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Sainik board’s permanent sub-office in Nurpur

Our Correspondent

Nurpur, May 26

Social Justice, Empowerment and Sainik Welfare Minister Col Dhani Ram Shandil has announced that the Sainik Welfare Board’s sub-office would function permanently in Nurpur. Shandil said he had received the demand to this effect from ex-Army men hailing from lower Kangra areas where nearly 30,000 ex-servicemen resided.He was here to preside over the meeting of the local Congress cell of ex-servicemen. He said earlier a camp office had been functioning only twice a week due to which thousands of ex-servicemen of the area were facing inconvenience in procuring requisite documents relating to their pension and CSD facility.Shandil pointed out that the state government had identified land between Una and Bilaspur district for establishing Army’s CSD depot. Land transferring formalities were in progress for the purpose. He said the Virbhadra government was committed to the welfare of ex-servicemen and families of martyrs.


‘US nixed India-Pak peace treaty in 1984’

Rasgotra, then Foreign Secy, reveals details in autobiography ‘A Life in Diplomacy’

‘US nixed India-Pak peace treaty in 1984’

Vikas Datta

New Delhi, May 2

India and Pakistan had agreed on a peace and no-war treaty and were on the verge of signing it in July 1984 before then Pakistani President Zia ul-Haq, who had even dismissed any need to discuss Kashmir, backtracked on the advice of US lawmakers, reveals former Indian Foreign Secretary MK Rasgotra.In his autobiography “A Life in Diplomacy”, Rasgotra, who was Foreign Secretary from 1982 to 1985 and is now in his 90s, recalled that ahead of his visit to Islamabad, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who was leaving on a visit to the US, gave him a free hand, telling him, “You know it all and you can talk to them about any subject they want to talk about, including Kashmir and the no-war pact they are so keen on”. She only wanted to know if “there is a grain of sincerity” in General Zia.As Rasgotra called on him at the President’s House in Islamabad, President Zia, with the humility and charm he was known for, was standing in the verandah, close to to where he would get out of the car, and welcomed him with a big hug. During the talks, to India’s willingness to talk about Kashmir, Zia’s response was “noteworthy”. “Rasgotra sahib, what is there to talk about Kashmir? You have Kashmir and we cannot take it. I want you and (Pakistani Foreign Secretary) Niaz Naik to work on a treaty of peace and good neighbourliness, including a no-war pact,” he quoted the Pakistani President as saying.He said progress was made in discussions on the agreement, to the extent that in March 1984, Naik proposed that the Indian draft of a treaty of peace and friendship and Pakistan’s draft of a no-war pact should be “merged”. By May 1984, there was “full agreement on all six or seven clauses in the draft treaty’s preamble and on nine of the 11 articles of the treaty’s operative part” and both sides reached an agreement on these two.“Accordingly, Naik announced in the final plenary meeting of the two delegations that on clauses IV and V, he and I had reached an understanding, to which he would obtain the President’s approval on his return from the UAE and we would all meet in Delhi in July to initial or sign the treaty. But the July meeting never took place,” he recalled.According to Rasgotra, there were two reasons why Zia changed his mind, and the primary one was the advice of his American “well-wishers”.“While awaiting the President’s return from the UAE, Naik had telegraphed the text to Foreign Minister Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, who was on a visit to Washington DC. Khan took the text around to his friends in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, who strongly advised him against signing a treaty of that kind with India,” he noted.Rasgotra said he learnt of this from a Congressman friend of his, from his earlier stints in the US, and member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee “asking me why we were coercing Pakistan into signing an anti-American treaty”.The other reason was India’s troubles in Punjab, “in which General Zia saw an opportunity to weaken India by supporting a violent secessionist campaign by Sikh extremist groups lead by Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale”, said Rasgotra.On Zia, Rasgotra said he reported to Indira after his first visit and meeting that he had “seemed anxious to win India’s goodwill and I had my doubts about his sincerity”.  —IANS


Prez in China with NSG agenda Don’t club us with Pak on N-club membership, Pranab to tell Beijing

Prez in China with NSG agenda
President Pranab Mukherjee is received by China’s Foreign Affairs Vice Minister in Guangzhou. PTI

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

Guangzhou, May 24

India is looking to de-hyphenate itself from Pakistan as far as membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) goes. As President Pranab Mukherjee landed in China on a four-day visit, those familiar with the developments made it clear that India had never objected to Pakistan’s NSG membership.“China, along with other countries, have been maintaining that there should be a thorough discussion on whether non-NPT countries can join the NSG, and this decision should be made on consensus. This applies to all non-NPT countries, including Pakistan,” a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told mediapersons on Monday, ahead of Mukherjee’s visit. China had recently objected to India’s membership of the NSG on the grounds that it has yet to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This was  seen as a sign of China’s friendship towards Pakistan which has been arguing that if India is allowed in the elite NSG club, so should Pakistan.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)However, those in the know in the government maintain that India has never endorsed or blocked Pakistan’s membership to the club. The membership is by consensus and the US has backed India’s claim, given India’s clean record on non-proliferation. Pakistan, whose nuclear proliferation record has always been a matter of concern, is pushing for a berth in the NSG, if India gets it. India had recently cited the example of France which became a member of the NSG without signing the NPT. The Chinese have, however, countered this saying, “France was a founder of the NSG so the issue of its acceptance to the NSG did not exist.”Officials in the government said the Chinese argument (that India could not be admitted in the NSG club without first signing the NPT) did not hold because there were no set of rules as such for the NSG membership. Also, India is primarily concerned with its own membership rather than that of another country.India, Pakistan, Israel and South Sudan are some of the UN members that have not signed the NPT yet. The NSG membership issue is likely to be raised by Mukherjee during his talks with the Chinese leadership, including President Xi Jinping, over the course of next few days. While the India-China relationship is a not a smooth one, it is nevertheless being hoped that the visit of the President will help remove the strain between the two countries. 

In a tangle

  • China is opposed to India’s inclusion in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, arguing it hasn’t signed the Non-ProliferationTreaty (NPT)
  • The stand is indicative of China’s tilt towards Pakistan; the latter says if India is allowed to join the group, so should it be
  • The US has backed India’s claim, given the country’s clean record on non-proliferation
  • India, Pak, Israel & South Sudan are some of the UN members that haven’t signed the NPT

Talking with Pakistan Jadhav’s arrest levels the playing field

The government’s almost-impulsive about turns have made its Pakistan policy unpredictable and prone to gaffes. But there is some serious work happening underneath the surface of cultivated indifference and caution. As the India-Pakistan relationship is prone to many missteps, both governments have replicated the technique of springing a meeting from the closing years of the UPA-Zardari governments. This denies spoilers time to activate their standard technique of arranging bomb blasts just before a high-level Indo-Pak meet. The Pakistan Foreign Secretary’s sudden visit to Delhi and his prolonged conversation with his counterpart may be part of this piece just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met their counterparts virtually unannounced. Then Pathankot happened and the pace slowed down. But it was the result of the continuing conversation that India convinced Pakistan to send a probe team to Pathankot, although the outcome wasn’t what it had wished for. And the arrest of a former Indian Navy officer has diminished India’s moral high horsing. In the eyes of the international community, both seem to be fomenting violent discontent in each other’s land. The separate statements issued at the end of the talk between the Foreign Secretaries reflect this realism in Indo-Pak affairs. India called the talks “frank and constructive”, meaning both sides pulled no punches, and Pakistan highlighted the “cordial environment” which stands for courteous allowance to the other side’s views. What is noteworthy is neither side has criticised the other.From available indications, the talks might have paved the way for a structured meeting between the Foreign Secretaries. Provided there is no Pathankot or Dinanagar, this could herald the beginning of the composite dialogue, a format that discusses each and every issue of discord. Continued dialogue among officials with adequate political oversight should set the stage for the meeting between the Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers, respectively, on the sidelines of two international conferences late this year. The Modi government has shown the gumption to take a leap in the dark. The coming days will test its talent to land on its feet.


A HOLY START TO MODI’S IRAN TRIP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister for transport Nitin Gadkari (extreme right) at Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Tehran on Sunday. On a two-day visit to Iran, Modi promised a large-scale celebration during Guru Gobind Singh’s 350th birth anniversary. TEHRAN: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday began his crucial two-day visit to Iran with a visit to the capital city’s only functioning gurdwara.

Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Iran in 15 years, offered his obeisance at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurdwara and spoke to the head priest. He applauded the efforts of the Sikh community in the Persian Gulf nation for preserving and spreading the culture and traditions of India.

“My Iran visit is starting with the blessings before the Guru Granth Sahib at this gurdwara. I am fortunate. I greet you all for having worked on spreading our culture and tradition as well as educating our young generation here,” Modi said.

“We accept all the people as our own and absorb them in our society because we believe in the philosophy of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ — the entire world is one family. Animated by this spirit, we Indians make every country our home,” he added.

Addressing the community here, Modi said, “We are fortunate to have got an opportunity to celebrate the 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The government is planning to celebrate this occasion in India and other parts of the world.”

He stressed that the young generation should know about the sacrifices of the great Gurus and also learn from the central tenets of the Guru Granth Sahib.

“I have noted several suggestions that have come from your community. I have considered them and I believe that solutions need to be explored through talks. And we will continue this exercise. Let us all work together to serve humanity,” he said.

Earlier just after reaching Tehran, Modi tweeted, “Reached Iran, a land with whom India shares civilisational ties. Hope to enhance economic partnership between our nations. I also hope my Iran visit further cements cultural and people-to-people ties between India and Iran.

Modi kicks off Iran tour with visit to gurdwara

Chabahar port deal on cards, will give access to Central Asia via sea

Modi kicks off Iran tour with visit to gurdwara
Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked-off his two-day Iran visit by paying obeisance at Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Tehran on Sunday. Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari is also seen. PTI

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 22

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Iran on a two-day visit today. In the evening, he met a delegation of Sikhs and paid obeisance at a gurdwara there.”We Indians have a specialty. We accept everyone and assimilate with everyone,” Modi said while addressing a community gathering at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurdwara in Tehran. “The new generation should know about the sacrifices of the great (Sikh) Gurus and about the Guru Granth Sahib,” he said. The gurdwara was founded in 1941 by Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha.Modi is set to sign the Chabahar port deal with Iran and Afghanistan on Monday.He was received at the Mehrabad International Airport by country’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia, after which he left for local Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara.“Starting with the  cultural connect… PM @narendramodi at the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Tehran,” the PMO tweeted.During the visit, the PM will meet President Hassan Rouhani and country’s supreme religious and political leader Ayatollah Khamenei.The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Indian Embassy in Tehran in collaboration with Iran’s Farhangistan and Sadi foundation will organise a three-day cultural festival in conjunction with the PM’s visit.Modi will attend the inaugural session of the conference on May 23 which would be followed by a sitar concert. The PM will also release a manuscript, “Kalileh wa Dimneh” — an old translation into Persian of Panchatantra and Jataka. Also on display will be an exhibition of digital manuscripts, a sitar and tar recital and a session of Persian poetry recitation where Indian and Iranian poets will come together. In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister before his departure said: “I am looking forward to my visit to Iran today and tomorrow, at the invitation of President Rouhani”. “I also look forward to the conclusion of the Chahbahar Agreement during my visit.”The Chabahar port deal is a historic and significant step forward for India. The port will provide land-locked Afghanistan an alternative port to Karachi and for India, it will give it greater access to Afghanistan and Central Asia. For Pakistan, this is a bitter pill as the Chabahar port will give India a strategic advantage in the region.


VK Singh a warped communal mind: Justice Sachar

short by Bhavika Bhuwalka / 09:00 am on 20 May 2016,Friday
In a letter to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajinder Sachar has said that General (Retired) VK Singh’s suggestion to rename Akbar Road as Maharana Pratap Road is a product of a “warped communal mind”. Justice Sachar added that to “avoid further communal passions” the government should publicly announce its opposition to the mov

The suggestion to rename Akbar Road as Maharana Pratap Road was a product of a “warped communal mind” and the Delhi government should take a stance against any such move, Justice Rajinder Sachar has said in a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Justice Sachar, a former Delhi High Court Chief Justice,aid the Mewar ruler should have a road named after him but changing the name of the Mughal emperor was akin to trying to “rewrite history, which to me is blasphemy”.

In a letter to the Urban Development Ministry on May 16, Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (retd) V K Singh had pitched for the rechristening, a demand already rejected by the Centre.Referring to the renaming of Aurangzeb Road after former President APJ Abdul Kalam by an NDMC committee headed by Kejriwal, Justice Sachar suggested that to “avoid further communal passions” the CM should publicly announce that the AAP government is against renaming of Akbar Road. “Off hand, as a suggestion, you could consider changing the name of Raj Niwas Marg to Maharana Pratap Singh Marg,” Justice Sachar said in a statement. “You must have read the atrocious statement of VK Singh, Minister of State in the Modi government…Only a warped communal mind could have suggested it, though Maharana Pratap Singh’s bravery is fully accepted. Even the thought of renaming Akbar Road is totally unacceptable – as it is a product of an atrociously communal mindset,” he wrote.

See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/justice-sachar-plan-to-rename-akbar-road-a-product-of-communal-mind-2809149/?utm_source=inshorts&utm_medium=inshorts_full_article&utm_campaign=inshorts_full_article#sthash.5HK11O5T.dpuf


Ready for peace talks when you are: Pak to India

short by Nihal Thondepu / 11:52 am on 22 Apr 2016,Friday
Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Thursday said they are ready to resume peace talks when India is ready. Pakistani officials said India’s work on developing a nuclear submarine fleet could “impact the delicate strategic balance of the region”. Further, they claimed that “arrests have been made” based on the confession of the alleged Indian RAW agent Kulbushan Yadav.

Pak minister’s remark nails its lies: MEA

New Delhi, May 20India today said comments made by a Pakistani minister that “action cannot be taken against terrorist outfits like the JuD and JeM as the state itself was involved with them” corroborated New Delhi’s view that Islamabad had been supporting anti-India extremists.Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs, said this when asked about his response to the remarks by Pakistan Punjab’s Law Minister Rana Sanaullah. “If the Minister indeed said so, it sadly corroborates the view that we have always held about the support and freedom available to anti-India terrorist groups in Pakistan, including globally sanctioned terrorist groups and individuals,” he said. — TNS


Threat to the idea of India

Many Kashmiris may not want to be Indian, but denying them rights that are due to all Indians only increases their alienation

It was a breezy, clear day with little traffic on the highway out of Srinagar when the driver of my Tata Sumo taxi veered to the edge of the road and stopped. “Army convoy,” he said, suddenly tense, pointing to a line of trucks hogging the centre of the road. A soldier in the lead vehicle popped out of the roof, waving a red flag. Another, opposite the driver, leaned out of the truck and waved a long lathi. “We must give way.” As an Indian and the son of a police officer, I was brought up with an agreeable view of men and women in uniform, even living a year in a paramilitary camp. As an Indian with a somewhat idealistic—if naive—notion of living in a democracy where no one had special privileges, the Kashmiri driver’s fear was irksome. I certainly knew things were different in Kashmir, but I could not accept the loss of my democratic privilege. “Keep driving,” I insisted. “No one can force us off the road like this.” He did not respond. The convoy was upon us. The soldier with the lathi leaned further out and violently thwacked our roof. I was startled, the driver flinched. “You see,” he said, and pulled off the road entirely.

PTIIn one of the world’s most militarised lands, alienation continues to grow, which is a bit of a non sequitur, considering that the resentment is decades oldI felt humiliated and angry. Could the army be this arrogant elsewhere in India? My little footnote was nothing, of course, compared to the humiliation and violence ordinary Kashmiris — terrorists or stone-throwers aside — experienced. I remember a colleague’s husband, bureau chief of a national television channel, describing how two CRPF troopers stopped his car at a checkpoint near the Dal Lake and said “chal murga banja”, hold both ears, squat and hop. Like me, he was used to certain privilege and was enraged. Then, he realised that the road was deserted–and that he was Kashmiri. “Anything could have happened, and no one would have known,” he said. He became a murga. The incidents I narrate unfolded during the summer of 2010, the year 112 mostly young Kashmiris were shot dead during clashes with security forces.

As the summer of 2016 kicks in, the hitherto calm town of Handwara in north Kashmir has erupted into a familiar cascade of riot, death, riot, death. There is calm now with four army bunkers removed, which means they weren’t needed. In one of the world’s most militarised lands — firsttime visitors are always startled by soldiers and weapons everywhere —alienation continues to grow, which is a bit of a non sequitur, considering that the resentment is decades old. Denying Kashmiris rights due to all Indians is now standard practice. Imagine the outrage if you were asked for get a licence to run a WhatsApp group — as the government proposed this week, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Kashmir’s youth “to dream to do something”. Whatever the government in Delhi, the hand extended to Kashmir has usually been clad in an iron glove.

That is why I found it ironic when the Congress’ P. Chidambaram wrote last week in the Indian Express that as home minister he believed a “militaristic approach” would only “exacerbate the [Kashmir] conflict”. During his tenure Kashmiris were increasingly denied the right of democratic protest, and draconian laws were ruthlessly enforced. After the torrid summer of 2016, when I met Chidambaram and explained how everyday humiliation was alienating more people, he dismissed these as “stray cases”.

I noted then that India faced an angrier generation quietly taking over the Kashmiri street and mind from older separatists. To be sure, the behaviour of security forces wasn’t the only reason: Many stone-throwers then admitted to being paid, meaning the pot was frequently stirred; and Wahabbi Islam was displacing Kashmir’s gentler sufism. In 2016, the ill-treatment of Kashmiris outside the Valley and the rise of the Hindu right further hardens the uncompromising nature of young people. As one recently said on his Facebook page, sympathetic Indians believe they have no problem with the chant: “Hum kya chahate? Azaadi!” They forget — or ignore — the Kashmiri said, that we also say: “Azaadi ka matlab kya? La ilaha illall’ah”, implying, freedom for Allah’s — and Islam’s — glory.

Despite a relatively calm 2015, the new generation is so widely inimical to India that engineers and post-graduates have taken to the gun, and disconcerted soldiers have seen — for the first time — locals swarming into the line of fire to help terrorists escape. Swelling attendance at burial marches of terrorists indicates the extent of separation.

Five have died, so far, in this year’s rioting, sparked by what now appears to be a dubious accusation of a soldier molesting a school girl, although — as is so often the case in Kashmir — agendas often obscure facts. India’s shaky credibility in the Valley was instantly dented when officials released an illegal video — made at a police station — that revealed the young woman’s identity. Kashmiris are only too aware that security forces often fudge facts, extra-judicial killings have gone largely unpunished and that soldiers legally get away with rape and murder. The girl says no soldier touched her, but it won’t make a whit of difference to the young men who relentlessly attack security forces any chance they get.

An argument I often hear is, “What about the human rights of security forces?” I do not envy the armed representatives of the Indian State in Kashmir. But the security forces are there to secure not just India’s boundaries but the idea of India as a composite democracy that appreciates diversity of opinion, race, language and creed. As Kashmiris question both the boundaries and idea of India with greater vehemence, it is incumbent on the security forces to demonstrate vastly greater maturity and restraint (which some do) than the stonethrowers. To equate the security forces with disaffected young men only questions the training and competency of soldiers, demeans India’s democracy and confirms to Kashmiris that India wants their land, not them.