgent Taliban in your neighbour. Then you will see real in- termath of 9/11) that the Taliban, Al Afghanistan and Pakistan, there filtration not only into Kashmir, but into Qaeda, would be on the ropes, if not couldA very well be an Indian Taliban in the India proper." wiped out." near future. Rashid exhorted India and Rashid, who was speaking at the "Today, we have the Taliban as a role Pakistan to resurrect their dialogue and Woman's National Democratic Club in model for an entire region. We have not cooperate in fighting terrorism and ex- Washington, DC, in a discussion and only the Afghan Taliban, today, we have tremism together because if Pakistan fails book-signing of his most recent book the Pakistani Taliban, Central Asian, and to counter the sustained onslaught of the Descent into Chaos: US Policy and the very soon you may have the Indian Taliban, New Delhi could be faced with a Failure of National Building in Pakistan, Taliban. You may have the Taliban stretch-

24 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS CONCERN

FATAL BLOW: PAKSTAN ARMYMEN CARRYING BODIES OF THEIR COLLEAGUES KILLED IN SWAT VALLEY ing into the Caucasus and even into the "is very dire," and that currently "there is proach, the Pakistani author and journal- Middle East," he told the gathering. a fragmentation in the leadership. There ist argued, "The problem is all of the six Rashid, who first wrote the seminal is no demonstrated leadership, either be- neighbours have bilateral problems with book on the Taliban, reiterated that "it's each other and you cannot get them to become a role model for extremism, it is "The problem is all of agree on stabilising Afghanistan, unless backed financially by Al Qaeda, and it's you initiate a diplomatic process to get extremely dangerous. It is now controlling the six neighbours have them to talk to each other about their bi- something like a quarter of Afghanistan lateral issues." and large tracts of northern Pakistan and bilateral problems with Rashid said it was a no-brainer that they are coming now down into Punjab each other and you can- "the biggest problem here is India and and Pakistan is faced with a very, very se- Pakistan," both of whom "are unfortu- rious threat." not get them to agree on nately now involved in a deep rivalry in The Pakistani military, he added, "un- Afghanistan." fortunately, even today, remains in a state stabilising Afghanistan, "I call Kabul the new Kashmir in a way," of denial about the threat that it faces in unless you initiate a he said, and noted that "Pakistan be- the country. It remains in a state of denial lieves that the Indian presence in over the Taliban who are encroaching in diplomatic process to get Afghanistan is undermining the western Pakistan with even more power and tac- them to talk to each oth- border of Pakistan and that the Afghan tics. It remains in denial about the other government is too close to India. There is extremist groups who've been active in er about their bilateral a litany of complaints here. And, this is all other parts of Pakistan -- in the south and being affected by the Americans, by the the center of the country. It also remains issues." US military and the Indian-Afghan alliance in denial of the desperate means that the is part of a US plan to help destabilise military needs to be re-aligning itself on a ing shown by the politicians or being Pakistan." much more modern counter-insurgency shown by the army right now." Rashid said, "This is the kind of con- strategy that it has so far applied in its ac- With regard to the Obama administra- spiracy theory which is very prevalent in tion with the Taliban." tion's new strategy for Afghanistan and the military, the bureaucracy, in govern- Rashid said the situation in Pakistan Pakistan, particularly its regional ap- ment circles, within the elite in Pakistan."

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 25 CONCERN "I certainly don't agree with that and Afghanistan is today a sovereign State and it has a right to have relations with every country in the world and no other country can dictate that you can't have ‘India, Pak must relations with so and so and so and so." But, Rashid asserted, that "at the same time, the Indians need to be help each other’ much more flexible than they have been." He acknowledged that Prime ou need India and Pakistan to Minister Manmohan Singh "has been talk to each other'- It is a view very patient so far with the kind of of Ahmed Rashid, perhaps the strings of bomb blasts that had hap- world's foremost expert on the pened in India even before Mumbai Taliban, says while it is true that [Images]. Mumbai was perhaps the ic- ‘Ythe Pakistani army may be in denial over the ing on the cake and perhaps with elec- internal existential threat of the Taliban and tions looming, the Congress govern- other extremist groups and may be ob- ment couldn't really take it anymore." sessed over the perceived threat from "Anyway, the net result has been a India, it is imperative that New Delhi cut total breakdown in relations, but I real- Islamabad some slack. ly think, a start should be made in try- Rashid's first book on the Taliban shot ing to get India and Pakistan to discuss to the top of The New York Times's best- Afghanistan and to put an end to this sellers list after 9/11 and stayed there for covert war that both sides are mount- weeks and was also translated to more ing from Afghanistan or in Afghanistan, than two dozen languages. He has just pub- and the bad blood that exists between lished another book Descent into Chaos: US both countries and are threatened by Policy and the Failure of Nation Building in the Taliban." Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia. Rashid warned that if India doesn't Ahmed Rashid elaborated in details the road let Pakistan "off the hook here," and map to control Taliban, role of Pakistan, India and doesn't help Pakistan out in this re- US governments. Here are important view points ex- gard, India would be faced with two pressed by Ahmed Rashid. threats in the near future. India would be "faced with an Indian Taliban. We al- Q. What's your take on the Obama administration's AfPak policy, particularly ready have Indian Islamic extremist the regional approach, which includes India to help stabilise Afghanistan? groups working in India, and secondly, Ahmed Rashid: There are two aspects of if Pakistan slides even further, India the regional approach. One is to get all the But in order to get these will be sharing a border with the six neighbours of Afghanistan around the neighbours to agree to Taliban. You will not be sharing a border table and get them to agree to stop desta- with the Pakistan state. You will be bilising Afghanistan, to stop interfering in that, you also have to deal sharing a border with a Pakistan north- Afghanistan and stop backing one or other with the bilateral issues. west frontier province that has fallen to proxy forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan is not going to the Taliban and even parts of Punjab But in order to get these neighbours to fallen to the Taliban and then what are agree to that, you also have to deal with the agree to that or to give up you going to do?" bilateral issues. Pakistan is not going to the Taliban option unless "There is a real need for India to as- agree to that or to give up the Taliban op- you get Pakistan and India sess its national security needs and to tion (as strategic depth against India in understand that it is threatened by Afghanistan) -- unless you get Pakistan and to sit down together and this," Rashid said. "It may be, for India to sit down together and work out work out some kind of someone living in Kolkata or someone some kind of modus operandi so that modus operandi so that living in Madras, it may be an existen- Pakistan's army feels more secure and is Pakistan's army feels more tial threat. But, it is very real and the able to deploy more troops on the Afghan kind of mayhem that was wracked in border to keep the peace. secure... Mumbai recently is an example of what You need a series of bilateral dialogues some of these groups are capable of to resolve these problems. You need America and Iran to talk to each other, you doing spectacular strikes. The logisti- need Central Asia and Afghanistan, you need Pakistan and Central Asia. And, of cal support base is running deep in the course, vitally important, you need India and Pakistan to talk to each other. So, Indian system courtesy Dawood that's the idea of the recent strategy. Ibrahim & Co providing comprehensive operative channels in India for Taliban Q. But isn't this perceived threat from India -- as you have said on many occa- and rouge elements in ISI, making the sions -- a state of denial by the Pakistan army? task of policing our country extremely Ahmed Rashid: Yes, but India should understand that it is also faced with this challenging.

26 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS CONCERN

GROWING MENACE: THE SITE OF BLAST NEAR ISI OFFICE IN LAHORE Taliban threat or this Talibanisation. If There is a lot of misunderstanding things go from bad to worse in Pakistan, There is a lot of misunder- amongst the Pakistani authorities -- by the India may face a border with the Taliban standing amongst the army, the civilian government -- as to what rather than with a functioning State. And, this regional approach entails. It doesn't if you think infiltration into Kashmir is bad Pakistani authorities — mean involving India. What Holbrooke now, wait until you have to deal with the by the army, the civilian means is involving India as part of the so- Taliban literally on the Indian border -- government — as to what lution and helping Pakistan ease tensions whether it's in the Northwest Frontier with India -- letting India and Pakistan co- Province or Punjab. So, I hope that there this regional approach en- operate on stabilising Afghanistan. will be increased Indian cooperation. tails. It doesn't mean in- It is not the American intention to some- There seems to be this Pakistani para- volving India. What how bring India into some kind of major noia about India's inclusion in this re- role-playing in Kabul. So, I think elements gional strategy by the Obama administra- Holbrooke means is involv- of the Pakistan (establishment) have got tion and a sense that the United States ing India as part of the so- it wrong. But I think, it's far more danger- and India are ganging up against Pakistan ous that the Indian commentators have -- a perceived conspiracy theory that you lution and helping Pakistan very harshly criticised the article I wrote in acknowledged, though you said you don't ease tensions with India — Foreign Affairs in which I outlined this re- believe it. Islamabad went ballistic when letting India and Pakistan gional strategy back in November of last Richard Holbrooke (special representative year. for Afghanistan and Pakistan), while he cooperate on stabilising And you've got former (Indian) foreign was in New Delhi, called India's engage- Afghanistan. secretaries and people saying that this is ment critical. a pro-Pakistan policy and all that, which is

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 27 CONCERN

TERROR’S FANGS: MUMBAI’S TAJ HOTEL AFTER 26/11 BLAST ridiculous. It is not (a pro-Pakistan policy) -- not at all. This is Q. You have slammed the Bush administration and lauded a policy that will ease tensions between India and Pakistan. the Obama administration for its AfPak strategy, saying it Q. How? Is cooperating on Afghanistan the way for India should have been in place years ago. and Pakistan to resolve their differences? Ahmed Rashid: There was this enormous failure by the Bush Ahmed Rashid: Let's face it. One of the major bones of con- administration to take Afghanistan seriously when it should tention today is the Pakistani accusation that it makes against have, and particularly to help in nation-building in the wake of India's role in Kabul and India's defense of that and the de- the 9/11 and after winning the war. fense of its role in Kabul. It failed to provide sufficient troops, aid, resources in order India makes it very clear that its role in Afghanistan is only to get the Afghan economy working and to help in rebuilding the to help that country reconstruct and rehabilitate itself. The US country's infrastructure and to get reconstruction going. has lauded this development role and looked to it as a tem- It could have helped in the building up of state organs like plate beyond the military strategy. the army and the police. By the time it woke up to the dangers But we need a dialogue between India and Pakistan on of the revival of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, more than three Afghanistan, and that should be done as quickly as possible. years had gone by and this window of opportunity to build a Even though we had bad relations, even though we are now not strong Afghanistan had been lost. As I said, it was no accident discussing Kashmir, even though there is difficulty because of that as soon as the US got involved in Iraq, the Taliban started the elections in India, there has got to be a dialogue -- and this its insurgency. should be held as soon as possible. Iraq was such an incredible distraction for Afghanistan and India and Pakistan should air their suspicions of each other to Pakistan. And it was this invasion that really fueled the whole on their involvement in Afghanistan. Let them be frank with new wave of anti-Americanism and also helped the revival of Al each other and then let there be a process in which they can Qaeda and the resurgence of the Taliban. It was not just in resolve these problems. Afghanistan and Pakistan, but Iraq was the spur for much of the radicalisation that has taken place by Muslims in Europe Q. Is there a danger of Pakistan collapsing soon or implod- and elsewhere rather than any other event. ing, as many analysts, intelligence, defense and administra- Of course, the other major mistake of the Bush administra- tion officials in the US believe could happen in the next few tion was first of all to depend solely on the military in Pakistan months, if the Taliban is not stopped in its tracks? and that too solely on one man -- (former Pakistani) president Ahmed Rashid: I don't believe that Pakistan is about to im- (Pervez) Musharraf -- to deliver. He did not go after the Taliban, plode, but certainly the government and the army have to show but instead gave them sanctuary. more leadership than what we've seen so far. And I think they He only went after Al Qaeda and there was all this massive are fully aware now that the threat is reaching Punjab, it is aid -- more than $11 billion over eight years -- from the US which reaching Karachi, it is reaching parts well outside the NWFP. went only to the military and did not reach the poor on the And, yes, the army's continuing awareness of the Indian threat ground, which fueled even more anti-Americanism. has a lot to do with what it sees as the threat from India still. The other major mistake of the Bush administration was its India has to understand that it is suffering enormously be- failure to adopt any kind of a flexible regional strategy by bring- cause of the Taliban and it should be more flexible. India has ing in the neighbouring countries of Afghanistan into some kind to help us get off the hook. We are on the hook of the Taliban of a pact to support the US strategy and ultimately North right now, unfortunately, and India has to be a little more co- Atlantic Treaty Orgainsation's effort to try and stabilise operative in getting us off this so that we can move (Pakistani Afghanistan and stop the resurgence of the Taliban and the re- troops off the Indian border to fight the Taliban). vival of Al Qaeda. (Inputs from Rediff News )

28 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS US POLITICS ROAD AHEAD FOR OBAMA

Bhaskar Roy

he election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America was truly historical. Despite the fact that This father was a Kenyan and mother a white American, he was identified more with the African Americans, an identity he used well. The wave in his favour swept away any attempted mischief by some opponents to use his middle name "Hussein" in a negative connotation. It would have been terrible for America if this sabo- tage was allowed to work. President Obama's public relations acumen which galvanized the American people does not cease to amaze. Taking the Independence route from the old capital Philadelphia, to Washington D.C. for his inauguration, for instance. He also brought the dormant civil rights issue to the fore, garnering applause. Most important, he brought the politically re- luctant African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities back as one: Americans, the vision of the founding fathers of the country. Every American President goes through the inau- guration ceremony. The difference is how each of them weave their way to the event. Barack Obama gathered history and its people to the oath of office podium. The core of President Obama's inaugural speech on January 20 was that his predecessor honestly tried for the betterment of the US, but his policies were wrong. "We must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, be- gin the work of remaking America", was the theme of his promise to the US and the world. He sent a message to the Muslim world to rebuild bridges, but told Pakistan the time to deliver on ter- rorism had come. Outgoing President The core of President George W. Bush's gra- Obama's inaugural speech ciousness in relinquishing office and wishing his suc- on January 20 was that cessor well may go down his predecessor honestly well among both the tried for the betterment of Democrats and the US, but his policies Republicans in the US were wrong. "We must pick Congress as they settle down to the job of legisla- ourselves up, dust our- tion. To say the new selves off, begin the work President of the US has of remaking America", was landed in a whirlpool of the theme of his promise challenges will be an un- to the US and the world. derstatement. The country has been hit by an eco- He sent a message to the nomic meltdown that is Muslim world to rebuild making it ever more de- bridges, but told Pakistan pendent upon the global the time to deliver on ter- economy. This is a weak- rorism had come. ness that the US had not faced for decades.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 29 US POLITICS

GREAT EXPECTATIONS: OBAMA HAS GIVEN NEW HOPE TO THE US AND THE WORLD This obviously demands new thinking, and a new approach programme could set the region on fire; and the North Korean in foreign policy and strategic objectives. There is a world out- nuclear issue is pending with Pyongyang periodically spinning side that is waiting to see how President Obama and his new new positions with some quiet abetment from China to gain team move. bargaining points. No one is quite sure yet how Barrack Obama's mind will Then, of course, there are larger issues like Sino-US rela- work, despite his inaugural speech. Will he follow President Bill tions, the Asia Pacific region, relations with Russia, energy and Clinton's line, especially since he has appointed Mrs. Hillary global warning. Clinton as the Secretary of State? Or will he have a mind of his Leaving aside the larger issues for the moment, what does own which will transcend both President Clinton and President President Barrack Obama portend for India? The answer lies in Bush? the time frame and route the new President would like to take People and statesmen both inside the US and outside will be to achieve American strategic objectives abroad, and how he holding to Obama to his campaign speeches and promises. priorities each milestone. Election campaigns are to a large extent meant raise the There appears to be a common perception that American for- adrenalin and poke holes in the strategy of the opponent. But eign policy is generally fickle and executed at the whims of the Obama does not appear to have made too many outlandish Commander-in-Chief of the time. Aspects of this perception promises, especially in the area of foreign policy except raising may be partially true because personalities do matter, but the some serious hopes on Iraq and Afghanistan-Pakistan. objectives have been well set following World War-II. Only new Set pieces of foreign policy thoughts can however be rudely developments like terrorism and separatism have come to in- intercepted. The Israeli incursion into Gaza in the last week of tervene to compel partial readjustments. December and the three weeks of bombings by Israeli jets has Since World War-II it has been the avowed policy of succes- made the Arab-Israeli conflict the immediate issue on the table. sive American governments to establish western democracy all Both the Israelis and the Hamas have lost sympathy in this over the world and dismantle Communism. The policy suc- 3-week conflict which left more than one thousand Palestinian ceeded in most cases, but sometimes at terrible human cost. civilians dead. But with a new American President whose mind Vietnam, Cambodia and Iraq are some examples. is yet to be discovered fully, Israel apparently felt the issue The strategy of "Peaceful Evolution" in sabotaging commu- could not be left to float. nist rule from the inside broke up the Soviet Union, and China There are a number of "hot-spots" left to deal with apart is the next target. President Obama would have to see if the from the Middle-East. They include withdrawal from Iraq, which human costs of adventures like Cambodia and Iraq were worth is not going to be easy; the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, ter- it, and whether the Iraqi adventure was misplaced. Was rorism and dealing with the Al Qaeda and Taliban is proving to President George W. Bush misled by neo-conservatives and the be intractable so far. oil lobby? It would be wise for him to find a new approach to Iran be- Previous US administration including the Clinton administra- cause any attempt at a military solution to Tehran's nuclear tion played many games with India and India's security. If

30 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS US POLITICS American policy makers in and The new American strategic outside the government continue team including Secretary of State to express concern over prolifera- Hillary Clinton, who needs no in- tion they must check their own troduction to South Asia, especial- track records over proliferation in ly India and Pakistan, must care- South Asia. fully review the Pakistan army's They must face the truth square- "India Doctrine". ly that it was they who kept a Pak army Chief General Asfaq benevolent eye on China's nuclear Kayani made it very clear in and missile proliferation to Brussels last October at a NATO Pakistan since even after the Cold conference that there was no War was over India continued to be meeting ground with India histori- seen in some quarters as aligned cally, politically and culturally. with the pro-Soviet/Russia bloc to It must also be realized that obstruct US interests. Pakistan Pakistan is a society that is divid- was seen as an ally. That set the ing. The civil society, including the proliferation monster out of the bag. business community and a large section of In some manners, this is similar to the President Obama's the liberal media are moving away from the case of Wahabi terrorism. It is easy to cre- strategic policy team must army-politico-intelligence mindset about ate a monster but difficult to eradicate it. India and the Kashmir fixation. This is the Unfortunately, till the end of the Bush understand two things. force that can bring peace, stability and de- regime it did not appear the top US offi- First, Pakistan's military velopment to South Asia. cials really understood the problem of ter- and security establish- They need support, not the Pakistan rorism emanating from Pakistan. ments are not going to give army which gets billions of dollars of arms It does not seem that there was a polit- up the main Taliban led by and equipment. This is the force that can ical determination to fully eradicate the Mullah Omar. It has be- defeat terrorism and obscurantism from in- roots of terrorism and dismantle their per- side Pakistan. petration from Pakistan's power struc- come an extension of their Of course, there is some agitation in ture. foreign policy in India on how Obama is going to deal with The whole issue is still being viewed in Afghanistan and represents the Kashmir issue. His remark about ap- the narrow tunnel of American interest in Pakistani power and pointing a special envoy for Kashmir is a the region and Central Asia on the one influence in Afghanistan. disturbing thought. hand, and protecting the American soil. It Former US Ambassador to India and an appears that the policy makers were will- In turn, Mullah Omar and influential voice among Democrats, Frank ing to sacrifice some American lives and the Taliban are unlikely Wisner is of the view that the President will interests abroad for this greater goal. give up Al Qaeda and not touch Kashmir. Others are not so sure. If this policy is not reviewed urgently and Osama bin Laden. The While House and the State efforts are made to roll up their menace Department might read the report of from roots upwards, efforts to eradicate British Foreign Secretary, the good Mr. terrorism may fail. David Miliband's views that the cause of terrorism was the President Obama's strategic policy team must understand Kashmir issue. The British foreign policy head must have read two things. First, Pakistan's military and security establish- up leaflets of Pakistani propaganda on Kashmir before he em- ments are not going to give up the main Taliban led by Mullah barked on his India and Pakistan tour earlier this month. Omar. It has become an extension of their foreign policy in He was left with eggs on his face and tried to retrieve his po- Afghanistan and represents Pakistani power and influence in sition without much success. Afghanistan. It will not only be naïve but outright dangerous to raise the In turn, Mullah Omar and the Taliban are unlikely give up Al Kashmir issue. The India-US relations have been carefully built Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. The US made the best offer of of- over the last eight years. There were many near slips, swords ficial recognition to Taliban as the Afghan government in 1998- drawn but blood not split, before it finally arrived on an even plat- 99 in exchange for Osama, but was turned down. form. Osama is mortal, but there is no guarantee his movement will There is a military relationship, technology exchange agree- crumble after his death. He has made Al Qaeda a religion, and ment, and a nuclear deal on which some fingers are still has written a scripture of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. crossed. Therefore, the only path to a decisive war against terrorism New Delhi and Washington still have to walk together on im- must start from the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the portant and tricky issues like CTBT, FMCT and proliferation at Pakistan army. large. There is no dearth of proliferation hawks among the One can say with a certain conviction that a danger of an Democrats waiting to pounce on India. Indian surgical strike on Pakistani terrorist camps is now over. Therefore, the Obama administration should try to build on But one cannot say with any certainty that an Indian strike will what started towards the end of the Clinton administration and not take place if another Mumbai-like attack from Pakistani soil worked through the eight years of the Bush administration. Let takes place. Kashmir be resolved between India and Pakistan. If this happens, it may be more than surgical strikes on a few It is possible to take the next step to strategic cooperation. terrorist camps. Raising the flag of possible nuclear conflict to "Partnership" may still be too strong a word. restrain India will not work. A nuclear war is a bogey, and even (Bhaskar Roy, who retired recently as a senior government official if there is a nuclear war Pakistan may have to reconstruct itself with decades of national and international experience, is an expert from radioactive archeological records. on international relations and Indian strategic interests)

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 31 NUKE MENACE

DEFIANT: A PUBLIC CELEBRATION TO MARK NORTH KOREA’S UNDERWATER NUCLEAR TEST DEFIANT KOREA North Korea Test-Fires More Missiles, Defies International Warnings With Its Underwater Nuclear Test orth Korea says it has successfully conducted an ground nuclear device. underground nuclear test, defying international An emergency session of the 15-member United Nations warnings and raising concerns over its nuclear Security Council - including the United States, Russia and China weapons program.Pyongyang said Monday's test - unanimously condemned the nuclear test. The Security was more powerful than the country's first test two- Council says it is preparing a strong response to Pyongyang. and-a-halfN years ago. Interfax news agency in Moscow quoted a Russian Foreign South Korea's Yonhap news agency also reports that North Ministry source as saying the adoption of tough resolutions is Korea test-fired a short-range missile just hours after the nu- probably unavoidable because the authority of the Security clear test. Council is at stake.Russia is a permanent veto-holding mem- A South Korean news agency is reporting that North Korea ber of the Security Council and has previously blocked stronger has test-fired two more short-range missiles, even as interna- sanctions against Pyongyang. tional condemnation of its Monday test of a nuclear bomb North Korea has repeatedly said it needs a deterrent to pro- grows.The Tuesday report by South Korea's Yonhap news tect itself from a possible attack from the United States, and agency cites unnamed government sources who say the mis- accuses America of being hostile.The nuclear test was the siles were fired from an east coast launch pad.The report says biggest explosion North Korea has ever carried out.The test the missiles have a range of 130 kilometers. North Korea test- and heightened tensions prompted Seoul Tuesday to announce fired three missiles Monday shortly after setting off an under- plans to join a U.S. led-initiative to intercept ships suspected

32 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS NUKE MENACE of carrying weapons of mass destruction. North Korea has previously said it would consider such a move an act of war, and the South had avoided joining the U.S. off- shore action in order not to provoke the North.Nuclear test and missile launch has triggered condemnation across the globe. Even China, a neighbor and traditional ally of the communist North Korean state, says it is resolutely opposed to the test. The United States has assured Japan and South Korea that it would give them its Support. U.S. President Barack Obama, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso agreed to work closely and to support U.N. action to curtail North Korea's nuclear and missile activities.Mr. Obama says Pyongyang's nuclear pro- gram and missile launches are a grave threat to peace and security around the world, and a blatant violation of interna- tional law. Diplomats in New York say work is un- der way on a new Security Council resolu- tion addressing the North Korean nuclear crisis. The Council was criticized in the past for acting too slowly against North Korea's military gestures.Foreign minis- ters from Asia and Europe have also con- demned North Korea for its nuclear test.In a draft statement Tuesday, minis- ters from more than 40 countries urged the North not to conduct further tests and return to six-nation talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programs. Analysts have been divided in their as- sessment of the reason for North Korea's military moves. Some say North Korea may be trying to gain leverage for negotiations with the international com- munity; others say the test could be part of an internal political struggle in Pyongyang. U.S. President Barack Obama said that Russia's Defense Ministry said the nu- the reported tests are a "matter of grave Analysts have been di- clear explosion had a force of up to 20 concern" and warrant international action. kilotons, the same size as the bomb the He said in a statement, "By acting in bla- vided in their assess- U.S. dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in tant defiance of the United Nations ment of the reason for 1945. Seismologists from around the Security Council, North Korea is directly world reported a tremor in northeast and recklessly challenging the interna- North Korea's military North Korea a little before 0100 UTC, tional community." moves. Some say North near where Pyongyang conducted its first Russia's envoy to the United Nations test in October, 2006. said the U.N. Security Council will hold a Korea may be trying to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak special meeting Monday to discuss the is- convened an emergency security session sue. gain leverage for negoti- immediately after news broke of the nu- South Korean Presidential Spokesman ations with the interna- clear test. The report also shook South Lee Dong-kwan called North Korea's nu- Korean financial markets with the main clear test Monday a "serious threat to tional community; others share index falling nearly four percent. peace and stability on the Korean penin- say the test could be The Japanese government said it has sula." set up a task force at the crisis manage- He says South Korea will work together part of an internal politi- ment center of Prime Minister Taro Aso's with the United States, Japan, China and cal struggle in office. Russia to seek a response at the United A satellite image provided by Space Nations Security Council. Pyongyang. Imaging Asia of the Yongbyon Nuclear Center, located north of Pyongyang, North

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 33 NUKE MENACE Korea Last month, North Korea threat- ened to restart reprocessing work at its once closed Yongbyon nuclear complex. The move was a retaliation to interna- tional criticism of its April launch of a rocket it says was fired to put a satellite into space. The United States and other countries believe the rocket was a test launch for a ballistic missile. In addition to threatening to restart its Yongbyon facility, North Korea has also dropped out of six-party talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programs and said it will conduct nuclear and ballistic missile tests. Washington's top nuclear envoy, Stephen Bosworth, returned from a trip to the region earlier this month that includ- ed stops in China, Japan and South Korea.Bosworth says Washington is ready for direct talks with Pyongyang. North Korea has yet to respond to the of- fer. The U.N. Security Council has con- Japan, which has been at the forefront demned North Korea's carrying out of a The U.N. Security of urging strong council action on North nuclear test as a "clear violation" of ex- Council has condemned Korea and called for Monday's emer- isting council resolutions, and says it will gency meeting, said Pyongyang's nuclear begin work immediately on a new resolu- North Korea's carrying test was a serious threat to regional and tion. out of a nuclear test as a international peace and security, but also The emergency meeting of the 15- to the authority and prestige of the member council lasted less than an hour. "clear violation" of exist- Security Council. Afterwards, diplomats emerged with a ing council resolutions, Russia and China have traditionally united voice saying they opposed and been North Korea's strongest allies on condemned Pyongyang's latest defiance and says it will begin the council. But Russian Ambassador of international law. work immediately on a Vitaly Churkin, who chairs the council this The United States and the internation- month, criticized Pyongyang's actions as al community are reacting with outrage new resolution. The contrary to U.N. resolutions, the nuclear and strongly condemning North Korea's emergency meeting of Non-Proliferation Treaty and the latest nuclear test and the launch of Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. three short-range missiles. the 15-member council "We are one of the founding fathers, Speaking from the White House, U.S. lasted less than an hour. Russia is, of those [the NPT and CTBT] President Barack Obama denounced documents," said Vitaly Churkin. "So we think they are extremely important in cur- North Korea's nuclear test and used al nonproliferation regime that all coun- blunt language to describe his concerns. rent international relations. So anything tries have responsibilities to meet." which would undermine the regimes of "North Korea's nuclear and ballistic U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice would missile programs pose a grave threat to those two treaties is very serious and not say if the resolution the council will needs to have a strong response to it." the peace and security of the world and I begin drafting would carry new sanctions, strongly condemn their reckless action," China says it is firmly opposed to North but she said it should be strong, with ap- Korea's nuclear test, but is repeating its said President Obama. "North Korea's propriately strong contents. actions endanger the people of Northeast call on the international community to re- "The U.S. thinks this is a grave viola- main calm in formulating a Asia, they are a blatant violation of inter- tion of international law and a threat to re- national law, and they contradict North response.Chinese Foreign Ministry gional and international peace and secu- spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said China firmly Korea's own prior commitments." rity," said Susan Rice. "And therefore, the President Obama says North Korea's opposes the North Korean nuclear test United States will seek a strong resolu- on Monday. He says Beijing has two main actions have flown in the face of United tion with strong measures." Nations resolutions banning the country objectives - a nuclear-free Korean penin- France's deputy ambassador, Jean- sula, as well as safeguarding peace and from developing weapons of mass de- Pierre Lacroix, said his country believes struction. stability in Northeast Asia. new sanctions are necessary. Ma says China calls on what he de- "North Korea will not find security and "The French national position is that respect through threats and illegal scribed as "relevant parties" to respond this resolution should include new sanc- in a "coolheaded and appropriate way." weapons," said Mr. Obama. "We will work tions, in addition to those already adopt- with our friends and our allies to stand up He says the Chinese government would ed by the Security Council, because this like to see all sides resolve the issue to this behavior and we will redouble our behavior must have a cost and a price to efforts toward a more robust internation- peacefully, through consultation and dia- pay," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix. logue.He repeated his government's ear-

34 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS NUKE MENACE lier calls for North Korea to return to its commit- ment of denuclearization. And said China has di- rectly expressed its position to North Korea. He also urged Pyongyang to return to the six party How dangerous talks, which include the United States, North Korea, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia. The six party process began in 2003, but has been stalled since the end of last year. North Korea is? The Chinese spokesman did not directly say or those with access to it, the environs of Yongbyon, home to North whether his country will support any United Korea's main nuclear complex, can be a lovely place to visit. The Nations Security Council resolution against North country's founder, Kim Il Sung, so adored the region's azaleas and Korea that includes sanctions. He said only that autumn foliage that he built a vacation home there, on a mountain China hopes any UN Security Council action will overlooking the clear blue waters of the river near Yongbyon. Late help denuclearization efforts and will help main- lastF month Yongbyon was the site of a party of sorts, thrown by 100 North tain stability. Korean officials and attended by the two U.N. weapons inspectors assigned China is North Korea's closest ally in the to monitor the complex for signs that North Korea is trying to restart its nu- world. In the past, observers described the rela- clear-weapons program. In full view of the inspectors, the North Korean of- tionship "as close as lips and teeth."Although ficials cut dozens of seals from a 5-megawatt nuclear reactor--reopening it China is North Korea's main international bene- for the first time in nearly a decade--and covered over U.N. surveillance cam- factor, Ma rejected suggestions that Beijing has eras fixed to the walls of the plant. When they finished the task, the hosts any special influence over Pyongyang. celebrated with a round of beers. The spokesman says the word "influence" They were just getting started. The next day, North Korean scientists be- does not exist in China's diplomacy. He says his gan removing seals and surveillance cameras from a cooling pond where country's foreign affairs policy is conducted on spent fuel rods had been lying what Beijing terms the five principles of peaceful untouched. They reopened a co-existence. North Korea, which the nearby facility designed to ex- These principles emphasize sovereign equali- tract plutonium, which can be CIA believes already has ty, respecting diverse civilizations, promoting mu- used to fashion nuclear bombs, enough fissile material for tually-beneficial economic cooperation, maintain- from the spent fuel. Appearing at ing peace through dialogue and placing impor- one or two bombs, is poised the door of the Yongbyon guest- tance on the United Nations. to extract enough plutonium house accommodating the two Most nations have signed an international U.N. inspectors, a smiling North from the spent fuel to treaty banning the testing of nuclear weapons. Korean official read aloud a let- But nine key states with nuclear capabilities are produce four to eight more ter informing them it was time to preventing the ban from entering into force. within a matter of months. leave--immediately. The official hose nine have yet to ratify the Comprehensive volunteered that there were in It is unknown whether Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.Among them, China, fact two seats on the next Air North Korea has ever actual- Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Israel and the United Koryo flight from Pyongyang to States have signed the treaty. But North Korea, ly constructed a nuclear Beijing. The inspectors left with India and Pakistan have not. weapon. But given the rela- 14 discs of surveillance-video The Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty prohibits all nu- footage and 200 discarded tive simplicity of making a clear testing everywhere on the planet - above seals. crude device, some U.S. ana- and below the ground, in the air and underwa- Thus did the North Korean ter.All 44 countries with nuclear technology ca- lysts suspect that it has a regime escalate a showdown pabilities (at the time of the treaty's final negoti- bomb, albeit an untested one. that began last October, when it ations in 1996) must sign and ratify the treaty be- confirmed U.S. intelligence re- fore it can take effect. Until then, the ban is ports that it was illegally building a new uranium-enrichment factory--anoth- merely a suggestion that countries not develop or er pathway to the Bomb. The expulsion of the inspectors was the clearest test nuclear weapons.Worldwide, 180 states sign yet that Pyongyang is intent on pushing the stand-off to the brink. The have signed the treaty, of which 148 have actu- head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, ally ratified the ban. Fifteen countries have not lamented that the world now has "no clue" what Pyongyang might try to de- signed the treaty. velop in coming months. In fact, it does have a clue: North Korea, which the While the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban CIA believes already has enough fissile material for one or two bombs, is Treaty was open for signature between 1945 and poised to extract enough plutonium from the spent fuel to produce four to 1996, more than 2,000 nuclear tests were con- eight more within a matter of months. It is unknown whether North Korea ducted. has ever actually constructed a nuclear weapon. But given the relative sim- The U.S conducted more than 1,000 tests, plicity of making a crude device, some U.S. analysts suspect that it has a while the former Soviet Union held more than bomb, albeit an untested one. 700. France ran more than 200 nuclear tests, The Bush Administration has done its best to counsel the world not to and the United Kingdom and China each con- panic, making daily appeals to give diplomacy a chance. Secretary of State ducted 45. Colin Powell refused even to call the situation a "crisis." But with each new Three countries have broken the unofficial ban North Korean gambit, that official insouciance sounds more off-key. on nuclear tests since 1996. India and Pakistan Seemingly overnight, the U.S. begins the New Year eyeball to eyeball with a each tested nuclear weapons in 1998, while paranoid, ruthless regime hell-bent on obtaining nuclear weapons to com- North Korea tried out its nuclear capabilities in plement an army the Pentagon rates among the most formidable in the 2006 and 2009.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 35 NUKE MENACE world. And so, despite their stoic miens, White House officials are grasping for some way to yank North Korea back from the precipice and return everyone's focus to that other spoke in the axis of evil, Iraq. "Is it a distraction?" says a White House offi- cial. "Yes. It's a serious issue. Does it change what we're do- ing on Iraq? No." But US must keep channel of communication open with North Korea leadership When Kim Jong Il and the North Korean government get on a roll, they really get on a roll. On April 5, Pyongyang fired a mis- sile disguised as a satellite directly over Japan and into the Pacific, in direct contravention of a 2006 U.N. resolution for- bidding the North's ballistic missile program. Then, in a life-im- itates-art moment, the U.N. Security Council issued what amounted to a strongly worded letter straight out of Team America: World Police condemning the missile test. The North, in response, called this "an unbearable insult," and said it would again fire up its reactor at Yongbyon, the source of mis- sile material for the North's suspected small arsenal of nuclear weapons. Finally, Pyongyang threw out monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency and said the so-called six-party talks - the forum in which the U.S. and its key partners in East Asia (South Korea, China, Japan and Russia) have tried to talk Pyongyang out of its nuclear-weapons program for the past six years - were over. Not only would the North no longer participate, it would no longer abide by anything that it had previously agreed to during the talks, which includes the dismantling of the Yongbyon reac- tor. Publicly, the Obama Administration made the standard dis- approving noises. "A serious step in the wrong direction," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. But in truth, North Korea's latest gambit could not have been altogether surpris- ing to anyone in Washington - least of all to the State Department diplomats who have been dealing with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the past ROGUE POWER: NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG-IL decade. They know that even in Pyongyang, North Korean offi- before trying to re-engage the North. (Even before the April 5 cials have access to the Internet. If they cared to, they could launch, Obama's special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, talked of have read yesterday's New York Times, which reported that the letting the "dust from the missile test settle." Then Obama Obama Administration is considering dropping the U.S. demand must decide what to say to Pyongyang whenever the moment of that Iran cease enriching uranium before any direct Washington- reaching out arrives. Tehran talks about Iran's nuclear program. This would explicit- Executing this seemingly simple agenda is more complicated ly reverse the Bush Administration's position that talks could than it appears. Obama, as Bosworth intimated, has to let a de- start only after the enriching stopped. "If you're the North cent interval pass after the U.N. reprimand lest he appear to be Koreans and you read that, you're naturally going to ask, 'Why caving in to pressure from Pyongyang. He can't dawdle, though. not deal directly with us too?' " says an East Asian diplomat North Korea continues to be a serial proliferator of missile and seasoned in North Korea diplomacy. nuclear technology. More sanctions, the diplomatic crowd ar- The worst-kept diplomatic secret in the world may be that the gues, aren't obtainable, as the recent U.N. exercise showed, State Department pretty much sees eye to eye with North Korea and in any event they don't work against a regime that seems on a central issue: Washington should deal with Pyongyang one- to enjoy pain. The only way to get a grip on the danger the North on-one. The multilateral approach of the six-party talks has been poses is to instigate direct talks as soon as it is reasonable to at best cumbersome and at worst counterproductive, some do so. diplomats say. Charles L. (Jack) Pritchard, Bush's former spe- Once talks begin, the U.S. ought to be willing to put a range cial envoy to the DPRK, has said all the participants in the talks of blandishments on the table - just as it has in the past. "made it abundantly clear" that they support direct U.S. en- Economic aid, security guarantees and, down the road, even gagement, including the Chinese, the North's putative big diplomatic recognition for North Korea - all that would be avail- brother and protector. He has said the only time significant able to Pyongyang, so long as it verifiably stands down its nu- progress was made was when U.S. officials negotiated directly clear program and curbs its missile exports. The State with their North Korean counterparts - a point a senior South Department's position has long been that this sort of deal is Korean diplomat involved in the talks confirms. achievable. It believes the North will abide by agreements it It's likely the White House shares this view, even though in makes, so long as the U.S. does the same by providing the ben- public it has harped on getting the North Koreans back to the efits it promises up front. There are many people, including six-party format. This is probably no longer possible, after some former members of the Bush Administration, who think Pyongyang's announcement yesterday. So the trick for Obama this is delusional. But count on this: Obama is going to give now is twofold. He must figure out how much time to let pass those diplomats a chance to prove whether they're right.

36 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS MONEY MATTERS

A global stress test for countries & how India is better placed to clear it maller countries with popula- sues facing the world economy, too. For funds with around $3,000 billion would fi- tion of less than 30 million are example, Stphane Garelli, director of the nance infrastructure projects, buy assets better placed to face the eco- IMD World Competitiveness Centre, abroad and finance the development of lo- nomic slowdown and benefit warned that a severe drop in prices could cal companies and brands. quicker from any recovery, indi- hit specific sectors like automobiles Unemployment was a worry, with the Scates a 'stress test' conducted by the in- across the globe. He predicted a rise in International Labor Organization antici- ternational business school IMD to sup- cross-border mergers and acquisitions, pating a 50-million increase in world un- plement its annual IMD World as emerging powers, their sovereign employment figures, and Belgium, Competitiveness Yearbook 2009. funds and some companies moved in with Ireland, Russia, Spain and South Africa The stress test finding, favouring small free cash. Garelli warned some signs of would be among the worst-hit. countries, goes against generally preva- recovery could be expected during the Protectionism was a real danger as a re- lent economic thinking that large second half of 2009, but added stronger sult. To pay for massive government debt, economies like China and India are better results were due only in early 2010. tax havens would come under attack to placed to face economic slowdown be- The 100 top global companies had prevent money from escaping higher tax- cause of the diversified nature of the some $600 billion in cash and this mon- ation, Garelli added. economy, in which some sectors witness ey could be used to buy back shares or ac- He warned of high inflation accompany- robust demand to mitigate the impact of quire industrial assets and companies, he ing the recovery, driven by excess of mon- a demand slowdown in other sectors. added. ey supply (especially dollars) and a rapid The IMD test ranks India 13th, with a Garelli indicated that with some $6,000 rise in commodity prices owing to demand score of 68.1 on 100, and China 18th, billion in currency reserves, emerging from emerging nations. He predicted cen- with 64.6 points, while Denmark topped powers would increase their weight in in- tral banks would ignore inflation so as not the list. The report identified general is- ternational organisations, while sovereign to impede recovery and because inflation

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 37 MONEY MATTERS would reduce the value of debt. As 60 per cent of the world currency holdings were in dollars, Garelli also added that companies the currency would survive but weaken, owing to excess dollar would manage inflation by moving supply and the decision of several nations to shift for currency from cash to more tangible assets. reference or commodity sales from the dollar to currencies like The future-looking test, assessing the Euro but not the Pound or Yen. the preparedness of countries to National governments would gain in power, printing money, face financial crisis and improve making laws and setting taxes, while multilateral agencies like competitiveness, focussed on ex- IMF, World Bank and WTO would decline, he warned. posure, readiness and resilience. Between 18th and 30th positions in the report were export- Denmark revealed strong re- ing nations like Taiwan (21st), Brazil (22nd), Germany (24th), silience in business and govern- Japan (26th) and Korea (29th). The ment and long-established social UK was 34th, France 44th, Italy stability. Other smaller countries 47th, Spain 50th and Russia 51st. with less than 30 million inhabi- "The stress test shows that small- tants from Northern Europe and er nations, which are export-oriented, Southeast Asia fared well as resilient and with stable socio-political "smaller economies are often environments are better-equipped to more fit to adapt and rebound in benefit immediately from the recov- difficult times," Garelli said. ery," Garelli said. He added: "A nother explana- "However, only the good perform- tion is that several of these na- ance of the very large exporters such tions have already undergone as the US, Germany, China or Japan quite severe financial and real will send a credible message to the estate crises in the not-so-dis- world that the worst is over a change tant past and may have been that everybody will be able to be- more cautious in their poli- lieve in," he added. cies." The stress test was based on Depression, defined as 10 prospect of the economy for 2009. per cent fall in GDP or 3 Denmark scored 100 points. years' recession, threatened Among the countries which ranked Iceland and the Baltic States, above India were Qatar, Hong Kong, while deflation loomed over Australia, Malaysia, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Austria, Britain, Japan and Spain. Chile, Canada and Luxembourg featured between India and Stimulus packages, collec- China. IMD said in its parallel IMD World Competitiveness tively valued at $5,000 billion or Yearbook 2009 that the most competitive country was USA, be- the cumulative Budget deficits in 2009 and 2010, would see sides the toppers in its stress test. people in the industrialised world saving money and delaying The US, among the first to enter into recession, would lead purchases while emerging-economy citizens would purchase im- the recovery, while the last to recover would be Germany, Japan mediately. and Switzerland, owing to "structural rigidities". Sectors to watch out in near future iquidity-starved sectors such as infra- With the Left crutch that crippled deci- structure and realty could be the sion-making now out of the way, the new Lbiggest beneficiaries of the vote of government is likely to speed up the di- confidence for the UPA. vestment of its stake in various PSUs. A clear mandate for the United While experts believe that the markets Progressive Alliance and the continuity of could touch the 16,000 mark, stiff valua- the current government's policies are like- tions and the burgeoning fiscal deficit ly to keep the markets buoyant for a while. could cap the upsides. Market men believe that foreign institu- Analysts said sectors such as telecom tional investors and domestic institutions, could also see action if the government which were not participating aggressively speeds up the 3G auction process, in the markets thus far, are likely to invest merges MTNL with BSNL and lists the new for the long term, given the stable govern- entity, and divests its 26 per cent stake in ment at the Centre. Tata Communications. FMCG and pharma Opening up of the economy, allowing for- sectors, which are considered defensive, eign direct investment and easier interest are likely to underperform as the market rates should improve liquidity and are ex- chases growth. IT services, which is an- pected to help sectors such as infrastruc- other defensive sector, is unlikely to par- ture, banking, real estate, telecom, power, ticipate in the rally given that the rupee is education and retail. expected to gain in the short term.

38 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS BRAND IPL GETS BIGGER

KATRINA KAIF PERFORMS AT CLOSING CEREMONY OF IPL-2 IPL SAGA

TURNAROUND: LAST-YEAR’S BOTTOM FINISHERS DECCAN CHARGERS LIFT TROPHY THIS TIME Deccan Chargers script amazing turnround

PL 2 Watched by President Jacob Zuma, the Deccan Chargers held their nerve and beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs to win the second IPL Trophy - 12 Imonths after finishing stone last in the first IPL. A capacity Wanderers crowd cheered, whistled and screamed as the match went down to the wire - the Challengers, chasing a target of 144, needed 15 runs off the last over, but they had only one wicket left, and the task proved too much. They fin- ished their innings on 137 for nine. The Challengers started at a measured pace, scoring at more or less a run a ball until Jacques Kallis was bowled by RP Singh for 15 in the third over, and Manish Pandey - the hero of the Challengers' semifinal victory over the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday - was caught by Gilchrist off Ohja for just four. Titans all-rounder Roelof van der Merwe held centre stage for a short time, hitting three sixes and a four on his way to 32, be- fore he was stumped by Adam Gilchrist off Ohja. His innings was short but fiery - he and Australian Andrew Symonds exchanged some words - and while not all his strokes EARLY EXIT: DESPITE WARNE’S INSPIRING LEADERSHIP AND SHILPA were textbook, they had the desired effect. Rahil Dravid made SHETTY’S CONSTANT PRESENCE, DEFENDING CHAMPS RAJASTHAN ROYALS COULDN’T MAKE IT TO THE LAST FOUR nine before he was bowled by Harmeet Singh, and the Challengers' run chase started to falter. He made his most telling breakthrough in the first over, when But it was Symonds that turned the game around, when he he dismissed his Chargers counterpart, Adam Gilchrist for a took two wickets off successive balls to dismiss Ross Taylor duck. (27) and Virat Kohli (7). Gilchrist was the hero of the Chargers' semi-final victory, From then on, the required run rate grew with every ball, and scoring a whirlwind 85 off 35 balls to put his team into a win- the Challengers' wickets continued to tumble. ning position. Mark Boucher was caught by Proteas teammate Herschelle Tirumalasetti Suman fell two overs later, caught by Manish Gibbs off Harmeet Singh for 5, Ohja claimed his third scalp to Pandey off Vinay Kumar for 10. Andrew Symonds made a quick dismiss Praveen Kumar, who was caught by RP singh for two, 33 off 21 balls before he was bowled by Kumble in the ninth and Harmeet Singh caught Vinay Kumar off Ryan Harris for over. eight. With his partners falling by the wayside, Herschelle Gibbs Earlier, Challengers captain Anil Kumble tore through the played an uncharacteristically subdued role, although he hit a Deccan Chargers, taking four wickets for just 16 runs to restrict magnificent six to take him to his half century, which came off the team from Hyderabad to a total of 142 for six. 47 balls.

40 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS IPL SAGA

STAR PARADE: IPL CEO ALIT MODI (FAR RIGHT) WITH FRANCHISE OWNERS SHAH RUKH AND PREITY He and Rohit Sharma shared a fourth wicket stand of 52 be- mat that seems tailor-made for the youth. fore Kumble claimed his third wicket when Sharma was caught Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist looked and performed as by Pandey for 24, and his fourth wicket in the same over when well as they did in their international prime. Azhar Bilakhia was caught by Ross Taylor without scoring. "I love this tournament. I will take year off and have another The match was followed by a spectacular closing ceremony, crack next year. That sounds alright doesn't it?" Gilchrist addressed by President Zuma. The Indian Premier League, while quipped after his thrilling innings led his side, the Deccan entertaining and educational, has also been a terrible incon- Chargers, to victory in Friday night's semifinal against the Delhi venience for South Africa.It hasn't helped that the organisers Daredevils. have been arrogant, rude and demanding. Lalit Modi, Sony The IPL has provided the likes of Gilchrist, Hayden, Anil Television, IMG, and the all the League's sponsors owe the Kumble and Shane Warne with the perfect cricketing pension- South African public as well as Cricket South Africa and it's er's package. They're well paid, the competition is intense, but provincial affiliates a massive debt of gratitude that stretches lasts only three hours. "Twenty-over cricket applies more psy- far beyond giving cheques to schools, money to school kids and chological pressure and players need to be tough. It's a real offering some attractive woman an audition in a Bollywood battle of wits. " movie.Cricket SA and South Africa saved Modi's backside by The format's rapidly increasing popularity - as shown by the scrambling to get the event hosted here in such a short time af- large number of fans who have come through the turnstiles - has ter the Indian government's failure to provide guarantees over placed the spotlight on the relevance of the game's other two security for the tournament. It was a monumental logistical formats. achievement that spoke volumes for the IPL's organisation and Certainly the 50-over format appears to be in danger though for South Africa's patience - which was tested enormously. the World Cup still has a pedigree that 20-over cricket lacks. The scale of the sacrifices some provincial unions made to Earlier in 2009 South Africa's coach Mickey Arthur spoke of accommodate the IPL will only become clear in the coming the importance of keeping the 20-over format mainly for do- months. Long-time sponsors and other supporters of SA crick- mestic consumption, but as talk grows of a franchise-based et have been treated pooerly. Some may never return. English league, a franchise city-based Southern Hemisphere league and the Champions League 20-over tournament involv- ‘I love this tournament': Cricket SA's hastiness in allowing ing all the domestic champions, concerns grow that young play- the IPL to be played here, clouded its judgement and left many ers who don't make it into their national sides, will choose the of its provincial affiliates at the whim of the IPL who bullied them cash option and forego international careers. into a corner over issues such as hospitality suites, beer pour- Gilchrist said he wouldn't encourage young guys to ditch in- ing rights and security. ternational careers, but he really is an old-fashioned romantic in There were some very good matches and some poor ones, thinking that days passion, enthusiasm and love of the game while the tournament offered fans an opportunity to see how are paramount. Money is. Just ask Lalit Modi. legends from yesteryear starred alongside youngsters in a for- (Report filed by RAJIV AGNIHOTRI from South Africa)

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 41 ENTERTAINMENT

AYUSH MANESH KHEDEKAR Indian child actor from the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire' Ayush Manesh Khedekarl, second left, arrives with unidentified guests for the screening of the film 'Looking for Eric' at the 62nd International film festival in Cannes, southern France

42 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS ENTERTAINMENT Opening of doors ith "Slumdog Millionaire" hav- ing made waves on the global scene, Indian movie themes Wand filmmakers are beginning to reap the benefits in the international sales and co-productions arena at the on- going Cannes Film Market. "Slumdog has opened a door for Indian cinema," says Hollywood producer Ashok Amritraj. "We have to put our foot in and capitalise on the opportunity." The happy augury is that several Indian films have been picked up for global dis- tribution by frontline sales agents and the going could only get better from here on if filmmakers from this part of the world, as Amritraj points out, can learn the rules of

Also playing for big global stakes is Ambika Hinduja's Serendipity Films. It is (From L) The Jury, Taiwanese actress Shu Qi, pitching the Leena Yadav-di- USA's actress Robin Wright Penn, British nov- elist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi, South rected "Teen Patti" for wide- Korean director and screenwriter Lee Chang- spread global sales in the Dong, Italian actress and director Asia Argento, Indian actress Sharmila Tagore, Cannes Film Market. French actress and president of the jury Isabelle Huppert, Turkish director, screen- the game. writer and actor Nuri Bilge Ceylan and US di- The Indian Film Company (TIFC) has rector James Gray arrive for the screening of made history by selling its "Road, Movie", 'Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky' by French di- rector Jan Kounen and the Closing Ceremony written and directed by Dev Benegal, to of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival on May 24, Fortissimo Films, which is one of the 2009 in Cannes, southern France. world's leading sales agents with offices in Amsterdam, London, Paris, New York Madhavan and Saira Mohan. and Hong Kong. "We want to make cinema that will ap- "'Road, Movie' is an important mile- peal to audiences in both India and stone in our company's endeavour to around the world," Hinduja, whose previ- support India's growth on the cinematic ous production was Homi Adjania's world stage," said Sandeep Bhargava, wickedly quirky "Being Cyrus", told Variety CEO of the advisory board of TIFC. here. India's biggest entertainment sec- TIFC has also got leading British distri- tor player, Reliance Big Pictures, has bution company HanWay Films on board brought a slew of arthouse films, besides to handle Gurinder Chadha's "It's a Anurag Basu's Hrithik Roshan-Barbara Wonderful Afterlife", starring Golden Mori starrer "Kites", to the Cannes mar- Globe winner Sally Hawkins, Sendhil ket. The response, company representa- Ramamurthy, Jimi Mistry and Shabana tives say, has been hugely encouraging. Azmi. Big Pictures' offbeat regional line-up Endeavour Independent has bought the includes Buddhadeb Dasgupta's distribution rights of Venus Records and Indian model Aishwarya Rai and "Janala" (Bengali), Shaji N. Karun's Tapes' "Hisss", a Hindi-English film di- Abhishek Bachchan arrive for the screen- "Kutty Srank" (Malayalam), Amol rected by Jennifer Lynch and starring ing of the movie Chun Feng Chen Zui De Palekar's "Samantar" (Marathi), M.S. Irrfan Khan and Mallika Sherawat. Ye Wan (Spring Fever) in competition at Sathyu's "Ijjudu" (Kannada), and the 62nd Cannes Film Festival on May Also playing for big global stakes is Rituparno Ghosh's "Abohomaan" and 14, 2009. Defying the authorities, con- "Shob Charitra Kalponik" (both Bengali). Ambika Hinduja's Serendipity Films. It is troversial Chinese director Lou Ye is of- pitching the Leena Yadav-directed "Teen "We will be unveiling these films in vari- fering a movie on love and homosexuali- ous major festivals in the coming Patti" for widespread global sales in the ty at the Cannes film festival this week Cannes Film Market. The film features that was shot on the quiet in east China months," says Reliance Entertainment Amitabh Bachchan, Ben Kingsley, R. despite a state work ban chairman Amit Khanna.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 43 ENTERTAINMENT

MOVIE REVIEW SYNOPSIS

Kambakht Ishq explores the relationship between two individuals as different Kambakht Ishq from each other as chalk and cheese. No matter how many times they are pushed together, there are only fireworks... no fire. Viraj Shergill (Akshay Kumar) Viraj (Akshay Kumar) is a swashbuckling stuntman in Hollywood who lives by the mantra ''women are Viraj is a successful Hollywood stuntman only good for two things... making love & making love'' Simrita Rai (Kareena who loves women but thinks that commit- Kapoor) is a firebrand who is more than able to stare down the most arrogant ment and marriage are words that should male with her caustic wit and sardonic tongue... he firm belief ''there's no such not exist in the dictionary. He gets paid thing as love''. So what happens when the two people who hate each other the the big bucks for doing what the heroes most meet at Simrita's best friend Kamini's and Viraj's brother Lucky's wed- can't do and lives a lavish life. Women, ding? ...a wedding that both Viraj and Simrita are violently opposed to and des- parties, and the adrenalin rush during a perate to stop. Sparks fly, accidents occur, And both are thrown together in the stunt...these are the highs in life. Women most absurd, hilarious situation until one dramatic twist of fate binds the two to- exist only to have a good time with. Play gether in a manner that they could have never ever even dreamed of in their and play well... but why take the game to wildest fantasies. The battle of the sexes in on. Who is going to throw the punch- its conclusion? ...After all there are nu- es and who is going to blow the kisses? merous playmates on this extensive play- ground. every other man is getting married AGAIN! a loving husband, cute kids and a white Simrita (Kareena Kapoor) That just proves her point. She has a picket fence house. Simrita is a hardened feminist, part time great career, and soon she will become Lucky (Aftab Shivdasani) supermodel and an aspiring surgeon who successful. Who needs men? He is Viraj's younger brother, he is gen- does not see the need to have a man in Kamini (Amrita Arora) uine and loveable. He has been protected her life. She believes that all men are no She is ditzy, innocent and beautiful. She his entire life by Viraj and isn't as hard good losers. Life's experiences have in one of the top lingerie models but her and practical as Viraj is. Madly in love with taught her that men are just not worth the dream is to get married to a man who Kamini, he wants to marry her. But that is effort. To top it all Donald Trump and loves her. She wants the whole package... one thing that Viraj is against.

44 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS BUSINESS Tata Housing eyes Rs 700 cr from low-cost projects Nano dreams in realty too! Mumbai: After Rs 1-lakh peo- ple's car Nano, the Tatas on Wednesday unveiled a low-cost realty project which offers a house for less than Rs 4 lakh. Tata Housing, the real es- tate development arm of the Tatas, will build one-room- kitchen flats for just Rs 3.91 lakh in a township being devel- oped at Boisar, 100 km from Mumbai. The salt-to-software Tata conglomerate plans to develop the township within 24 months and allotment of flats would made through lottery, Tata Housing's Managing Director Brotin Banerjee said. The comapny has plans to replicate the project, Subha Griha, in the National Capital Region (Delhi) and Bangalore in the current fiscal itself, he said. Tata Housing Development Company, a unit of Tata Sons, expects to earn Rs 700 crore in revenue from low-cost hous- ing in the next four years, a top company official has said. Tata Housing is launching over 1,000 low-cost houses under the brand “Shubh Griha” Tata Housing Development Company, a unit of Tata Sons, expects priced between Rs 3.9 lakh to earn Rs 700 crore in revenue from low-cost housing in the next and Rs 6.7 lakh in Bhoisar, on the outskirts of Mumbai, and four years, a top company official has said. Tata Housing is launch- plans to launch around 4,000 ing over 1,000 low-cost houses under the brand “Shubh Griha” such houses across other priced between Rs 3.9 lakh and Rs 6.7 lakh in Bhoisar, on the out- cities in the next four years, skirts of Mumbai, and plans to launch around 4,000 such houses mainly targeting industrial workers and other low-wage across other cities in the next four years, mainly targeting indus- earners. trial workers and other low-wage earners. The company is targeting Rs 15,000 crore revenue by FY13 of Tata Housing. to target the low-wage earners ing innovative products,” said from its projects, covering an The company is launching and generate cash in the Banerjee. Currently, the com- area of 20 million square feet. two-three such projects in downturn. pany has more than 10 million It plans to build 10,000- Bangalore and the national While New Delhi-based square feet under develop- 13,000 homes by then. The capital region in this fiscal and Omaxe has launched 5,000 ment. company aims to earn 5 per plans joint development with apartments in Rs 5.99-8.99 Banerjee says more land is cent of its revenue from low- land owners, wherein it will lakh range at Mayakhedi in now available for developers cost houses. share a percentage of rev- Indore, Ansal API has launched and land prices have come “Low-cost projects have enues with the owners of the 4,000 low-cost apartments in down to realistic levels. more velocity and can be com- land, and outright of purchase Jaipur, Jodhpur, Agra and “Earlier, land prices used to pleted in two years. We see of land in other cases, accord- Meerut. escalate within a month. huge opportunity in this space, ing to Banerjee. “Our revenues are doubling Prices have hit their bottom especially in industrial belts,” A host of companies such every year and we hope to con- and I expect them to remain said Brotin Banerjee, manag- as Omaxe and Ansal API have tinue by being present in dif- sluggish for the next eight-nine ing director and chief executive launched low-cost apartments ferent categories and launch- months,” he said.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 45 HEALTH Fuel Up With Healthy Breakfast Everyday Dr Vivek Dubey A nutritious breakfast re- As the old saying goes – ‘Eat breakfast fuels the body and replen- like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a beggar’, it clarifies how important is ishes blood sugar (glucose) breakfast as the first meal of the day. thereby releasing the en- ergy required to start the reakfast is the most important meal of the day as it is consid- day. The body and brain ered as the brain food. After a are low on fuel after sleep Blong fast of about 7-8 hours of and need recharging after sleeping our body need fuel to carry out the activities throughout the day. Skipping the long fast. It is com- breakfast with an intension of losing pletely illogical to skip weight is not a wise idea, as the fasting period increases making you feel hungri- breakfast on the pretext of er. As a result you tend to binge in the dieting. Skipping break- meal which you first eat leading to over fast leads to sudden dip in consumption of excess calories energy levels and people Why breakfast scores high as a meal? can be seen making un- A nutritious breakfast refuels the body healthy choices for filling and replenishes blood sugar (glucose) thereby releasing the energy required to up later. start the day. The body and brain are low on fuel after sleep and need recharging af- tervals, thus keeping you feeling full. breakfast helps consume less dietary ter the long fast. It is completely illogical Morning time is when metabolism is high- cholesterol. to skip breakfast on the pretext of dieting. est and hence a good breakfast acts as • Children having regular breakfast Skipping breakfast leads to sudden dip in your day’s powerhouse. As the day ad- have good concentration, problem-solving energy levels and people can be seen vances, the body’s metabolism dips and skills and eye-hand coordination. They are making unhealthy choices for filling up lat- hence it is suggested that the lunch quite active and creative. er. Many also feel that breakfast makes should be moderate and dinner lightest. them sluggish for the rest of the day but The body needs to be fueled the right way No time for breakfast! it really depends on the type of food we to perform well. Most of us come up with this excuse of- select for breakfast. Sugar-based juices ten, though we agree that breakfast is and refined flour foods don’t form a Benefits of a healthy breakfast good. Early morning chores and rushing to healthy breakfast at all. Eating a healthy breakfast sets your day work leaves you with no time for break- ahead. It has long-lasting health benefits fast. But is it really the time? Think again Healthy breakfast is good nutrition and people who have a nutritious break- and you can set your time table five min- A healthy breakfast is right amounts of fast regularly are likely to- utes early to save yourself the time to eat carbs, proteins and fiber together. • be more efficient and productive at breakfast. Take your time the night before • Fiber - Fresh fruits and vegetables and work due to better concentration. and plan what you will eat next morning or their juices without added sugar • Brain is energized due to replenish- just simply pack breakfast to have it on • Carbohydrates - Whole-grain cereals & ment of glucose with a breakfast. your way or at work. rolls, oatmeal, low-fat crackers, brown • Consume less fat and cholesterol lat- bread, etc. er in the day. A study states that increase Always carry a small supply of crackers, • Dairy - Skimmed milk, low-fat yogurt & in daily eating frequency is connected with nuts, pretzels, a brown bread sandwich cheese. eating more good nutrients and lesser with healthy dressing, a fruit and some • Protein - Boiled eggs, peanut butter, soy, fats and cholesterol. juice with you for those empty times and beans, lean meat, fish. • Maintain a healthy weight. Eating you will find yourself binging on less of un- breakfast is linked with reduced hunger healthy items. Juice will help you cut on Beware of sugar-based cereals, juices later in the day which means making caffeine content. The way you carry an and refined flour items because they get healthy meal choices later. umbrella foreseeing rain; similarly carry digested faster and you feel the craving • Are more active and energetic. food hampers thinking you might feel like quick again. Protein and fiber digest slow- Breakfast shoots up energy levels. munching sometime! ly therby releasing energy at frequent in- • Maintain low cholesterol levels. This Now, remember to start your day with a reduces the risk of heart disease. Eating healthy breakfast tomorrow.

46 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS AIAI NEWS Iran for better ties with India ndia and Iran enjoy good cultural and transaction cost and he also hoped that economic relations. This is an oppor- Various excise incen- trade would flourish after the implemen- tune time to expand our friendly rela- tives on readymades, tation of the pipeline project. Itions for betterment of commercial re- Mr. Vijay G. Kalantri, President, All India lations and development of both the coun- food mixes, reduction Association of Industries (AIAI) in his wel- tries said Mr. Rasoul Mansouri, come address said that India-Iran rela- Chairman, Commercial Organizations of on excise on petrol tions have been nurtured through cen- Zanjan while addressing the members of and petroleum prod- turies of trading. Bilateral trade between the All India Association of Industries ucts as well as doing India and Iran has improved significantly (AIAI) and the World Trade Centre, in recent years reflecting the steady mo- Mumbai . This high level delegation was away with import mentum in economic relations between led by Mr. Rasoul Mansouri, Chairman, duty on steel scrap the two countries. Bilateral trade exclud- Commercial Organizations of Zanjan and ing oil and petroleum products during Mr. Mohammad Azizi, Mayor of Zanjan and coking coal are 2006-07 totalled $ 2295 million register- Muncipality. steps in right direc- ing a growth of 430 percent from a level Mr. Mansouri said that Zanjan province of $ 433 million during 2000-02. India ex- due to its location which is in the near- tion. ported goods worth $ 1450 million in ness of the most important industrial cen- 2006-07. India’s imports from Iran were ters of the country such as Tehran, made carpet, granite stones. of the order of $ 845 million during this Qazvin, eastern and western Azerbaijan Mr. Mansouri further added that India period. can be considered as a distinguished with its unique characteristics such as the The principal items of India’s exports to area for creation of the industrial regions second most populous country and exis- Iran are manufactures of metal, iron and in the northwest of Iran. This province by tence of widespread market and high lev- steel, machinery and instruments, drugs, having powerful infrastructure facilities el of consumption and economic growth pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, such as airport, railway, custom office, has always been a potential country for bi- transport equipment, manmade yarn, fab- freeway. The province is also situated on lateral trade. India’s leading position in rics and madeups, rubber products, transit route to Europe and the existence the field of IT makes it very attractive des- processed minerals, in organic and or- of miscellaneous mineral potentialities tination for the Iranian companies for out- ganic chemicals, tea, basmati rice among has created varied opportunities for sourcing and finding investment partners. others. Significantly, exports of transport growth and development of mineral and Mr. Ebrahim Jamili, Chairman, Zanjan equipments registered an increase of 130 industrial investment. Chamber of Commerce, Mine & Industries percent during 2006-07 added Mr. Various excise incentives on ready- said that we expect new techniques from Kalantri. mades, food mixes, reduction on excise India for our relevant manufacturing units AIAI also signed MOU with the Zanjan on petrol and petroleum products as well and look forward to work together in areas Chamber of Commerce, Islamic Republic as doing away with import duty on steel of petrochemical, chemical, mining, phar- of Iran to promote bilateral trade between scrap and coking coal are steps in right di- ma, auto sector and agro based indus- the two countries. rection. tries for promoting bilateral trade. Mr. Ali Mohammadi, Consul General of The province’s main export industrial Mr. Jamili further added that presently the Islamic Republic of Iran and Dr. commodities are as follows: India is doing lot of trade with Iran but Khosro Payandani, Commercial Attache, Transformator-Chinaware-Cable-Wire, most of this trade is through Dubai and Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran Granule, Different kinds of BCF thread, other countries. We need to deal directly were also present and spoke on the oc- Textiles – Machines – made carpet, hand- with Indian companies in order to reduce casion. Need for greater networking between govt & MSMEs n his welcome address, Mr Vijay (MSME) sector continues to attract high be improved by placing representatives Kalantri President of AIAI and Vice attention given the fact that this sector of the government on various MSME or- IChairman of World Trade Centre generates large scale employment and ganizations, Mr Kumar stated. Further, Mumbai said that the MSME sector promotes inclusive growth. The MSME problems of basic infrastructure such as faced various problems such as un- sector thus significantly contributes to power, roads, ports, telecommunica- timely and inadequate credit for eg. the the removal of regional disparities,” said tions, etc need to be addressed to en- credit, flow was 12% has come down to Mr. Pravir Kumar, Joint Secretary in the able the MSME sector to function more 8.3%, needs upgradation and technol- Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium efficiently and reduce transaction cost. ogy and improve marketing skills. Enterprises while addressing a meeting Mr Kalantri suggested that the MSME Despite recommendations from several organized by the All India Association of sector should have representation on committees that 20 percent of the total Industries (AIAI) and the World Trade the various finance committees. The de- bank credit should be reserved for the Centre (WTC) Mumbai. veloped countries play proactive role in MSME sector, one finds that presently With less investment, the MSME sec- promoting their MSME sector and our only around 10-12 percent of bank cred- tor has the capacity to create greater country must focus on this important it is made available to the MSME sector. employment. Networking between the sector which makes a significant contri- “The micro, small and medium government and the MSME sector, could bution to the overall economy.

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 47 AIAI NEWS Forex mgmt important ‘Meltdown would component of business be more serious oreign exchange rates, like any oth- porter, and have USD payments to Fer asset class move depending on make at a future date. You can hedge than expected’ various factors, like demand supply, in- / crystallize you foreign exchange ex- terest rate parity, trade and capital posure by buying USDINR and fixing ndia is in urgent need of fiscal stimulus in flows, speculators taking positions, your pay our rate today. You would Iorder to arrest the current economic slow- clients hedging risk arising from their hedge if you were of the view that US- down and sustain the growth momentum. trade and capital flows etc. DINR was going to depreciate. Trading While there has been good measure of in- Introduction of currency futures will in futures allows you to trade in inter- tervention from the Reserve Bank of India complete the suite of instruments est rates implied by the foreign ex- to improve liquidity, the government has so available for trading and hedging to the change market. far offered little to ease the economic crisis. Indian resident. The strong correlation Foreign exchange which to date has Indian economy is not delinked from the that foreign exchange has to interest been an asset class only banks and world economy and the malady seems to rates, equity flows and commodities corporates with currency exposure spread from the financial sector to the mainstream economy. These sentiments were unanimously ar- ticulated by a panel of experts at a discus- sion meet on “Global Financial Crisis and the Way Forward” or- ganized by the World Trade Centre and All India Association of Industries in Mumbai. Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Pradip Shah, Chairman of Ind Asia Fund Advisers Private Ltd., called for urgent measures to cut consumption tax- Seen in the picture – Mr. R. Sundararaman, Sr. Vice President, es such as custom, sales tax, excise, vat National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) (Centre) during an etc. Mr. Shah suggested a reduction of 20- interactive meeting on ‘How to manage currency risk’ organized by All 25 per cent in excise duty and proposed re- India Association of Industries (AIAI) and World Trade Centre (WTC).Looking on L to R are Mr. Y. R. Warerkar, Executive Director, World Trade Centre, and Mr. duction in VAT. India need no longer worry Vijay Kalantri, President, All India Associationof Industries (AIAI). about inflation or budgetary deficit and must prepare for strong fiscal measures, he said. will translate to opportunities to trade were allowed to trade has finally been Further, there is a strong case for liberaliz- currency futures independently or in made available and easily accessible ing the FDI regime by allowing more foreign conjunction with equities commodities to all resident Indians. In the context of investment and portfolio investments to im- like gold or oil etc. Based on the evolv- growing integration of the Indian econ- prove foreign exchange reserves and ener- ing needs of the market place, our ex- omy with the rest of the world and a gies the capital markets. The government change introduces trading in Currency continuous move towards capital ac- needs to review the sectoral caps in the FDI Derivatives, said Mr. R. Sundararaman, count liberalization, Securities policy, Mr. Shah opined. Sr. Vice President, National Stock Exchange Board of India and Reserve According to Mr. S. S. Bhandare, Former Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) while ad- Bank of India have permitted trading in Economic Advisor to Tata Group, the coun- dressing the members of All India currency futures based on the USD INR try is witnessing large scale flight of capital Association of Industries (AIAI) and exchange rate. alongwith erosion in the external value of World Trade Centre (WTC), Mumbai. Mr. Vijay Kalantri, President, All India the rupee, the foreign exchange reserves Mr. Sundararaman further added to Association of Industries (AIAI) said will be severely hampered. Mr. Bhandare ex- take a view on USDINR appreciating or that the foreign currency derivates is a pressed that nearly 30-35 billion dollar depreciating over a specified time very specialized subject, which helps worth of foreign exchange reserves may be frame. For e.g. if you expect oil prices you to assess the foreign exchange wiped out in the coming months and so to rise and impact India’s import bill, risk and requirement from time to time. there is an urgent need to strengthen the you would buy USDINR with a view to Further, the various products like Spot FOREX reserves. INR depreciating. Alternatively, if you and Forward FX rates, Forwards v/s The other important issue is how to sus- believed Futures, Trading in Currency Futures tain export growth. Global trade has signifi- that strong exports from the IT which one could avail off. Mr. Y. R. cantly contracted. Particularly the SME sec- Sector, combined with strong FII flows Warerkar, Executive Director, World tor will be under severe strain as the flow of will translate to INR appreciation you Trade Centre proposed the vote of funds from the banking system becomes would sell USDINR. If you are an im- thanks weaker.

48 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS GOPIO WORLD GOPIO helps Hoover Medal Board to honor APJ Abdul Kalam n an award ceremony conducted in the entation of his vision for India that en- magnificent Low Memorial Library of Dr. Kalam was chosen for "mak- compasses rural connectivity, energy in- IColumbia University, New York, and at- ing state-of-the-art healthcare dependence and a water mission with tended by Nobel Laureates, Diplomats, available to the common man at the application of science & technology academicians, engineers, students and affordable prices, bringing quali- management. Dr. Kalam later opened leaders of the Indian American commu- ty medical care to rural areas by the floor to take questions from the au- nity, Dr. Kalam was presented the pres- establishing a link... dience, interacting with them, and field- tigious Hoover Medal for 2008 by ing queries on a wide range of subjects Beatrice E. Hunt of STV Inc., chair, and Chemical Engineers, and the Institute of from India's need for nuclear energy, ed- Professor P. Somasundaran of Columbia Electrical and Electronics Engineers. ucation, terrorism, and nuclear weapons University, vice-chair of the Hoover Medal Dr. Kalam was chosen for "making to HIV/AIDS in India. Dr. Kalam said the Board. Dr. Thomas Abraham, Chairman state-of-the-art healthcare available to eradication of poverty was important to of the Global Organization of People of the common man at affordable prices, end terrorism. He pointed out that "Rich Indian and other GOPIO volunteers bringing quality medical care to rural ar- nations have to come together to help re- helped in organizing the event. eas by establishing a link between doc- move poverty from the poor nations. The Hoover Medal, founded in 1929 tors and technocrats, using spin-offs of That is the only way to rid the world of ter- and named after its first recipient defense technology to create state-of- rorism". He said he believes the ignited Herbert Hoover, former President of the the-art medical equipment, and launch- minds of the youth are the most power- United States, was created to honor en- ing telemedicine projects connecting re- ful resource on earth. Ever the optimist gineers whose preeminent services have mote rural-based hospitals to super-spe- Dr. Kalam said India would succeed in advanced the well-being of humanity and cialty hospitals." finding a solution to combat HIV/AIDS in whose talents have been devoted to the During his acceptance speech Dr. the next four to five years; would produce development of a richer and more endur- Kalam told his rapt audience how per- thorium-based nuclear energy in the next ing civilization. Some of the previous re- sonally satisfying it was for him to have 10 years and eradicate poverty by 2020. cipients of this honor include former a man of modest means with two Kalam- Asked what his message was for the United States presidents Dwight David Raju stents implanted in his heart re- Indian youth pursuing higher studies in Eisenhower and James Carter, Jr., and quest a chance to sit beside him for a the U.S., Dr. Kalam said, "For those stu- inventors Arnold Beckman and David few minutes during a train trip in order to dents who intend to come back to India Packard. The Hoover Board of Award is thank him for making it possible for him after completion of their studies, my made up of representatives from five to have the stents. message is that they learn what is most American engineering societies - the Dr. Kalam became the 11th president unique to the U.S. -- entrepreneurship -- American Society of Civil Engineers, of India in 2002 and was popularly and become entrepreneurs on their re- American Institute of Mining, known as the "Peoples' President". turn to India. And for those students who Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers, Accepting the award, Dr. Kalam talked decide to settle in this country, my mes- American Society of Mechanical about "Transforming a billion people to sage is: Work and do your best for the Engineers, American Institute of prosperity," and made a detailed pres- country you are in." 4 Indian Americans in GOPIO-T&T condemns religious White House fellows prog hirty outstanding men and women from intolerence and hate speech Tacross the country have been selected lobal Organization of People of Indian two millenniums, we caution against descend- as National Finalists for the White House GOrigin (GOPIO) Trinidad and Tobago strong- ing to such low levels of behavior; instead, we Fellows Program - the nation's most presti- ly condemned is regarded as religious intoler- urge everyone in our multi-religious rainbow na- gious program for leadership and public ance and hate speech contained in the article tion to practice tolerance of all religious com- service. The National Finalists represent a by Kenneth Assee, titled "Weak Criticisms by munities". diverse cross-section of professions, in- Baldeosingh", in the Trinidadian Guardian "GOPIO cautions against dangerous and cluding business, medicine, law, non-profit newspaper, on Sunday May 10, 2009. harmful generalizations that may portray sector, media, state government, finance, Specifically, reference is made to Assee's Hindus, Muslims, and Christians as extremists and education. Additionally, four branches of statement: "This is why religions like and enemies of our nation who seek to destroy military are also represented. The four Hinduism and Islam continue to exist despite our society. GOPIO Trinidad & Tobago reminds Indian Americans at the list of the National rational criticism of the cruelties they sanction. all that bigotry, intolerance, sectarianism, and Finalists are as follows: Sudip Bose, Their followers choose to believe." GOPIO fanaticism have resulted in nothing but vio- Attending Emergency Physician, Advocate Trinidad and Tobago's Press Statement stated lence, death, despair, and destruction. GOPIO Christ Medical Center; Chicago, IL Anish that it "categorically rejects Assee's claim that believes we must develop a society that moves Mahajan, Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Hinduism and Islam sanction "cruelties", and beyond tolerance, to mutual acceptance, with Scholar; Poughkeepsie, New York Manish the characterization that Hindus and Muslims the core values of community and individual re- Sethi, Surgical Resident, Harvard Combined "choose to believe." It continued, "While sponsibility; equality of opportunity; and re- Orthopedics Program; Brookline, MA Raj Hindus and Muslims may be tempted to re- spect for freedom of rights, including freedom Shah, MBA Candidate, University of spond with the long list of cruelties perpetrat- of speech but refraining from hate speech that Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business. ed in the name of religion throughout the past discredits and denigrates fellow citizens".

OPINION EXPRESS JUNE 2014 I 49 GOPIO WORLD Celebrating Indian American heritage he Indian com-munity of Southern alifor- academicians, scholars, politicians and phil- storage room of a hotel. He conceded things nia got together on May 3 at the anthro-pists to address the community. had changed for the better but there were still TWoodlands Banquet Hall for a Seminar After opening remarks by Inder Singh, the vestiges of discrimination lingering. His fear is and Lun-cheon to pay tribute to the several first seminar commenced, chaired by that , like the British did during the Raj. The US Indian American and Patriots who had paved Professor Arnold Kaminsky, Director of would exploit Indian tal-ent to serve the US the way to a better life and future for the 2 mil- Yadunandan Center of In-dia Studies, Cal State Empire and that it was very important to re- lion living in the United States today. Divided University. Long Beach. The panel contained a mind future generations not to forget their ori- into two sections separated by a short tea fascinat-ing mix of individuals who are direct gins and their culture. break, the first panel discussed the history of Surinder Pal Singh narrated fasci-nating " Migration and Settlement" of the earliest im- The event was the brainchild of episodes from the life of his grandfather, the migrants and the sec-ond on a more recent Inder Singh, President of GOPIO late Bhai Bagwan Singh Giyani, which took him subject of "Con-tributions of Indian Americans on voyages through Canada from where he after citizenship and liberalization of US In-ternational who had conduct- was deported, the USA, Hong Kong where he Immigration Laws. ed a similar event a few years was arrested twice and Singapore among oth- The event was the brainchild of Inder Singh, ago in Northern California to cel- ers. President of GOPIO In-ternational who had con- Throughout his colorful journeys , the British ducted a similar event a few years ago in ebrate the 90th Anniversary of Gov-ernment kept a close watch over his na- Northern California to celebrate the 90th the Gadar Movement. tional activities , yet at the end of it all he re- Anniversary of the Gadar Movement. He told marked that he bears no ha-tred for the British India Journal when President Obama pro- descendants of many of the pioneers for whom people but was only against the British who claimed May 2009 as Asian American and the tribute had been ar-ranged and whose an- were interfer-ing with Indian life. After being Pacific Islander Heri-tage Month, he was re- cestors lives had intertwined during the bitter shunted around several years he was finally motivated to put together a function to once struggle for justice and acceptance. Opening able to come to the US when he became again re-vive the memories of the many who the session Professor Emeritus Ram Mohan President of the Gadar Party and started the " had come earlier, worked at menial jobs, lived Roy, Cal State Northridge spoke on "Migration do or die" movement and " Allan-e- Jung in in appalling conditions and after a long and te- and Struggle for Survival" referring to the dis- 1914. At the end of the seminar he was pre- dious struggle got rights of US Citizenship in criminatory laws against Indian nationals dur- sented a set of 78 rpm records of lectures of 1946. He soon rounded up a group of equally ing the first half of the 20th century and on his grand-father by Greg Alexander who had enthusiastic citizens and the team quickly how he himself was humiliated as recently as found them in his father's collection in the brought together a panel of several recognized 1965 when he was relegated to sleep in the garage.

New Zealand chapters 2 new chapters, scientific donate for Fiji flood relief OPIO Auckland Central Chapter donated FID 4,500 council inaugurated Gtowards one of the Rota Homes in Lautoka (Fiji), a n Friday May 8th GOPIO in The issues facing last generation very proud moment for GOPIO New Zealand. The check ONetherlands, on a very well attend- Indians in The Netherlands in defin- was personally handed over by one of the executive ed evening, announced the opening of ing and scoping their identity. Mr. members, Jack Singh to Peter Drysdale (Rotary) who is two new chapters and a scientific coun- Shridath Salikram presented an looking after this particular project. cil. It was also an opportunity to wel- overview of the Indian society in the Besides GOPIO Auckland Central Chapter, GOPIO come the newly appointed ambassador Eastern part of The Netherlands repre- Auckland Botany Downs and GOPIO Northshore of India to the Netherlands, Mr. Manbir senting a group of small cities in the Chapters also sent cash to the flood victims in Lautoka. Singh who was accompanied by his wife province of Overijssel. He proudly sum- on the occasion. GOPIO also invited Mr. marized the achievements of Indian sci- Ambassador Dayal energizes Arun Amritham, president of the Indian entists at the University of Twente es- Indian American community Association of Switzerland to present pecially in nanotechnology. Finally, Dr. the Indian Diaspora of his country to the Hari Sharma presented the highlights of mbassador Prabhu Dayal, Consul General of India in audience. his ambitions with the Scientific Council ANew York attended a reception in his honor organ- Rajindre Tewari, president of GOPIO which will start with a register of Indian ized by GOPIO Connecticut at the Hampton Inn in in The Netherlands welcomed scientist with proven credentials on sci- Stamford, CT on Friday, May 15, 2009. Ambassador Singh and guests and entific subjects and specializations in GOPIO-CT President Mrs. Sangeeta Ahuja welcomed thanked everyone to witness the inau- order to reduce the barrier for PIO´s to everyone to the program and provided an account what guration of the new chapters. During exchange and transfer knowledge on GOPIO-Ct has been doing for the last three years and in- his speech the ambassador stressed PIO related diseases or cures to the lay- vited everyone to participate in future programs. his interest for the PIO´s living abroad men. Speaking to a packed audience of almost 100 members by narrating his personal experience Mr. Arun Amirtham of the Indian of the Indian-American community, Mr. Dayal congratu- with PIO´s from different countries. He Association in Switzerland gave a lively lated the community for their outstanding success in all also stress the fact that India has overview of the Indian community in his walks of life. "The Indian community is the most suc- grown in such a pace that is has also at- country and especially explained how cessful ethnic community in the United States and the tracted the interest of the PIO´s to ex- the cultural exchange between Indians most law-abiding," Ambassador Dayal said. pand their activities to the Indian sub- and the Swiss is taking place producing He said he was impressed by the vibrancy of GOPIO continent. a blended performance in Swiss na- Connecticut and the warmth and hospitality of the local Chapter Rotterdam was presented by tional cultural happenings. He present- community. In talking about US-India relations, he un- Ms. Ratna Jainandunsing who asked ed a lesson of integration with the local derlined that our countries are "two of the greatest the audience for more attention to the culture while remaining Indian. democracies in the world.

50 | JUNE 2014 OPINION EXPRESS