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Russia seeks peace in Syria as forces bombard Homs
Pro-Syrian regime supporters wave Syrian and Russian flags as they cheer a convoy believed to be transporting the Russian Foreign Minister in Damascus. — AP/PTI
Special to the tribune
Krishna in China; says waging
war is against India’s ethos
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US told to address concerns of Indian IT industry
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai (L) at a conference in Washington on Monday. — PTI
US may apologise for NATO raid
in Pak: Report
Funnelling money to Ilyas Kashmiri Iran calls new US sanctions 'psychological war'
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Russia seeks peace in Syria as forces bombard Homs
Amman, February 7 Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, representing a rare ally on a trip to the Syrian capital other states are shunning, said Russia now wanted to resolve Syria's crisis in line with an Arab plan. Moscow and Beijing vetoed in the UN Security Council. The Russian mediation failed to slow a rush by countries that denounced the Russian-Chinese veto three days ago to corner Syria diplomatically and cripple Assad with sanctions in hopes of toppling him and encouraging reforms to avert chaos in a region straddling major fault lines of Middle East conflict. Opposition activists said government forces renewed shelling of the central city of Homs on Tuesday just before Lavrov's arrival, killing some 19 persons in an onslaught that they say has claimed over 300 lives in the past five days. There were also reports from residents of shelling and fighting on Tuesday between government and rebel forces in Hama, another urban stronghold of anti-Assad sentiment. Syria says Homs, the heart of 11 months of protest against Assad's rule, is the site of a running battle with "terrorists" directed and funded from abroad. "The President of Syria assured us he was 'completely committed to the task of stopping violence regardless of where it may come from'," Interfax quoted Lavrov as saying after his meeting with Assad. Lavrov, whose government wields unique leverage as a major arms supplier to Damascus, told Assad it was in Russia's interest for "Arab peoples to live in peace and agreement", the RIA news agency said. — Reuters
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Special to the tribune The predictable political fallout from Delhi’s decision to award the $10 billion warplane contract to France rather than the UK has seen British MPs demanding an immediate end to economic aid for India.
Their calls to cut aid accompanied by sneering media commentaries about India’s elite class incorporating more billionaires than Britain, including some who queued up last year for the 70 Rolls Royce Phantoms sold to Indian customers, are the inevitable consequence of a defence deal gone sour. But Delhi’s decision to opt for the French Rafale jet, rather than the British-built Typhoon, is the real reason why leading British MPs have been calling for an end to UK aid for India. In theory, these MPs are merely responding to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s assertion that India should voluntarily give up the £280 million in aid that it receives from the UK. He rubbed salt in the wound by telling Parliament: “We do not require the aid. It is a peanut in our total development expenditure.” In practice what some British MPs seem to be demanding is a tit-for-tat response to a former colony’s decision to make an independent judgement about where to get the best value for money when it comes to defence spending. Despite repeated claims in London that Delhi is an important Commonwealth ally and trading partner, many in Britain still have a patronising attitude when it comes to relations with India. One measure of British condescension is the way India names continue to be misspelt in media outlets. Barak Obama would never be referred to as Burick Obama, but the late Ms Indira Gandhi is still repeatedly and depressingly referred to as Indira Ghandi. Only last week former foreign secretary Nirupama Rao was wrongly described as India’s former foreign minister. Sadly, her name too was misspelt. One leading quality newspaper had her down as Nirumpama Rao. Against this backdrop it is hardly surprising that British MPs should lose the art of graceful giving and go for the jugular by demanding an immediate end to economic aid for India. One Conservative Party MP, Philip Davies, said a few days ago, “India spends tens of billions on defence and hundreds of millions a year on space programmes - in those circumstances it would be unacceptable to give them aid even if they were begging us for it.” Fellow Conservative MP Peter Bone added: “India has its own foreign aid programme so it is absurd for us to be still giving them aid. They are more than capable of looking after their own issues.” The irony of London’s fury at the lost defence contract is that UK experts are the first to admit that because of recent defence cuts the British built Typhoon does not have the capabilities of the French Rafale. The French jet has a combination of smart weapons, such as an air-launched cruise missile, an anti-ship missile and a precision-guided bomb, along with advanced reconnaissance pod and the latest electronic scanned array radar, that the Typhoon cannot match. Jon Lake, defence editor of Arabian Aerospace magazine, was recently quoted as saying, “For the Indians it’s all about credibility. If they believe what the Typhoon consortium told them, then by 2018 Typhoon will do everything that Rafale does now. But they clearly don’t believe it, and I don’t blame them, given the programme’s history of delays and cost overruns.” Another expert, Tom Ripley told the Sunday Telegraph, “The RAF is desperate for further weapons on the Typhoon but it is something the Treasury has been trying to avoid.the Indians ask why they should buy this kit for their aircraft if we won’t put it on ours.”
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Krishna in China; says waging
war is against India’s ethos
External Affairs Minister SM Krishna today firmly rejected the possibility of a conflict between India and China, saying the question of waging a war against any country was alien to Indian thinking.
Talking to reporters here during a brief halt on his way to Beijing for meetings with top Chinese leaders tomorrow, Krishna said The US intelligence chief had not understood the basic philosophy and ethos of India. New Delhi, he said, desired peaceful and friendly relations with all its
neighbours. Asked about the boundary dispute between India and China, the minister noted that the Special Representatives
(SRs) of the two countries recently held their 15th round of talks. ''I am sure they would have achieved some progress.'' On whether the status of Arunachal Pradesh was becomg a sticking point between the two countries, Krishna emphasised that the boundary dispute was one of the most complex issues between the two countries. '"The boundary is far too long. It is a time consuming process. We should not have spectacular expectations. We don't have to be in a hurry.'' Krishna, who is visiting China after a gap of nearly two years, said the purpose of his visit was to exchange views with the Chinese leadership on foreign policy and security issues. He said he would also discuss with the Chinese leaders various regional and
global developments. Asked if he would also raise the issue of the ill-treatment meted out to some Indian businessmen in China, he said any issue which affected bilateral ties would come up. Speaking to the Indian media, Zhow Hong, Director General of foreign affairs in the Yunnan Provincial Government, said India and China were two important rising countries and good relations between them would be mutually beneficial.
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US told to address concerns of Indian IT industry Washington, February 7 Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai on his first bilateral visit to the US said that the Indian IT industry in the US has contributed $15 billion in taxes alone in the past five years and underlined the need to eliminate discriminatory actions. Mathai is believed to have raised the issue in his meeting with the officials of Commerce Department yesterday in the backdrop of Obama's State of the Union address in which he outlined measures to bring jobs back to the country. Obama had said his administration would offer incentives to those firms which will create jobs in the country. Mathai in his address to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said, "Indian IT industry contributed $15 billion in taxes over the past five years. This success story should not be set back by stringent visa regulations which act as a non-tariff barrier." "We do hope the current economic challenges in the US would not lead to protectionism and that concerns of Indian IT industry will be addressed quickly," he said. NASSCOM estimates that Indian industry employs over 100,000 persons in the US up from 20,000 six years ago, he said adding it supports 200,000 other jobs, including indirect ones, apart from enhancing the competitiveness of some the US industries. "According to a back of envelope calculation - Indians paid over $200 million in visa fees. Perhaps $30-50 million has been taken from young aspiring Indians working in businesses whose US visas were rejected. The pink slip has become a greenback!" Mathai said. "It needs reiteration that the targets of these discriminatory actions are precisely those who have contributed intellectually to the climate of reform in India, and who have been votaries of strong India-US relations," said the Foreign Secretary. — PTI US n- firms promised level-playing field Washington: Promising to provide a level playing field to US companies on civilian nuclear deal, Ranjan Mathai has said India was willing to address their specific concerns within the framework of the law in this regard passed by Parliament. —PTI 'normalising ties with Pak a priority’ Washington: India will continue with its endeavour to normalise relationship with Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai has said here, stressing that the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan is “inseparable” from the destiny of the country. — PTI
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US may apologise for NATO raid in Pak: Report
Washington, February 7 The report in the New York Times also said that Pentagon is sending a top general to Islamabad for talks with the Pakistani Army leadership in an effort to mend ties. “The State Department is supporting a proposal circulating in the administration for the United States to issue a formal apology for the deaths of the Pakistani soldiers in the November 26 airstrike by American gunships,” the paper said. According to the NYT, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen James N Mattis is expected to travel to Pakistan later this month to meet army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to discuss the investigations of November 26 incident. — PTI
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Funnelling money to Ilyas Kashmiri Chicago, February 7
Khan admitted that he met Kashmiri, who was also involved in terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, in Pakistan in the early to mid-2000s and again in 2008. At the time of the second meeting, Khan knew or had reason to believe that Kashmiri was working with Al-Qaida, in addition to leading attacks against the Indian government in Kashmir, the Justice Department said. During their 2008 meeting, Kashmiri told Khan that Osama bin Laden was alive, healthy and giving orders, and Khan gave Kashmiri approximately 20,000 Pakistani rupees (approximately $200-250), which he intended Kashmiri to use to support attacks against India. The Justice Department said on November 23, 2009, Khan sent approximately 77,917 rupees (approximately $930) from Chicago to an individual in Pakistan, via Western Union, and then directed the individual by phone to give Kashmiri approximately $300. Although Khan intended the funds to be used by Kashmiri to support attacks against India, he was also aware that Kashmiri was working with Al-Qaida, the Department said. — PTI
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Iran calls new US sanctions 'psychological war' Tehran, February 7 Washington ordered the new penalties yesterday, giving US banks additional powers to freeze assets linked to the Iranian government and close loopholes that officials say Iran has used to move money despite earlier restrictions imposed by the US and Europe. The United States and its allies suspect Iran's nuclear programme is geared toward producing an atomic bomb. Iran denies the charge, insisting its uranium enrichment program is only for peaceful purposes. Rejecting the latest sanctions, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran's central bank has no financial transactions with the United States and would not be affected. — AP
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Russia won a promise from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad today to bring an end to bloodshed in Syria, but Western and Arab states acted to isolate Assad further after activists and rebels said his forces killed over 100 in the city of
Homs.
Washington, February 7
''India is a peace loving country...we have never waged a war against anyone,'' he said when asked for his comment on the recent reported statement by US National Intelligence Director James Clapper that the Indian Army was preparing for a 'limited' conflict with China.
Khan, who was arrested in March 2010, faces maximum 15 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for May 30. After his arrest, he was charged with two counts of attempting to provide material support to terrorist leader Kashmiri but prosecutors dropped one of them under a plea deal.