Islands dispute: No basis for talks with Japan, says China
Beijing, August 27
China on Tuesday brushed aside calls from Japan to hold a leaders' summit as "grandstanding", while Japan's finance minister said Tokyo should make clear it would use its navy to defend islands at the core of a dispute with Beijing.

Amman/Beirut, August 27
Western forces could attack Syria within days, the United States and its allies have told rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, opening up new risks in a war that is spreading hatred across the Middle East.

Participants at a meeting in Istanbul said US and other diplomats warned Syrian opposition leaders on Monday to expect action that would punish Assad for poison gas attacks, and to be ready to negotiate if his government sues for peace.

The US said its forces in the region were "ready to go", but the White House insisted President Barack Obama was still considering various options, not just military force, and was not intent on bringing about "regime change" in Damascus.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, anxious like Obama not to emulate the Afghan and Iraqi entanglements that beset their predecessors, said any strikes would be "specific", a penalty for the use of chemical weapons, and would not drag the allies deeper into a Syrian civil war now well into its third year.

He recalled parliament for a debate on Syria on Thursday. United Nations chemical weapons investigators, who finally crossed the frontline to take samples on Monday, put off until Wednesday a second trip to the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus where activists say hundreds of civilians died a week ago.

But while UN evidence of chemical warfare could bolster a Western argument for intervention in the face of likely Russian and Chinese opposition at the United Nations, Western leaders - and the Arab League - have already declared Assad guilty. 

Ahmad Jarba, president of the rebel Syrian National Coalition, met envoys from 11 countries, including Robert Ford, the US ambassador to Syria, at an Istanbul hotel. The rebel leaders proposed targets for cruise missiles and bombing.

One participant said: "The opposition was told in clear terms that action to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime could come as early as in the next few days." Planning appears to focus on air strikes.

There is little public support in western countries for troops to invade Syria. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said: "We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfil and comply with whatever option the President wishes to take… We are ready to go."

French President Francois Hollande said he was "ready to punish" Assad for the gas attack, citing a 2005 UN provision for international action. The Syrian government, backed by regional power Iran, denies gassing its own people and said it would defend itself. — Reuters

India is among the Asian countries expected to play a key role in plugging some of the gaps that arise as donor fatigue sets in among the US and its allies that support the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai.

India, Japan and China may be unable or unwilling to provide the same kind of military, boots-on-the ground support available from the US-led and UN backed ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) coalition. But each of these three Asian giants is perceived as having vast resources at their disposal and each in their own way has promised to help.

At present, the Afghans are heavily dependent on military and financial support provided by International Security Assistance Force countries led by the US, but also including such diverse other backers as the UK, Holland, Malaysia and even Tonga, for either security or financial assistance, or both.

Now, as Afghan presidential elections loom for next April 2014, the expectation is that ISAF will accelerate its cutbacks. The force is already down from its earlier peak of 130,000 to just under 100,000. Much of that, about 65,000, is made up of US troops.

Once presidential elections are over, International Security Assistance Force's aim is to cut back its presence still further. Hence, the ongoing bilateral security arrangement talks underway between the Afghans and the US government, which could reduce the US military presence post-2014 to less than 10,000 with Washington's major allies contributing another 5,000.

Some scaling back is already underway. Last week, International Security Assistance Force spokesman General Heinz Feldmann, confirming International Security Assistance Force's reductions, said, "ISAF once had over 800 small and big military bases, but the number has now fallen to less than 100. We are jointly working with the Afghan finance ministry to decide which bases should be handed over to Afghan forces."

Against this backdrop of scaling down and withdrawals, Afghans top leaders are searching for other countries that might help to plug forthcoming gaps and India is at the top of the list.

India may not be able to supply military manpower to take over the bases left behind by retreating International Security Assistance Force forces, but it can and will help to train Afghan military personnel, as well as provide money to fund reconstruction and development projects.

So far, two of the most impressive India-funded projects are the Salma Dam in Herat province and the new parliament building under construction in Kabul. But there are numerous other smaller projects that are funded directly by New Delhi. For example, India has donated 1000 buses for Kabul and other municipalities, 500 tractors for Afghan farmers and a $10 million grant for the preservation and revival of the country's archaeological and cultural heritage.

These and other grants, as well as scholarships, food aid and a generous Buyers Credit Line, are part of the US$2 billion aid package that New Delhi has pledged for Afghanistan.

China has shown no inclination to respond to the overtures. "A meeting between leaders is not simply for the sake of shaking hands and taking pictures, but to resolve problems," Chinese deputy foreign minister Li Baodong said. — Reuters

Columbia, August 27 
A 25-year quest by nearly 1,000 scholars to document and present one of the world’s oldest living traditions came to fruition when the ‘Encyclopaedia of Hinduism’ was unveiled here today.

Hundreds of scholars, dignitaries, students, Hindu leaders and the public converged on the University of Southern California campus to witness the release of much anticipated and definitive 11-volume guide conceived, compiled and produced by the India Heritage Research Foundation. Those present on the occasion included South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Indian Consul General in Atlanta Ajit Kumar and Gandhian Anna Hazare.

The two-day event coinciding with the release featured some of the top Indian scholars who discussed the significance of the encyclopaedia and the richness and diversity of Indian culture that binds more than one billion people worldwide.

“It is a deep honour to be participating in the American release of the Encyclopaedia of Hinduism. This is a remarkable work of scholarship and research. I hope that many in academia and in everyday life will turn to it as a resource to better understand the characters, the tenets, and the impact that Hinduism has had, and is having in the world,” he said.

Consul General Kumar said India and Hindus all over the world are grateful to the University of South Carolina for the launch of the monumental work. The comprehensive encyclopaedia has 11-volume work and it covers Hindu spiritual beliefs, practices and philosophy, and is the culmination of a 25-year academic effort. — PTI 

Islamabad, August 27
Pakistan has objected to four power projects being built by India on the Chenab on the ground that they allegedly violate the Indus Waters Treaty. The projects include the 850-MW Ratle power project and the 1,000-MW Pakal Dul hydroelectric plant, Minister of State for Privatisation Khurram Dastgir told the National Assembly or lower house of Parliament.

Information on these plants was received by Pakistan last year and Islamabad objected to their designs, he said during question hour yesterday. Pakistan has raised the issue with India at all levels. A protest about the alleged reduction of water flow in the Chenab was lodged with India by the Permanent Indus Waters Commission and the Foreign Office, he said.

The Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters had been asked to provide complete information about these projects, he added. Dastgir said India had recently started construction of the Ratle power project and Pakal Dul hydroelectric plant. — PTI