Monthly Archives: August 2018

To leave for Delhi today to observe martyrdom day

People attend a conference on a call given by farmer unions in Sangrur on Sunday. Tribune photo

Sangrur, March 21

On a call of the BKU Ugrahan and the Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union (PKMU), a massive gathering of youngsters, including thousands of girls, paid tributes to Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev during a youth conference in Sunam today. They also pledged to fight against farm laws.

“We declare that Basanti convoys of the youth will stand in frontlines in struggle against the farm laws and the corporate world. We will carry on the spirit of our martyrs against anti-people decisions of the governments,” said Gurpreet Kaur Brass, a youth leader.

All leaders said the sacrifice of the martyrs was a source of inspiration for the youth till today. Despite gaining Independence, the people were still suffering from the exploitation of big corporate houses as the governments were supporting them.

Youth leader Kala Singh alleged that the Modi government brought the farm laws for the exploitation of farmers and the laws would further multiply the problems of farmers. “A huge convoy of the youth will move to Delhi on March 22 to celebrate the martyrdom day on March 23. Girls will pay tributes to the martyrs in the villages. We also appeal to make the March 26 bandh successful and will also organise flag marches on March 24 and 25,” said another youth leader Ajay Pal Singh Ghudda.

BKU Ugrahan state general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan expressed satisfaction over the youth’s participation in conference.

“Some forces are trying to label the farm struggle as a religious one. Today’s conference is a befitting reply to such baseless propaganda,” said Kokri Kalan. — TNS

Farm union leaders and police personnel at the venue of the rally in Sirhind Mandi. Tribune photo

Our Correspondent

Fatehgarh Sahib, March 21

Local leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha along with SSP Amneet Kondal and other police officials today took stock of preparations for the “Maha Kisan Mazdoor Ekta Rally” to be held at the new grain market, Sirhind Mandi, on March 24.

The rally is being organised by the Sarpanch Union, Punjab, in collaboration with Bharatiya Kisan Mazdoor Union. They discussed the security plan with police officials and farmer leaders coming from Delhi. The district administration has already granted permission for the rally.

BKU (Ugrahan) district president Prof Dharmjit Singh confirmed farm union leaders Balbir Singh Rajewal, Gurnam Singh Chaduni and Rakesh Tikait’s participation in the rally.

Sarpanch Union, Punjab, state president Gurmeet Singh Gunia Majra; and Kranti Kari Kissan Union, Bhal Majra district president, Harnek Singh said the consent of Ruldu Singh Mansa and Jagjit Singh Dalewal was awaited. He said besides farm union leaders, several artistes, including Babbu Mann, would also participate. They said farmers were holding meetings at village level to make the rally a success.

The farmer leaders said on the pretext of Covid threat the state government was trying to sabotage their rally, but the people would attend the rally en masse. They said if there was any Covid threat farmers protesting at Delhi would have been affected. They called upon all farm unions, traders, labour organisations, supporters and others to participate in large numbers, so that a strong message was conveyed to the central government against the three contentious farm laws.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points

Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait at Ghazipur border during the ongoing farmers agitation against Centres farm reform laws in New Delhi. — PTI

Shivamogga, March 21

Farmer leader Rakesh Tikait has exhorted farmers of Karnataka to lay siege to Bengaluru with their tractors in protest against the three contentious farm laws passed by the Centre and convert the city to the focal point of agitation, like in Delhi.

“….you have to turn Bengaluru into Delhi. You will have to lay siege to the city from all directions,” he told a farmers’ mahapanchayat here late on Saturday.

Only tractors should be used, like in Delhi, where over 25,000 have blocked entry points to the city, he said.

Thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at the Delhi border points —Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur—for over three months, demanding the repeal of farm laws and a legal guarantee on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for their crops.

Tikait claimed that lakhs of farmers and their families have laid siege to Delhi by agitating at the border points and said the stir would continue until the three laws are repealed.

“Unless the three laws are repealed, unless there is a law related to the MSP, you need to continue this agitation in Karnataka as well,” Tikait said.

He said though the stir was to repeal the three farm bills, there were other ‘controversial’ bills in the pipeline, aimed at grabbing farmers’ lands, forcing them to work as daily wagers in factories

“Besides these three laws, other bills pertaining to milk, electricity, seed and pesticides will also be introduced,” he said.

Tikait alleged that privatisation of banks would result in farmers who have availed of loans through Kisan Credit Cards, with land as collateral, being asked to surrender them.

“If the farmers do not have money to repay the loans, then they will take away your land,” he alleged.

The government’s target is to ensure that in the next 20 years, all the land goes to the banks and companies and the farmers become labourers, he charged.

The farmer leader, son of illustrious farmer leader Mahendra Singh Tikait, has taken the mantle of farmers’ agitation along with his brother Naresh Tikait around Delhi and has been conducting public meetings in various parts of the country against the farm bills. — PTI

Essential Commodities Amendment Act is one of the three laws against which farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders

Farmers at Ghazipur border during their ongoing protest against farm laws in New Delhi. Tribune file photo

New Delhi, March 21

Farmer unions on Sunday condemned the demand for immediate implementation of the Essential Commodities Amendment Act (ECAA) by a parliamentary committee.

The ECAA is one of the three laws against which farmers have been protesting at Delhi’s borders.

The parliamentary panel, which also has members from opposition parties, including the Congress, TMC and the AAP, asked the government to implement in “letter and spirit” the ECAA.

These parties have been demanding repeal of all three farm laws enacted by the Centre recently.

“It is insensitive to the food security of poor people and the demand to increase the procurement of farmers’ crops,” the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a joint front of the protesting farmer unions, said in a statement.

“We appeal to farmers, labourers and common citizens to intensify their struggle for the repeal of the three laws and legal right of minimum support price,” the SKM said.

The Morcha said it is clear from the overwhelming support from “Kisan Mahapanchayats” against the agricultural laws that the proposed “Bharat Bandh” on March 26 will be successful.

It said all services, other than emergency services, will remain suspended from 6 am to 6 pm on that day. PTI

Chandigarh, March 19
Terming Islamabad-sponsored terrorism as the biggest hurdle to normalizing relations between the two nations, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday said Pakistan Chief of Army Staff, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, should back his rhetoric on peace with India with solid action.

Bajwa should first control his ISI, and then talk about stability in Indo-Pak relations, said the Chief Minister, adding that India cannot afford to go soft with Pakistan till they walk the talk and prove their sincerity with concrete actions.

“Infiltration into India from across the border is still happening, Indian soldiers are being killed at the borders every day. They (Pakistan) are dropping arms and heroin into Punjab via drones every other day. Efforts to create trouble in my state continue to take place. All this should stop first, only then we can talk peace,” said Captain Amarinder.

For India to trust Pakistan, the latter will have to do much more than offer an olive branch, said the Chief Minister, citing his own experience of 1964 as ADC to GOC-in-C, Western Command. “We used to receive daily reports then of firing and trouble from the western border, as we continue to do now,” he said

It is important for not just Bajwa but the entire Pakistan military apparatus to be on board with the idea of burying the past and paving the way for peace with India, said Captain Amarinder, adding that it is not New Delhi but Islamabad which has obstructed the path of peace between the two countries.

“Are they all of the same view as shared by General Bajwa? Are they withdrawing all support to terror groups immediately? Have they asked ISI to back off and leave India alone?” These, said the Chief Ministers, are questions that need to be answered before India can start believing in, and responding to, Pakistan’s overtures of peace. “India is all for peace, all Indians stand for peace, but India cannot compromise on its security and integrity,” he stressed, adding that peace cannot be conditional.

Given the way the situation has evolved over the past few months, Pakistan’s increasing collusion with China, which has been causing a whole lot of trouble for India on the other border, is a matter of concern, the Chief Minister said. “If Islamabad seriously wants peace with New Delhi, they should send out the message to Beijing, loud and clear, that Pakistan is not with them in the dangerous escapades at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh (left) and Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa (right) | Twitter and FlickrText Size: A- A+

Chandigarh: Reacting to Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s remarks that it was time for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward”, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said he should back his rhetoric on peace with solid action.

Bajwa’s statement had come on Thursday, a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan made similar overtures following an unexpected ceasefire announcement by the militaries of the two countries weeks ago.

Addressing a session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue, General Bajwa had said the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to the issues between Pakistan and India–the two “nuclear-armed neighbours”.

Terming the Islamabad-sponsored terrorism as “the biggest hurdle to normalising relations between the two nations”, Amarinder Singh said Bajwa should first control his ISI and then talk about stability in the India-Pakistan relations.

General Bajwa should back his rhetoric on peace with solid action , the CM said in a statement, adding that India cannot afford to go soft with Pakistan till they walk the talk and prove their sincerity with concrete actions .

Infiltration into India from across the border is still happening, Indian soldiers are being killed at the borders every day. They (Pakistan) are dropping arms and heroin into Punjab via drones every other day.

Efforts to create trouble in my state continue to take place. All this should stop first, only then we can talk peace,” the Punjab CM said.

“For India to trust Pakistan, the latter will have to do much more than offer an olive branch,” said the chief minister, citing his own experience of 1964 as ADC to the General Officer Commanding-in-C, Western Command.

“We used to receive daily reports of firing and trouble from the western border as we continue to do now,” said Amarinder Singh.

It is important for not just Bajwa but the entire Pakistan military apparatus to be on board with the idea of burying the past and paving the way for peace with India, said Amarinder Singh on Friday, adding that it is not New Delhi but Islamabad which has obstructed the path of peace between the two countries.

Are they all of the same view as shared by General Bajwa? Are they withdrawing all support to terror groups immediately? Have they asked the ISI to back off and leave India alone, asked the chief minister.

India is all for peace, all Indians stand for peace, but India cannot compromise on its security and integrity, he stressed, adding that peace cannot be conditional.

Given the way the situation has evolved over the past few months, Pakistan’s increasing collusion with China, which has been causing a whole lot of trouble for India on the other border, is a matter of concern, the chief minister said.

If Islamabad seriously wants peace with New Delhi, they should send out the message to Beijing, loud and clear, that Pakistan is not with them in the dangerous escapades at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), he said.

Also read: Bajwa’s change of heart on India isn’t enough. All of Pakistani military must be on board

Punjab CM says Bajwa should first control his ISI and then talk about stability in India-Pakistan relations

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 19

Reacting to Pakistan Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s remarks that it was time for India and Pakistan to “bury the past and move forward”, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday said he should back his rhetoric on peace with solid action.

Bajwa’s statement had come on Thursday, a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan made similar overtures following an unexpected ceasefire announcement by the militaries of the two countries weeks ago. 

Addressing a session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue, General Bajwa had said the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to the issues between Pakistan and India—the two “nuclear-armed neighbours”.

Terming the Islamabad-sponsored terrorism as “the biggest hurdle to normalising relations between the two nations”, Amarinder said Bajwa should first control his ISI and then talk about stability in the India-Pakistan relations.

General Bajwa “should back his rhetoric on peace with solid action”, the CM said in a statement, adding that India cannot afford to go soft with Pakistan “till they walk the talk and prove their sincerity with concrete actions”.

“Infiltration into India from across the border is still happening, Indian soldiers are being killed at the borders every day. They (Pakistan) are dropping arms and heroin into Punjab via drones every other day.

“Efforts to create trouble in my state continue to take place. All this should stop first, only then we can talk peace,” the Punjab CM said.

“For India to trust Pakistan, the latter will have to do much more than offer an olive branch,” said the Chief Minister, citing his own experience of 1964 as ADC to the General Officer Commanding-in-C, Western Command.

“We used to receive daily reports of firing and trouble from the western border as we continue to do now,” said Amarinder Singh.

It is important for not just Bajwa but the entire Pakistan military apparatus to be on board with the idea of burying the past and paving the way for peace with India, said Amarinder on Friday, adding that it is not New Delhi but Islamabad which has obstructed the path of peace between the two countries.

“Are they all of the same view as shared by General Bajwa? Are they withdrawing all support to terror groups immediately? Have they asked the ISI to back off and leave India alone,” asked the Chief Minister.

“India is all for peace, all Indians stand for peace, but India cannot compromise on its security and integrity,” he stressed, adding that peace cannot be conditional.

Given the way the situation has evolved over the past few months, Pakistan’s increasing collusion with China, which has been causing a whole lot of trouble for India on the other border, is a matter of concern, the Chief Minister said.

“If Islamabad seriously wants peace with New Delhi, they should send out the message to Beijing, loud and clear, that Pakistan is not with them in the dangerous escapades at the Line of Actual Control (LAC)”, he said.

Meeting was held at vill Taragarh on 19 Mar 21 with ESM and Veer Naree,s to listen and resolve their problems.Latest welfare measures initiated by Govt Departments were also shared.Brig Prahlad Singh ,Col SS Pathania,Col RK Salaria,Capt Sham,SM Kulwant, SM Ashok and GoG Team Taragarh

With a sanction of 17 benches in 11 locations across India, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) currently operates with just 4 benches in 3 locations.

epresentational image | Army personnel during the Army Day parade | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint File PhotoText Size: A- A+

New Delhi: The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) — a special judicial forum to address legal grievances of armed forces personnel — was set up in 2010. It was supposed to have 17 benches in 11 locations across India.

Cut to 2021, the tribunal is functioning with just four benches in three locations — two in Delhi, and one each in Chandigarh and Lucknow — with almost 19,000 cases awaiting final adjudication. Some of the undecided cases include petitions that were filed when the tribunal was set up 11 years ago.https://a0710a56e5d2817cb7f0dc0515229614.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html

The government too has admitted to a shortage of members in AFT benches. Against the sanctioned strength of 34 members, only 11 — four judicial members and seven expert members — are occupied, the Parliament was informed earlier this week. 

The functioning of the AFT is governed by the Armed Forces Act. An AFT bench comprises one judicial and one administrative or expert member, and functions only when the quorum of two members is complete.

While a judicial member is either a retired Supreme Court or high court judge, an administrative member is either a retired defence personnel or civil servant.

Sources in the AFT told ThePrint that out of the four judicial members, two have been on extension since October 2019. They further said that vacancies are aplenty in AFT since 2016 and the Centre has made little effort to fill them up within a reasonable period of time, leading to a decrease in the strength.

In 2016, there were six serving judicial members and 11 administrative members. Five years later, however, this figure has come down to four and seven, respectively. Resultantly, 13 benches of AFT are non-functional where no hearing takes place.

Dispute over new service rules for tribunal members is the primary reason for delay in the appointments, according to experts and AFT officials.

In November 2020, the Supreme Court had given its verdict on the validity of service rules for members serving in various tribunals — brought in by the government that February — and directed the Centre to set up a body to oversee appointments to all tribunals. 

Instead of complying with this directive, the government in January this year filed an application, seeking clarification on a few directions related to the service rules.

Experts, meanwhile, said the creation of AFT didn’t really help much in disposing of grievances of armed forces personnel, who are being treated as “second rate citizens”. They also said it is entirely up to the government whether it wants the tribunals to function effectively. 

ThePrint reached the defence ministry spokesperson through email for a comment on the matter, but there was no response till the time of publishing this report.

Also read: Comments on disabled soldiers return to haunt Lt Gen amid talk of armed forces tribunal job

Three of 7 administrative members without much work

Given that there are only four judicial members, three out of seven serving administrative members do not have much work to do. Unlike in other tribunals, a bench in AFT cannot hear cases with just one member, AFT sources said.  

It was only during the Covid-19 pandemic that the present chairman of AFT began holding virtual hearings for the three benches, generating some work for the administrative members posted there.

“Although these hearings are occasional — once a week for each bench — at least there is some semblance of normalcy,” said an official from the AFT.

Govt yet to finalise recommendations sent in Oct 2020

The bar association of AFT’s principal bench in Delhi moved the Supreme Court in 2016, raising concern over high number of vacancies in the tribunal, following which six judicial members were appointed. 

However, no fresh appointments took place when four out of the six retired, after their three-year term ended in 2019.

Two of them got extension in October 2019 on the directions of the top court, which was hearing a set of petitions against new rules that is seen as an attempt by the government to impede the independent functioning of the tribunals.

The modified rules make the post of members less attractive for retired judges as well as senior officers of the armed forces, according to petitions challenging the service rules, which have been accessed by ThePrint.

The last appointment in both the judicial and administrative side was made in December 2020 — one judicial and five administrative members.

Sources in the AFT said the selection committee — headed by a sitting Supreme Court judge — has already finalised some names for judicial members that were sent to the government in October 2020.

“This selection was made pursuant to an advertisement that was issued for eight vacancies in June 2020. However, the government is yet to take a final call on these recommendations,” sources added.

Rajiv Manglik, secretary of AFT Bar Association, told ThePrint that the inordinate delay by the government to make new appointments is the reason why the AFT benches continue to work without having a complete strength.

“The government must begin the process of appointment at least six months before a vacancy arises,” Manglik said.

Also read: Neo-nationalism defends Army’s rogue actions, but clean human rights record is key

‘Govt treating armed forces personnel as second rate citizens’ 

According to Manglik, the government has failed to make sure its armed forces get speedy justice. 

When cases from high courts were transferred to AFT, the oldest pending case had been filed 13 years before. The situation hasn’t improved with AFT’s establishment where the oldest case pending dates back to 2010, Manglik said, adding that it takes five years for pension matters to get adjudicated.

“Government is treating armed forces personnel as second rate citizens. Members of the forces are not permitted to make unions and associations, therefore, for them AFT is the only platform to raise their voice. However, their right for redressal of grievances through the judiciary is also not being met,” he added. 

A top military lawyer, who didn’t want to be named, told ThePrint, “Around the time AFTs were being set up, there were about 9,000 pending cases in civil courts and now there are about 19,000 pending cases after the creation of AFTs. Hence, the pendency has rather increased on creation of AFT.”

‘Up to govt if it wants tribunals to function effectively’

Major Navdeep Singh (retired), advocate, Punjab & Haryana High Court told ThePrint, “The shortage of members affects all tribunals, not only AFT.”

“The rules for tribunals promulgated by the government compromising their independence were declared unconstitutional by the SC and still certain applications for clarification are pending in the court, thereby leading to delay in appointments,” he said.

Lt. Gen. H.S. Panag (retired), who had been a member of AFT, Chandigarh bench, told ThePrint that it is entirely up to the government whether it wants the tribunals to function effectively. 

“I have seen in the past too that even after the selection process, the final approval from the government was inordinately delayed. Moreover, after the initial years, the litigation started going up, not only because the bureaucracy sat on the implementation of AFT judgments, but challenged several of them in the Supreme Court,” he added.  

(Edited by Debalina Dey)

Also read: SC rejects disability pension plea of soldier, says injury not linked to military service

General Bajwa says national security is not the preserve of armed forces alone. If that is not astonishing enough, there is the offer of regional connectivity. That’s not just about CPEC. In simple words, he is offering up Pakistan as a node for regional connectivity. This means Pakistan is ready for roads, railways & shipping to cross its territory into the rest of the world, including India. That’s turning South Asian politics on its head

NEW PUSH: Pakistan PM Imran Khan and army chief General Bajwa appear to be keen on a strategic rethink. Reuters

Tara Kartha

Former Director, National Security Council Secretariat

These are stirring times in Islamabad, where the rich and the powerful gathered for the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue (ISD) on March 17-18. In Pakistan, the rich and the powerful are either politicians, businessmen or those in khaki, or even all three. And since it is they who run the country, what they say usually matters. The Dialogue was inaugurated by Prime Minister Imran Khan, while the keynote address was delivered by army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Of the two, it’s obvious who one would listen to. And it was quite something.

The ISD was organised by the National Security Division, a body originally set up under Nawaz Sharif to serve as the secretariat of the Cabinet Committee on National Security which replaced the Defence Committee of the Cabinet. Later called the National Security Committee, it was notified as the ‘principal decision-making body on national security’ in a move quite unlike the advisory role such bodies have in most countries. That it included the service chiefs hardly needs to be said.

At present, the division is headed by a secretary-level officer. An added post in national security bureaucracy is in the form of a special adviser to the PM, Moeed Yusuf, an academic from the US, who has been in the news for possible backchannel talks with India.

It is this division which seems to have initiated the ISD, together with five leading think-tanks of the country, the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies, Islamabad Policy Research Institute, Institute of Strategic Studies, Institute of Regional Studies and National Defence University’s Institute of Strategic Studies, Research and Analysis.

The idea is aimed at bringing think-tanks and policy-makers together, in a praiseworthy effort to benefit both. Bureaucracies the world over are not very different from each other, particularly in South Asia, where there is usually a solid brick wall between the two. The first move to break that wall is the first ever advisory portal, an integrated platform to exchange ideas with universities, think-tanks and the bureaucracies. The second was obviously to get the army chief to lay down the proposals.

For decades, Pakistan’s idea of national security was simply India, and anything at all to do with what Delhi did anywhere. This permeated from top to bottom in the bureaucracy, leading to a somewhat lazy and hazy thinking about what Pakistan’s actual security constituted, even while outside experts pointed to a seriously water-stressed country, disease, lack of access to health, apart from the obviously unstable politics of extremism and intolerance.

This now seems to be changing, just a little. It started at the beginning of this year. In February, there was talk of Pakistan prioritising geo-economics over other issues. That was echoed by Foreign Minister Qureshi soon after Khan’s visit to Colombo where he rather surprisingly talked about Sri Lanka being part of CPEC. Now at the ISD, PM Khan is talking of comprehensive security astonishingly, saying that security is not just about defence. Unsurprisingly, he praised China’s model, as he does at every forum available. Equally unsurprisingly, Kashmir and self-determination went together, which doesn’t say very much of his understanding of his country’s national security priorities.

But the speech that has been uploaded in full is that of the army chief. And General Bajwa has much to say. First, he says national security is not the preserve of the armed forces alone. Then he places national security within ‘South Asia’, as the least integrated of regions. Someone in the audience could ask, whose fault that is, and the chief would have been hard put to answer. On Kashmir, he simply says, “It is time to bury the past and move forward. But for the resumption of the peace process or meaningful dialogue, our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in Indian-Occupied Kashmir.” Nothing on UN resolutions, self-determination or the standard phrases!

If that’s not astonishing enough, there is the offer of regional connectivity. That’s not just about China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), though that is offered up as an ‘inclusive, transparent’ project for global and regional participation, particularly Afghanistan. What follows is best quoted in full. The General says, “Let me also emphasise that while CPEC remains central to our vision, only seeing Pakistan through the CPEC prism is also misleading. Our immensely vital geostrategic location and a transformed vision make us a country of immense and diverse potential which can very positively contribute to regional development and prosperity.”

In simple words, he’s offering up Pakistan as a node for regional connectivity. That’s something for a country that has stonewalled the SAARC regional connectivity proposals for years, refusing even the Motor Vehicles Pact that would have allowed passenger and cargo movement across the region. This means that Pakistan is ready for roads, railways and shipping to cross its territory into the rest of the world, including India. That’s turning South Asian politics on its head.

New Delhi’s hardened security experts will pooh-pooh a proposal from an army chief who is on extension, and will probably retire finally in November 2023, three years after he actually ended his tenure. Others will say with more truth that Pakistan is in a jam, given its crumbling economy, CPEC delays and a political milieu that is challenging to say the least. But the army chief is still the ‘go-to’ person for all foreign officials, distinguished or otherwise. What he says matters since he sits on top of the political food chain. It is as simple as that. Delhi had better consider this connectivity push and its pros and cons rather than dither about Bajwa’s hostile antecedents. Here is an opportunity. Take it up. It might mean money, and a lot of it.