Obama's Regional Strategy and India

Re: # 74 Tahmed

"...obama's speech was about .....The Barack Obama Administration has been a disappointment. .."

Ah! I think I now understand your issue: You believe that B Raman was responding to Obama's Cairo speech. He was not!

Re: # 72 Tahmed

I have not been following every Chowkie Indian's reaction to Obama's Cairo speech, but I am fairly certain that it has not evoked any 'disappointment' in Indian media or government. I don't think that India's govt. has any problem with any portion of Obama's Cairo speech. I don't know what the basis of your concern is.

Pew#64:

I am actually not criticizing Obama's AfPak policy. I think that his regional approach makes a lot of sense from the US point of view. He probably views it also best for India, if the Indians had gone along with his approach. However, his approach would require more flexibility by Indians on Kashmir than they have shown.

I personally have also stood for greater flexibility on the Kashmir issue. However, since Indians are unwilling to do so, they have to accept the consequences of not cooperating with Obama's strategy.

dost mittar: the statement in #58 you cut and paste as being in agreement with your article, as I already indicated:

"Security analyst B. Raman, seems to agree with this article;[http://www.rediff.com/news/column/2009/jun/15/raman-foreign-policy-prio rities-for-the-new-government.htm];

Excerpts:

"..The Barack Obama Administration has been a disappointment."

Dash_dot #63 obama's speech was about the muslim world and about Islam - not about just Pakistan (which was mentioned only in passing).

tahmed#70:

"you avoided my question ("why are you all hopping around like burnt pakoras?")."

To respond to your question, I would need to know which particular statement of mine are you referring to?

pewresearch: please dont try to deflect away from the fact that it was after obama's speech that indians have suddenly been "disappointed" with him.

madani sahib (if reading this) to please note use of "what goes it" in rhetorical fashion, per the madani style of writing.

Dost Mittar: you avoided my question ("why are you all hopping around like burnt pakoras?"). what goes it of you indians if Obama makes a positive speech towards muslims?? thanks in advance for your response.

Re: # 68
But these things change, as they have in the past. So Israel maintains relations with both Congress and BJP to hedge its bets. In practical terms, though, there has been no difference between Congress and BJP as far as relations with Israel are concerned. The Israeli army chief visited Kashmir LOC last year while Manmohan Singh was prime minister. Israeli military sales and training to India have dramatically increased under Congress in the last five years.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Riaz:

Hindu nationalists are not in charge of the Indian foreign policy, nor are the Marxist friends of Vijay Prasad. Both have been roundly defeated in the recent elections.

Re: # 54
As long as India and Israel have close relations on military cooperation and continue trade, I think the Israeli lobby will be happy. Besides, the Zionists see common cause with the Hindutva groups in India in their common hatred of Muslims described by them as fight against "Islamic Terrorism".

Writing for Counterpunch website, South Asia scholar Vijay Prasad found evidence suggesting close collaboration between Indian and Jewish lobbies in Washington. Prasad wrote as follows: "To prepare for the January 27 day of action, the Task Force released its “information document.� The primary author of the document is the US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), a group founded in the aftermath of 911 with the close support and encouragement of the American Jewish Committee (AJCommittee) and the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC). At a meeting of Jewish American and Indian American partisans of the right, Charles Brooks of the AJCommittee said, “We’re fighting the same extremist enemy. We want to help [the new Indian group] become more effective in communicating their political will.� Who is this “enemy�? Sue Ghosh Stricklett, who was then with USINPAC, told a conservative publication in 2003, “the terrorism directed against India is the same as that directed against the United States and Israel. We would like to see closer ties between the United States and Israel [with India].� Stricklett urges this alliance to deal with what these organizations often call “Islamic militancy� or “Islamic extremism,� or what the late Congressman Tom Lantos called it at an Indo-Jewish forum, “mindless, vicious, fanatic Islamic terrorism.� The USINPAC document on the Mumbai attacks argues, “We believe the problem of Islamic terrorism is global and requires an urgent global approach and solution.�
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

tahmed#62:

"all he did was show respect and appreciation for islam and a desire to rebuild US relations with the muslim countries."

Please read the article. Yes, that desire of Obama is commendable, especially since your former hero Bush had done havoc with that relationship. India has 150 million Muslims and they too have been affected by the negative stereotyping of Muslims in the US. There are a few Bollywood films being made on that subject, one starring Shahrukh Khan.

Pew_Research#64:

Don't be harsh on tahmed saheb. He has probably not read the article.

Re: # 62 Tahmed

You are mixing two separate issues here: (a) US Admin's policy towards AfPak/India, and (b) Obama's overture to the Muslim world (Cairo speech). Dost is referring to (a), not (b).

You seem to be incorrectly perceiving Dost's criticism of (b)

Re: # 60 Tahmed32 - a small correction - not deep rooted spite towards islam - but deep-seated dislike for what the State of pakistan stands for and does in the name of Islam.

Its as if, Pakistan is the only state which really understands islam - and everyone else are a bunch of duffers!