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Monday,
July 9, 2001, Chandigarh, India   |
Lanka flays India’s comments on army’s
bombing
Pak backing insurgents in Kashmir: USA |
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India ‘not keen’ on destroying
Pak Washington, July 8 India’s nuclear tests, minimum nuclear deterrent, modernisation of the armed forces and a boost to the economic growth are part of a “subtle, multi-faceted” grand strategy to prevent Pakistan from expanding into Kashmir, befriend China and prevent it from turning hostile, a senior analyst with a US think-tank has said.
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Work on Indo-Iran gas pipeline
completed Another Palestinian child
killed Israel keen on buying Lakshya aircraft
Mystery of Fiji coup
plotters Luring Americanised
Bengalis with pizza 7 die in B’desh
gunbattle
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Lanka flays India’s comments on army’s
bombing Colombo, July 8 A foreign ministry statement also referred to the U.S. criticism, but refrained from naming the two countries. It simply called them “two foreign governments”, but the reference was unmistakable. “What one government said is unacceptable. While expressing ‘great disappointment at these developments,’ it has made no reference to our government’s assertion that the bombings were a pre-emptive strike in self-defence,” the statement said, referring to India. Western diplomats said the attacks prompted the unusual reaction from New Delhi and Washington because Colombo had reneged on an informal understanding since April not to resort to aerial attacks while the Norwegian effort to broker peace was under way. “There was an understanding that the (Sri Lankan) air force would not carry out any bombings and in return, the LTTE would not hit targets in Colombo,” a diplomatic source said. The air force used MiG 27 and Kfir jets to end a two-month lull by attacking Pooneryn, south of Jaffna peninsula, last weekend. The military claimed it hit 19 rebel targets, including ammunition and fuel dumps. Colombo also took umbrage to New Delhi call for negotiations as the only way to solve the conflict. “That government’s proposition that ‘there is no alternative to peace’ is self-evident. The question is whether the Sri Lanka government should seek peace at any cost.” The bombings were the first major offensive since Oslo’s peace bid headed by special envoy Erik Solheim appeared to be stalled over the Tigers’ pre-negotiation demands. A new four-member Norwegian team, named last week after Solheim’s demotion as principal facilitator, has yet to put the peace initiative back on track. The U.S. administration also deplored the attacks but Colombo looked more favourably on Washington’s additional comments that it “respects the right of any nation to defend its territorial integrity. “That approach is principled and realistic,” noted the Foreign Ministry statement. Newspaper reports said the Indian and U.S. censure had pushed the military to suspend more attacks in the northern peninsula.
IANS |
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‘Advance debate’ on no-trust move Colombo, July 8 The 115 MPs of the Opposition met in Parliament yesterday and placed their signatures on a letter requesting the Speaker to take up the debate on the no-confidence motion on July 18, 19 and 20. The joint Opposition will make the request on the grounds that it now enjoys the majority in Parliament. The government was reduced to a minority on June 20 after one of the key allies — the SLMC — withdrew support to the People’s Alliance coalition after its leader and minister Rauf Hakeem was sacked by the President, Ms Chandrika Kumaratunga. It was with the support of the SLMC that Ms Kumaratunga had formed the government after the parliamentary elections in October last.
UNI |
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Pak backing insurgents in Kashmir: USA
Washington, July 8 The outgoing US Ambassador to Pakistan William B Milam, in an interview to the Washington Post, said Pakistan had collaboration with the Taliban in its support of Islamic insurgents in Kashmir. Close ties also exist between the Afghan regime and the conservative Islamic groups in Pakistan, he said. Mr Milam, who is relinquishing office at the end of his tenure, said he had reiterated American concerns about Osama bin Laden in final courtesy calls on Pakistani officials and Taliban diplomats stationed in Islamabad. “It was clear we still have a long way to go before coming to a meeting on this issue”, he added. Earlier, according to the American daily, Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told the US officials during his recent visit to Washington that Islamabad had little control over the Taliban but needed to maintain cordial relations with the group because of Afghanistan’s strategic location and long-standing friendship.
UNI |
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India ‘not keen’ on destroying Pak Washington, July 8 “While India simply has no interest in pursuing any military solutions aimed at destroying, occupying or fractionating Pakistan, the latter is an anti-status quo power in Kashmir,” says Mr Ashley J. Tellis, senior analyst of the US strategic think-tank, Rand Corporation, in a paper on the “Changing Political-Military Environment”. “Transforming what Pakistan views as an ‘ugly stability’ will require an acceptance that status quo in Kashmir is unlikely to change no matter what means are brought into play,” Mr Tellis says. Chinese policies have a dual aspect: to checkmate India by giving Pakistan nuclear knowhow and military aid and keeping New Delhi fixated on Pakistan while not embracing Pakistan’s ambitions against India and recognising that both India and China have a common interest in frustrating the goals of terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism. Pakistan wants to improve relations with the USA and get China to help it against India but even if China rebuffs it in the attainment of these goals, if it has to choose between the USA and China, it will opt for the latter, he says. Pakistan’s general objective is to raise India’s costs of maintaining the status quo in Kashmir so that New Delhi negotiates an outcome more favourable to Pakistan, or to wear down India to prevent it from applying its full political resources externally against Pakistan. Pakistan wants from China a public support for its objectives on key political issues. These include confronting Indian hegemony in South Asia, “recovering” Jammu and Kashmir and pacifying Afghanistan by complete Taliban control, Mr Tellis says. “Thus far, China has refused to provide either support or endorsement on any of these points. Chinese behaviour towards Pakistan and the smaller South Asian states suggests that Beijing has already recognised the Indian hegemony within South Asia, and while it has attempted to assist India’s smaller neighbours in preserving their security, it has shown no interest in leading any anti-Indian coalition of the sort Islamabad would prefer, says the study. Beijing has publicly advocated — much to Islamabad’s chagrin — that the resolution of the Kashmir conflict be deferred indefinitely, and it has continued to support international efforts at penalising the Taliban’s brand of Islamist rule in Afghanistan. “Even as China has distanced itself from Pakistani interests in these areas, it has been careful to do so quietly and indirectly. This sensitivity to Pakistani sentiments has always been appreciated by Islamabad, who often contrast the ‘respect’ accorded them by the Chinese-even when they disagree-with the hectoring-attitude adopted by the USA.” Pakistan, says Tellis, is likely to remain loyal to China over the long term. The prospect of a rising China pleases Pakistan because it presages the availability of an even more powerful ally than Beijing currently represents. Given all the potential benefits that would accrue from such a possibility, Pakistan is unlikely to support any attempts at constraining China irrespective of where they may emerge. If any US-led efforts materialise in this regard, they would certainly place Pakistan in a difficult position because Islamabad still seeks as best it can to retain USA’s friendship, support and assistance even as it maintains its critical strategic links with China. Therefore, Pakistan will not support any hedging strategies directed against Beijing. Unlike India, which may be sympathetic to such efforts even if it does not formally participate in them, Pakistan will simply be opposed to all such solutions. “Islamabad would seek to play the role of peacemaker. If despite its best preferences Pakistan is faced to take sides, Islamabad would settle for remaining loyal to Beijing.”
PTI |
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Nepal House passes agenda after walkout Kathmandu, July 8 Mr Koirala would have been forced to leave office had the platform not received parliamentary approval by today. Only three parties attended Parliament when the measure was passed: the ruling Nepali Congress, the pro-India Nepal Buddhist Party and the right-wing National Democratic Party. Political sources said crucial 2001-2002 Budget will be put before Parliament tomorrow. Earlier yesterday, the main opposition Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist and Leninist (NCP-UML) led a demonstration of 500 people inside Kathmandu to call for Mr Koirala to quit. The party accused Mr Koirala of breaking a promise to opposition chief Madhav Kumar Nepal last week to provide by Friday at least a date for his resignation. The Opposition “will continue its protests against the Prime Minister until he resigns,” said NCP-UML Legislator Raghu Panta. But it was not immediately clear whether the Opposition would continue its boycott of Parliament, seeing as its walkout today did not kill legislation. The Nepali Congress has 113 seats in the 205-member lower House of Parliament. The constitution says opposition parties need to garner at least 103 votes to topple the government.
AFP
Kathmandu,
July 8 |
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Work on Indo-Iran gas pipeline completed Islamabad, July 8 “The agenda (to be discussed during the July 14-16 visit) is not final as yet and it is up to President General Musharraf to decide. We have done our preparatory work so that we are ready in case the issue is discussed”, Petroleum Minister Usman Aminuddin told reporters here yesterday. On whether Pakistan was interested to discuss the issue with India bilaterally, he said “it has to be decided by the President”. However, he said Pakistan has offered guarantees through Iran on protection and safety issues of the pipeline, proposed to be laid via Pakistan. Refuting reports that Reliance Petroleum of India was supplying diesel to Pakistan through indirect sources, Aminuddin said Islamabad had no plan to import the product from India. He said Pakistan’s only source of diesel import was from Kuwait and a ship had been bought from Iran to step up the supplies.
PTI |
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Another Palestinian child killed Jerusalem, July 8 An 11-year-old Palestinian was shot in the head yesterday by Israeli soldiers at Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on a day that saw the soldiers come under gunfire attack several times during the day. Three other Palestinian children were wounded during the incident, with the Israeli army saying 26 grenades and four petrol bombs had been thrown at its positions. The child’s death brought the death toll to 639 — 501 Palestinians, 119 Israelis, 13 Arab Israelis and six Europeans. Earlier, senior Palestinian official Abu Rudeina warned of a potential “explosion” in the region. He accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of stalling the Mitchell peace plan and said delays were only fanning the flames of unrest as a US-sponsored ceasefire has failed to take hold on the ground. The Palestinians say more than 30 persons have been killed in direct attacks which have been criticised by US and UN officials.
AFP |
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Israel keen on buying Lakshya aircraft Jerusalem, July 8 Stating that there are other defence equipment also that Israel would like to acquire from India, they said the issue had come up in various meetings between officials of the two countries in the recent past and Israel was favourably impressed after studying technical details and costs of the PTA. “Negotiations are going on. One leads to another. We want to sell something and buy another thing. There is a connection between buying and selling,” the sources said, referring to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) produced Lakshya aircraft. The Lakshya issue assumes importance in the backdrop of recent visits of Indian Defence Secretary and Naval chief to Israel and the meetings between defence
officials of the two countries during the recently concluded Paris Air Show.
PTI |
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Mystery of Fiji coup plotters Suva, July 8 Senior army officer Viliame Seruvakula disclosed before taking up a job with the New Zealand army earlier this year that Speight was not the brains of the operation, only the front man. The real masterminds behind the coup, which saw the country’s first ethnic Indian Prime Minister and his Cabinet held captive for 56 days, were a core group of seven politicians, ethnic Indian businessmen and senior army officers, Mr Seruvakula alleged. He said it irked him to see these people “still walking free” while Speight and 12 others were detained at Nukulau island awaiting the start of their treason trial. Fiji’s Sunday Post Editor Mesake Koroi also claimed that the seven conspirators met at a house in the Suva suburb of Laucala Beach Estate. “The identity of the real plotters lie in the unveiling of those that met at a house at Laucala Beach Estate well before the coup.” He wrote. Deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry insists that several prominent ethnic Indian businessmen financed the coup and should be brought to justice. Both Mr Chaudhry and Mr Koroi allege that businessmen provided a constant supply of food to the rebels in parliament. “All it needed was a letter from a member in parliament” and truckloads of goods would arrive at the complex where Speight and his men were holed up with their hostages, Mr Koroi said. Mr Seruvakula had claimed in a recent interview that those who plotted the May 19 coup last year had owed “millions of dollars” to banks and in unpaid taxes. “I think the inland revenue department is owed some $ 96 million in taxes and the Asset Management Bank (AMB) is owed $ 210 million. (The AMB was set up after the collapse of the National Bank of Fiji). “That is a lot of money owed by a handful of people,” he said. The army officer also revealed that he was offered tens of thousands of dollars to support the coup. “They sent me a parcel which sat on my desk for two days before I opened it in front of two or three people. There was 260,000 Fiji (130,000 US) dollars cash in the parcel — in 50 dollar notes except for a bundle of 20 dollars.” He also claimed that the Counter Revolutionary Army Unit soldiers who obeyed Speight’s orders were paid $ 50,000 each.
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Luring Americanised Bengalis with pizza Lowell (Massachusetts), July 8 Her father, Babu Deb, is in charge of providing food for this year’s Banga Sammelan, a cultural conference designed to create community building opportunities for Bengali immigrants. Each summer, the North American Bengali Conference attracts about 5,000 persons who come to enjoy traditional Bengali dance and vocal performances, Bengali food, and buy gold and silver trimmed saris. One of the additional goals this year is to involve young Bengalis. Providing pizza for second-generation Bengalis is just one of the many changes at this year’s conference. Over the years, participation by young people has been declining, said Abir Roy, president of Prebassi, a Massachusetts-based social club sponsoring this year’s conference. “They (young people) would come but they would avoid the performances or just hang around the city,” said Roy, a Quincy accountant, and at 25, the youngest president of any Bengali organisation in the region. Attracting more young people means adding non-traditional foods and opening up performance space to both English and Bengali singers and dancers. This year’s talent show included a teenage band performing American music, and booths with henna tattoos and batik fabric making, two South Asian traditions popular with American youth. The conference also featured the first Banga Sammelan Youth Summit, where teenagers and young professionals got together to discuss how to communicate with their immigrant parents and how to raise the visibility of the Bengali-American community. “Are we Indians? Indian-Americans? Bengali-Americans?” Roy said. “We discussed what Bengalis have done in history, on the global stage and how we too need to continue to contribute.”
AP |
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7 die in B’desh
gunbattle Dhaka, July 8 Five people were killed on the spot and two seriously injured later died at a hospital. At least 15 of the wounded were policemen, the police said. They said the situation was brought under control late on Saturday.
Reuters |
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