© Dr. Mahendra Gaur

 PREFACE

 

India’s increasing engagement with the international community has resulted in a large number of visits to India by foreign dignitaries. There were 62  incoming visits during 2008 at the level of Head of State,Vice President,Head of Government andForeign Minister ; and 27 outgoing visits at these levels during the year. Foreign Resident Diplomatic Missions in Delhi continue to  increase and Foreign Representatives in Delhi are also growing in size . And as member of hundreds of international organizations India had to attend a number of international conferences every year. It may be pointed out the country’s heightened external engagement in the form of 165% increase in high-level visits and 166% increase in India’s trade in the past five years in addition  to 300% jump in the FDI inflow and 76% jump in foreign tourists visiting the country in the last five years coupled with  the country’s deepening linkages with its bilateral and multilateral partners and its claim for permanent membership of the UN Security Council along with the need to tackle “new issues” like international terrorism, human rights, migration, environment and quest for sustainable energy source calls for better representation of the country in the global fora of India’s increasing global engagement.

All this underlines that with the international  community viewing India as an emerging global player, its increasing diplomatic activities-political, economic and strategic- need to be chronicled on a day-to-day basis to develop a body of informed opinion on India’s foreign affairs.This Chronicle of Events covers events from 1 January to 31 December 2009.

This annual publication seeks to provide useful source material for those who are looking for a deeper study of the formulation and implementation  of Indian foreign policy. And we were immensely assisted in our endeavour by the detailed and comprehensive coverage of events in contemporary Indian foreign policy by India’s leading English dailies- and news agencies. We express our thanks to all of them.

I also take this opportunity to thank my wife , Dr. Indira Gaur, who, as usual, took keen interest in preparing the Index of events.

 

Dr.Mahendra Gaur

Director
Foreign Policy Research Centre, New Delhi (INDIA)

INDIAN FOREIGN POLICY

 

Events

 

2009

 

(01-01-2009 to 31-12-2009)

 

1.Bilateral Relations 2.Regional Contacts 3.India in International Forums
4.Foreign Policy (Generalia)5.Foreign Policy and Defence 6.Foreign Economic Policy

 

Bilateral Relations

 

 (01-01-2009)  ISLAMABAD: Despite public denials, the Pakistan government appears to have begun investigations, on the basis of evidence shown to it by the United States and Britain, into the alleged involvement of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Mumbai attacks.The Wall Street Journal reported unnamed Pakistani security officials as saying Zarar Shah, a LeT operative arrested in a raid on the militant outfit in Muzaffarabad on the Pakistan side of Kashmir, had confessed to his group’s role in the Mumbai attacks.“He is singing,” the Pakistani official told the newspaper, which also reported another person familiar with the investigation as saying that Shah told investigators that he was one of the key planners of the operation, and he spoke to the gunmen during the attacks “to keep them focussed.” Zarar Shah is reported to have corroborated the account of Ajmal Amir, the lone surviving gunman, that the attackers were all from Pakistan and spent time in Karachi training in urban combat. Diplomatic sources said that in some sections at the highest levels of the government, there was a growing willingness to accept that the LeT might be involved in the Mumbai attacks, even though statements from the government would not reflect this.“They have seen the evidence, they acknowledge that it indicates this could be the work of the LeT, and they have started some investigations,” a top diplomat here said. “But their posturing in public has to be different.”This difference may also affect the extent to which action could be taken, the diplomatic sources said. Major-General Mahmud Ali Durrani, Pakistan’s National Security Adviser, told CNN-IBN that Ajmal Amir may be a Pakistani national, but there is no proof yet. The U.S. and Britain are said to have shown evidence of the alleged LeT involvement, especially transcripts of phone conversations between the gunmen and their alleged handlers in Pakistan. Pakistani officials have also been shown logs of telephone calls made by the gunmen to Pakistan, and according to one report, one of the numbers was that of Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the LeT commander who is believed to have masterminded the operation. Lakhvi was also picked up from the Muzaffarabad camp along with Zarar Shah, and according to the Dawn newspaper, pressure is growing on Pakistan to extradite him. The newspaper reported from Washington that the U.S. gave Pakistan a taped conversation between Lakhvi and one of the Mumbai gunmen. According to the report, American audio experts had checked the tape and concluded that the speaker was Lakhvi. It is not clear if the U.S. taped this conversation on its own or was provided the transcript by India. According to the Dawn report, there appears to be a difference of opinion in the top power circles here on whether to accept the evidence that the U.S. has provided. The paper said officials were reluctant to accept the intercepts of Lakhvi’s conversation as authentic, while the Pakistan embassy in Washington was insistent that the Pakistani authorities now needed to take steps to satisfy the international community.

 (01-01-2009)  CRAWFORD: US President George W Bush spoke to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan B President Asif Ali Zardari and all the three leaders agreed to avoid any action that would "raise tensions" in the region. Mr. Bush "called prime minister (Manmohan) Singh of India and separately president (Asif Ali) Zardari of Pakistan. President Bush urged both ... to cooperate with each other in the Mumbai attack investigation as well as on counter-terrorism in general," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. Mr. Bush spoke from his ranch in Crawford in Texas. "All three leaders from the United States, India and Pakistan agreed that no one wanted to take any steps that unnecessarily raise tensions," Mr. Johndroe emphasised.

 (01-01-2009)  ISLAMABAD/ LONDON: A news channel quoted the Prime Minister’s Office sources in Pakistan admitting to the involvement of the Lashkar-e-Taiba in the Mumbai attacks. But PMO spokesman Imran Gardezi was quick to rubbish the claim. “These reports are totally incorrect. The PMO has not issued any statement about the alleged involvement of the LeT in the Mumbai attacks,” he told PTI. At a press conference in Karachi, Information Minister Sherry Rehman also dismissed as “completely speculative” reports that the U.S. had shared with it a taped conversation Lakhvi allegedly had with the terrorists. Describing as “unhelpful” Pakistan’s statements rejecting the proof of its link to the Mumbai attackers, Britain asked Islamabad to “cooperate fully” with India and “follow through” on actions against the perpetrators. “We urge the Pakistani government to cooperate fully with the Indian investigation; it is important that action is taken against those responsible,” he said. “However some statements from the Pakistan leadership, denying existence of proof of Pakistani link to terrorists are not helpful,” he said.

 (01-01-2009)  SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister-designate Omar Abdullah called for resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan to usher in peace in the region. He was speaking at a public meeting, on his return here from New Delhi, a day after it was declared that he would be the new Chief Minister following an alliance between his National Conference and the Congress.  Mr. Abdullah, who was accorded an enthusiastic reception, acknowledged that he faced several challenges. He said the State had witnessed a lot of bloodshed. It was now time for peace and reconciliation. Relations between India and Pakistan had a direct bearing on the situation in the State. “So, both countries should maintain friendly relations and the NC government will work towards that goal… They should eschew bitterness as war is no solution to any problem.” The solution to the Kashmir problem had to be in tune with the aspirations of the people of the State.Z1 (01-01-2009)  DHAKA: Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina has vowed that she would not allow Bangladesh’s territory to be used for terrorism against its neighbours.

 (01-01-2009)  ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, separately met the Pakistan President and Prime Minister, against the background of mounting international pressure on the country to bring the perpetrators of Mumbai attacks to justice. A statement from Aiwan-e-Sadr, official residence of Mr. Zardai, states that General Kayani called on Mr. Zardari and dicussed professional matters with him. Later, the Army chief met Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Prime Minister yed Yousuf Raza Gilani. According to a statement, they discussed with the prime minister the prevailing situation in the region following Mumbai terror attacks and other important issues.

 (01-01-2009)  NEW DELHI : While the first signs of Pakistan moving forward on the Mumbai investigation emerged today in the form of media reports confirming the role of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, India was clear that any concrete result could only be expected when US investigators obtain access to Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah — the two Lashkar kingpins that FBI wants to interrogate at the earliest. It is learnt that Washington has conveyed to New Delhi that it is trying to land US investigators in Pakistan “very soon”, possibly in the next few days. Sources said Islamabad is moving slowly on letting US investigators on its soil but Washington has made it clear that its domestic laws require FBI to fully investigate any case where US citizens had been killed and so it would need to go to Pakistan as the next step. US had specifically asked access from Pakistan for Lashkar operations head Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and communications in-charge Zarar Shah. The FBI has enough from forensic investigation involving telephonic conversations between the terrorists and these two LeT operatives. In fact, Shah was the first name that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mentioned to Indian leaders quite early during her visit to New Delhi in early December. She is said to have even taken it up strongly with Pakistan, demanding that his arrest was vital. Today The Wall Street Journal reported that Shah has confessed to Pakistani investigators of his role in the attacks, lending the first confirmation to India’s claims. The rich evidence that the US is now making the basis for moving forward on the investigative front, sources said, is a result of very close Indo-US cooperation that saw FBI getting access at every level to evidence collected from the Mumbai terror sites including the satellite phone used by the terrorists. It's learnt that FBI using its sophisticated equipment was able to decipher a lot of information from the phone that has given vital leads to take forward the investigation in Pakistan. Given that the phone had been operational several days before the terrorists left for India, the investigations in Pakistan could lead to more conclusive results. It may be recalled that the terrorists used the phone on November 18-19 to contact Abu Saad, a local commander in Muzaffarabad who reports directly to Yusuf Muzamil, the head of LeT operations in India and a Lakhvi confidante. He is also said to be Lakhvi's right hand man, said sources. This intercept was picked up by intelligence agencies, which confirmed the boat to be a LeT vessel. That the investigators have stitched up the entire sequence and have, at least, been able to identify the immediate handlers in Pakistan was further confirmed by reports in the Dawn newspaper which reported US passing on a taped conversation between Lakhvi and the terrorists. Zarar Shah is also identified in several conversations that terrorists had with their Pakistani handlers while being holed up in the Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi and Nariman House. On some occasions, the terrorists even sought specific direction before killing foreigners from different nationalities. In some cases, the message from the other side conveyed elation and "sadistic" demands to keep the phone on while shooting. Some of the details available with investigators, sources said, are chilling and horrific. eanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Richard Boucher is expected to visit India next week to assess the political situation and ensure better cooperation from Pakistan while asking India to show “more patience”.

 (01-01-2009)  NEW DELHI : A day after Pakistan made a renewed attempt to put the onus of action on India by demanding “deactivation” of forward airbases to “send a positive signal”, fresh evidence emerged of the role of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the use of Pakistani soil in last month’s terror attacks on Mumbai. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) revealed that senior Lashkar commander and the outfit’s communications chief Zarar Shah has told his Pakistani interrogators that he had been one of the key planners of the attacks, and had been in touch with the terrorists by phone as the 60-hour gun-battle raged. And the Karachi-based Dawn reported from Washington that the US had given a tape to Pakistan containing conversations between Lashkar’s operations chief Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi and the terrorists. Pakistan is now under “tremendous pressure from the United States to extradite to Lakhvi to India,” the Dawn report said. “Diplomatic sources in Washington said that American audio experts had checked the tape and concluded that it was genuine and that the speaker was Lakhvi,” Dawn said, adding it was, however, “not yet clear if the Americans recorded the conversation using their own surveillance methods or received the tape from the Indians”. Dawn also revealed that there “appears to be a serious difference of opinion between Islamabad and the Pakistan Embassy in Washington” over how to react to the tape. “While Islamabad was reluctant to accept the evidence as authentic, the embassy insisted that it's authentic and that the Pakistani authorities now needed to take steps to satisfy the international community,” the report said. WSJ, quoting unnamed sources, said Zarar Shah had, during his interrogation, also implicated other members of the Lashkar, and “broadly confirmed” the story Ajmal Amir Kasab had given Indian investigators. Kasab was captured alive near Girgaum Chowpatty on November 26. The Sunday Express had reported on December 28 that after New Delhi shared extensive information on the attackers with visiting FBI officers, the US asked Pakistan for access to both Shah and Lakhvi, but failed to get a favourable response. Shah in particular, has been under US watch for a while now, and American investigators have been keen to confront and interrogate him. “Pakistan's own investigation of the terror attacks in Mumbai has begun to show substantive links between the 10 gunmen and an Islamic militant group (Lashkar) that its powerful spy agency spent years supporting,” WSJ reported. “He (Shah) is singing," WSJ quoted a Pakistani official as saying. He had admitted to playing a key role in the attacks, an "admission (that is) backed up by US intercepts of a phone call between Shah and one of the attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower”. Over the phone, Shah gave the attackers “advice and kept them focussed”, the report said. Shah had corroborated Kasab's story about the terrorists having trained in PoK and then travelled by sea to Mumbai from Karachi. He had also said the terrorists spent a few weeks in Karachi, “training in urban combat to hone skills they would use in their assault,” WSJ said. The report commented on the “big fear in the West and India” that Pakistan would ultimately release all militant leaders (like Lakhvi and Shah) as it did after taking them into custody for a few months after the 2001 Parliament attack. “They've got the guys. They have the confessions. What do they do now?” the report quoted a diplomat as saying. “We need to see that this is more than a show. We want to see the entire infrastructure of terror dismantled. There needs to be real prosecutions this time.”

 (01-01-2009)  ISLAMABAD : A top Pakistani official has sought to doubt the authenticity of the letter written by Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone gunman captured for the Mumbai terror attacks, to seek legal aid from the Pakistan Government. Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah claimed the language and contents of the letter did not "match those of a real Pakistani." "They (Indians) have simply tried to make up a story and have even failed in that too," Shah told reporters during a visit to the headquarters of the National Database and Registration Authority, Pakistan's national database. Questioning the authenticity of the letter written by Iman alias Ajmal Kasab, Shah repeated interior ministry chief Rehman Malik's contention that no records of Iman had been found in the NADRA database. However, the database covers only 60 million of Pakistan's total population of over 160 million. Shah also said the Indian authorities had not yet shared evidence on the Mumbai attacks with Pakistan. "Why did the Indians not share the identity of the others accused in the attacks? They are talking just about Ajmal Kasab, who was not even arrested from the crime scene," he said. He also said that one of the mobile phone Subscriber Identity Modules allegedly recovered from Iman was issued from Austria. Iman's father recently admitted to the influential Dawn newspaper that the gunman whose picture was beamed round the world by the media was his son. Residents of Iman's village of Faridkot in Punjab province too have told the Pakistani media that he belonged to the area and had told his mother during his last visit home that he was going away for jehad.

 (01-01-2009)  NEW YORK : A newly formed Task Force set up by seven leading Indian-American groups has demanded that the focus of the United States military aid to Islamabad should be on resources needed to fight terrorists rather than enhancing the capacity of Pakistani forces. A briefing paper, prepared for distribution among lawmakers, also urges them to demand verifiable proof from Pakistan that it has dismantled the terror training camps. The paper calls for handing over suspects responsible for financing and sponsoring Mumbai strikes to India and asks the lawmakers to ensure that the Pakistan military and intelligence are controlled by the civilian government. The Task Force has been created to come up with the community's response to deadly terrorist attacks and to formulate short and long term plans to project Indian viewpoint and educate various American audiences. Announcing the formation of the task force, one of the two coordinators Ram Narayanan of US-India Friendship Forum said they plan to develop strategy over next few weeks. "The important thing to keep in mind is that practically the entire American-Indian community has come together in an unprecedented manner" in the wake of terrorist attacks in Mumbai, he added. The organization which have together are Asian American Hotel Owners Association, Association of Indians in America, Indian-American Friendship Forum, Indian American Forum for Political Education, Indian American Political Action Committee, National Federation of Indian-American Associations and US-India Political Action Committee.

 (01-01-2009)  KARACHI : Ansar Burney Trust Chairman and Pakistan’s former federal minister for human rights, Ansar Burney has appealed to the Indian government to allow him to get in touch with Ajmal Kasab, who was allegedly involved in the Mumbai attacks. Burney said that Kasab’s confession recorded in custody could not be valued legally to establish any unlawful activities committed by him unless the confession is supported by independent evidence available in the crime, the 'Daily Times' reported. Kasab supposedly hails from Faridkot village in Pakistan, who was captured on November 26 after a group of terrorists launched attacks in Mumbai. Burney also expressed dissatisfaction over Kasab’s ongoing trial, while requesting the Indian government for a complete access to Kasab so that he could request to his fellow members at the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Advisory Committee for a fair and impartial investigation.

 (01-01-2009)  GUWAHATI : The election results in Bangladesh, and more particularly the thumping victory of the 14-party combine led by Sheikh Hasina, will definitely have a tremendous impact on militant groups of the Northeastern region having their bases and hideouts in the neighbouring country. Expressing optimism that Hasina’s victory was also good news for India, Noni Gopal Mahanta of the Centre for Peace & Conflict Studies in Gauhati University however said it was now for India to take careful steps as far as militant leaders and groups holed up in that country are concerned. “The election results have proved the victory of the liberal voice in Bangladesh. It definitely marks a new era not just in Bangladesh but also in the overall militancy scenario that includes the Northeast too,” Mahanta, a keen watcher of Bangladesh developments, said. Hasina, it may be recalled, had made rooting out terrorism and fundamentalism from Bangladesh a major poll plank for her alliance. “She is very clear in her thoughts. Hasina has only recently come out with a report about growing fundamentalism and terrorism in Bangladesh,” Mahanta said. It was during her earlier stint that Sheikh Hasina had initiated action against militant groups setting up bases in that country. With the previous Hasina regime exerting pressure, the ULFA, the NDFB and the KLO were all compelled to shift base to Bhutan. While a two billion taka worth ULFA account in the Sonali Bank was frozen during her time, it was in 1996 that ULFA general secretary Anup Chetia was arrested and dumped in prison. While Chetia is still in jail, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa and commander-in-chief Paresh Barua too are holed up in Bangladesh. The ULFA is also said to have huge deposits in the Arab Bangladesh Bank in Sylhet and Dhaka and the Al-Barakah Bank in Chittagong. The ULFA in particular is also understood to have invested in several hotels in Bangladesh spread over Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong. The ULFA in particular is also likely to attract the ire of the Sheikh Hasina regime once it takes charge of the Government in view of reports that the militant group had put huge sums behind several candidates belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP. “It was the BNP that had provided much-needed oxygen to the ULFA and other militant groups of the Northeastern region taking shelter in Bangladesh, which in turn must have prompted the ULFA to reciprocate by backing its candidates,” said Mahanta.

 (01-01-2009)  NEW DELHI : DESPITE the war rhetoric between India and Pakistan, the two sides will exchange lists of nuclear installations , an 18-year-old confidence building measure agreed to by the two countries. The list will be exchanged between the Foreign ministries and the High Commissions. Indian diplomatic sources said that the two countries will go-ahead with this exercise — done on every January 1 — since 1992 and despite the standoff between the two over the Mumbai attacks. According to the procedure, the lists of nuclear installations and facilities covered under the “Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between India and Pakistan” are exchanged simultaneously — almost with clockwork precision — in New Delhi and Islamabad. The agreement — which was signed on December 31, 1988 and entered into force on January 27, 1991 — led to the first exchange of lists on January 1, 1992. Under the Agreement, the two countries, on the first January of every calendar year, are to inform each other of Nuclear Installations and Facilities to be covered by the Agreement. Sources said that this is the 18th consecutive time that both countries will exchange such a list and has never been stopped earlier, during sensitive situations like the 2001 Parliament attack or after the Pokhran blasts or the Kargil conflict. “This has been one of the most time-tested CBMs between the two sides, and there is no intention of breaking the tradition this time as well,” the source said.

 (01-01-2009)  NEW DELHI : India virtually ruled out any hot pursuit on terrorists operating from Pakistan's soil by taking a leaf out of the Israeli air strikes on Gaza strip. "So that incident or that event, (Israeli air strikes) we cannot draw any lessons for the way we deal with Pakistan," Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said when asked whether New Delhi can draw lessons from the Israeli air strikes to pursue terrorists in Pakistan. He recalled that India had strongly criticised the Israeli strikes and urged the country to stop those attacks on Palestine. Chidambaram said India's position has been made clear by Ministry of External Affairs.

(01-01-2009)  CHANDIGARH : Despite the chill in mutual relations after the Mumbai terror attacks India will continue the process of swapping civilian prisoners with Pakistan. Citing the latest repatriation of 66 Pakistan nationals on Tuesday evening, the minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma said in Chandigarh, "The humanitarian aspect of such exchanges cannot be overlooked even in the most difficult of times and that is what India has stated in sending the prisoners home."He said the question of opening visa offices at Lahore and Amritsar to facilitate travel across the Attari-Wagah Border or the establishing of a pilgrim corridor in the Gurdaspur district of Punjab could be taken up reciprocally, but only when the situation improves. "Relations with Pakistan are currently at a definite low," Mr Sharma said. Describing the war hysteria as "deliberately invented by Pakistan to deflect attention from the real issue, the minister insisted that despite the extreme provocation in Mumbai India had never even hinted at the possibility of military action Pakistan. "Military action is not child’s play. We are a responsible democracy," he said.

 (01-01-2009)  ISLAMABAD: An FBI team visited Faridkot in Pakistan's Punjab province to investigate about Ajmal Amir ‘Kasab', the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks, who hails from the area. The five-member team of the FBI was headed by its South Asian Director William Robert, Geo TV reported. According to sources, the purpose of the FBI team's visit was to investigate about Kasab, it said. The channel also claimed, without quoting anyone, that according to the FBI team, it found no evidence.  Kasab's father recently admitted in an interview to the Dawn newspaper that the gunman whose picture was beamed around the world by the media was his son. Residents of Kasab's village of Faridkot too have told the Pakistani media that he belonged to the area. They said he had told his mother during his last visit home that he was going away for jihad. Pakistan on Wednesday claimed that India has cooked up a story about Kasab being a Pakistani.

 (01-01-2009)  ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari assured his US counterpart George W Bush that Pakistan will not allow its territory to be used by "non-state actors" for launching attacks on other countries. The assurance was conveyed by Zardari when Bush telephoned him on Wednesday evening, said a brief statement issued by the presidency. Zardari said "anybody found involved in such attacks from the soil of Pakistan will be dealt with sternly". The two leaders discussed the situation in the region and bilateral relations, the statement said. Bush's phone conversation with Zardari was the latest in a flurry of contacts between top US and American officials in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks, which sparked tensions with India.

 (01-01-2009)  NEW DELHI: The South Korean government, despite its limitations in helping out the two Indian sailors convicted in the Hebei Spirit oil spill case, has decided to respect the religious and cultural rights of the prisoners and provide them all basic amenities on par with the Korean prisoners. Complaints from relatives of the jailed sailors alleging inhuman conditions in the prison cell -- like room temperature being an uncomfortable 18 degree centigrade in the winter and non-availability of vegetarian food -- was forwarded to the ministry of justice at Seoul. "The government of South Korea, despite its limitations to intervene in a criminal case which is pending in the Supreme Court, is doing its best in a proper and positive way to resolve the complaints," an official source from Seoul told TOI. Captain Jasprit Chawla's relative, Harjot Singh, had complained about lack of basic amenities and alleged that the families of the two prisoners provided them with blankets, gloves and thermal wear to stay warm.  Sources in Seoul said the justice ministry was in the process of instructing the jail authorities to meet the food preferences of the two Indian sailors and that it had also asked the authorities not to object to their wearing bracelets or turbans as per their religious rights. The ministry appears to have asked the prison authorities to look into the alleged discriminatory treatment being meted out to the Indian sailors and has made it clear to the officials manning the jails that Korean government does not believe in discriminating between prisoners irrespective of their nationality.

 (01-01-2009)  NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has blamed organisations based in Pakistan for the Mumbai terror attacks, in a comment which is sure to add to the seriousness of India's demand that Islamabad act on perpetrators of 26/11. In her message in party mouthpiece ‘Sandesh', Sonia said, "It is abundantly clear that the perpetrators of these barbarous acts belong to organisations based in Pakistan." It is the first time that Congress chief has named Pakistan for Mumbai attacks. While she has taken care to mention "Pakistan-based organisations" and not blame the country itself for the dastardly act, her remarks convey a message that the Centre was unlikely to relent on Pakistan after the latter raised a war hysteria to divert attention from the issue at hand. Sonia added, "These organisations (Pakistan based) must and will be dealt with in a resolute manner." Her stinging remarks come after Pakistan repeatedly rejected charges that LeT was behind the attacks on Taj and Trident hotels as also on Nariman House, which left 170 dead over a three-day standoff. Even global pressure has not been enough to bring Pakistan out of its denial mode, with Islamabad as late as Wednesday seeking evidence to link 26/11 to LeT.

 (01-01-2009)  NEW DELHI: The Centre made it clear that the terrorists who attacked Mumbai did not make any demands, implying that what Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh claimed a few days ago was not true. "I think the statement (made by Singh) was based on some incorrect information," home minister P Chidambaram said. He was responding to a question whether Singh's claim -- that the Centre did not accept demands of terrorists -- was correct. Asked whether the terrorists had raised any demand, he said "no". In what seems a political ploy aimed at arguing that unlike NDA, which released terrorists in the wake of Indian Airlines IC-814 hijacking, Congress did not succumb to a hostage situation, Singh had said that the UPA government had not bowed to demands made by the Lashkar squad.

 (01-01-2009)  TORONTO: Pop diva Celine Dion and two people of Indian origin are among 60 prominent Canadians who have been given the country's highest civilian award, the Order of Canada. Toronto-based Bharatnatyam artist Lata Pada and Edmonton-based cardiac surgeon Arvind Koshal are in the list of honor winners. The awards will be conferred at a formal ceremony later. Naming Pada for the top award, an official release said she has been given this honor "for her contributions to the development of South Asian dance as a choreographer, teacher, dancer and artistic director, as well as for her commitment and support of the Indian community in Canada". Pada runs the famous Sampradya Bharatnatyam Dance Academy in Toronto suburb of Mississauga. Koshal has been given the highest civilian honor "for his contributions to the field of cardiac surgery in Canada, notably in performing several innovative techniques, and for his leadership in developing one of the leading cardiac care programmes in the country". Pada said: "I am thrilled for myself and for the South Asian community whose art work has been recognized in Canada by this award." Pada, who lost her husband and two daughters in the 1985 Air India Kanishka bombing, said: Started in 1967 to mark the 100th anniversary celebrations of formation of the country, the Order of Canada recognizes outstanding people for their achievements in various fields, dedication to the community and service to the country. The award has three levels in this descending order - Companion of the Order of Canada, Officer of the Order of Canada, and Member of the Order of Canada. A person already made the Member of the Order of Canada can be promoted to the higher level within the award. In fact, pop diva Celine Dion has been elevated to Companion of the Order of Canada this year "for having won over audiences worldwide with her extraordinary talent as a pop singer, and for her commitment to numerous humanitarian causes at the national and international levels".

 (02-01-2009)  NEW DELHI: Seeking to give a major thrust to tea exports and capturing a major share of the world market, India has identified Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Egypt as the “thrust nations” to give shape to its plans. As a follow up of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Iran and India during the November 1 visit of Minister of External Affairs, Pranab Mukherjee, a high-level delegation headed by Additional Secretary (Commerce Ministry) is leaving for Iran to break new ground and more than double tea exports to that nation. The delegation also comprises the Tea Board Chairman, Basudeb Banerjee, and seven representatives of the tea industry. Giving this information here, Minister of State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said at present Iran imported nearly 70-80 million kg of tea every year. India’s tea exports to Iran stood at 11 million kg in 2007 and the aim is to increase this to nearly 25-30 million kg in the next three to four years. In recent years, India has conceded a large chunk of its export share to Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Kenya. “We have identified Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Pakistan for giving major thrust to tea exports. Pakistan has been put on hold in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks. But we are going to join hands with Egypt in the near future and also explore new avenues in Iraq,” he added. Iran had already assured India that after due registration of Indian exporters, no consignee would be blocked at the customs and sample would be checked in random.

 (02-01-2009)  ISLAMABAD: Pakistani media have reported that a team of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation visited Faridkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province but could find no evidence that the surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks came from there. The News said Rehman Malik, who heads the Interior Ministry, however, denied the report. U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor told The Hindu that he had “no information” about the visit of an FBI team to Faridkot or even to Pakistan.Geo television channel said the five-member team, led by its South Asia director William Robert, visited the village late on Wednesday to find out if Ajmal Amir, the gunman who was captured in Mumbai, hailed from there but found no evidence. Dawn newspaper reported that the team which visited Faridkot was the same that interrogated Ajmal in Mumbai. The Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said it was conducting its “own internal investigations to ascertain whether Ajmal is from Pakistan.” In response to questions from journalists if Pakistan would seek access to Ajmal, Foreign Office spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said in a written reply that the government would “deal with this issue after our investigations are complete.” Asked if the U.S. and Britain showed any evidence to Pakistan relating to the Mumbai attacks, the spokesman did not give a direct answer but said “concrete information or evidence” was awaited, and that the Indian government had said it was still investigating the incident. In response to another question about India’s demand that Pakistan dismantle its terror infrastructure, Mr. Sadiq said there was no “terror infrastructure” in the country, and that as a responsible state, it was taking all steps to counter terrorism. “India and other countries of the region need to follow a cooperative, and not accusatory, approach to jointly deal with this menace,” he said, reiterating the offer of a joint investigation into the Mumbai incidents.