Should India Be Concerned About a Paranoid Neighbour

Unfortunately for India,it has many paranoid neighbours and the Indian leadership never taking them as a threat seriously,has led to the few wars and skirmishes on our borders.No,I'm not talking about Pakistan or China,or Nepal.Yes even they are in the running for India's enemy no.1 title.This time I'm writing about a country which most Indians have forgotten or don't think of it as a threat.Well,think again.After reading what I write,you will think again.

I'm talking about Myanmar.No,no its not the 'Myan' in Urdu meaning the sheath in which swords are kept,but Myanmar or erstwhile Burma.We will refer to it as Burma for the sake of convenience.On and off I've been hearing of Burma growing as a military and a nuclear power.Out of sheer ignorance I scoffed at it and said "Burma what"?When I read a few articles about Burma in the local newspapers,I was shocked.
Burma is the largest country in terms of geographical area in mainland South-east Asia and also the 40th largest country in the world.Shocked?This is just the beginning.It's predominantly Buddhist and is a military governed country since 1962.
That was a blast into the past.In today's age,Burma is a growing nuclear power with upto 5 nuclear reactors and equal number of plants.It seems that for years Burmese men have been sent to Russia to study nuclear weaponry and how a nuclear bomb is made etc.They have been arming themselves to the teeth and its all done very secretively.Russia has been selling nuclear plants,reactors and all equipments related to Burma.It is possible that all the logistics are facilitated from N.Korea through some secrets tunnels.That is a big concern for India as N.Korea is a protege of sorts for China and we all know China's expansionist dreams and its resentment towards India's growth since the mid 90's.I wont be surprised if they and some other anti-India nations were behind all the mishaps happening with the commonwealth preparations.Truth is heart of heart many nations don't want to see it take off.A successful commonwealth games will mean more growth for India in terms of investments and projects.Australia and China both had a boost in growth after the Olympics were hosted by them.I won't be surprised if all these mishaps were planned.It won't be far fetched.So,the thought that China is indirectly trying to arm one of our neighbours with nuclear capacity to counter India is a possibility that India cannot disregard.We have to learn from our previous mistakes which were very grave.Do we ever learn? It looks like we could,at least that's what another article on India's military might said.A few facts on the Indian Army:

Army:1.3 million
Reserve:1.16 million
Tanks: 4500
Aircraft's:600
Helicopters:530
Naval vessels:145
Nuclear weapons:60-70

All figures are an approximate but formidable.India is the largest importer of military hardware in 3rd world nations and is purchasing more and more weapons.A home made nuclear sub was launched recently without much fanfare.India's military spending has doubled in ten years.We need to get aggressive with aggressors on the borders and bargain and lobby for more support on the Kashmir issue from Big daddy without giving in too much.Not being on the security council has always gone against India,which makes China very happy.Every one wants to please China as they all have to gain from India.Offense is the best defense can be a ploy that may work to ward off aggression.We have to get rid off this pacifist label stamped on our foreheads by the British.Non-violence won't work in such situations.

India is poised to become the 3rd mightiest military in the world and without supremacy over the Indian ocean,that can't be achieved.It seems that the annual spending on Navy is only 15% and 60% for the Army.That ratio has to tilt towards the Navy's favour as the seas are important.China has a very formidable Navy too and the recent Mumbai attacks that came via the sea,shows how lacking we are in that Area.

India is surrounded by enemies from all sides;only superior technology and superior planning can keep us afloat.Jai Ho

Who Is Peter Varghese

It sounds just like another mallu name doesn't it,but it's not.The Peter Noozhumuri Varghese I'm referring to is a key person;both for India and Australia.
A few facts about Peter:

He was born in Africa(Kenya) in 1956
B.A(Hons)from Queensland University
Joined service in Dept.of foreign Affairs in 1979
Since then has held key positions including International Adviser to the PM in 2003
Married to Margaret O'Sullivan and has one Son

What makes him special are two facts,namely: he being the first Indian to be deputed from Australia as High Commissioner to India,and India currently on an economic boom.
The thing that immediately comes to mind is the attacks on the Indian students a few months ago and more recently the Indian students being left high and dry after many colleges close down courses.And not to forget the issues with Uranium being refused,on what grounds everyone knows.

Economic Pundits have been proclaiming India as the inevitable economic giant for years now,but the way it is positioned in another 10years,India may finally arrive.
Now that half of the world seems disillusioned with China's games at helping only themselves,their doubt able stance on Tibet,supporting Pakistan to spread terror in India and their own military enhancements;powers like the US are looking at redefining their relationship with India.Lets be honest,its all about vested interest.There is no free lunch and Hillary's visit to India was a multi-purpose one;some of it we can only guess,but some were obvious.China may well be the Frankenstein the US wants to ignore,and India the pacifist democracy with a booming economy.We have a lot to gain and so does the US,from the alliance.You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.But a line needs to be drawn.Now,Australia also wants a share of this giant pizza( I prefer that to pie).No harm in it,its business after all and we all have something to gain.

Now,what can Peter do for India and Australia is the big question.He has a tight rope walk ahead of him.He will be doubted as an Australian ally in India and maybe the same in Australia.Only time will tell as he will be hit as soon as he assumes office,by the attacks' issue as that is fresh in memory and will take predominance.He will need to be very tactful,as this has become a very sensitive issue for Indians.It will be safe to assume that his deputation is a wise move by Kevin Rudd to try and appease India.Whether it pays off or not remains to be seen.

Its going to be one of the toughest deputations for Peter and more so because of the high hopes pinned on him from both sides.Lets wait and watch if his shoulders are strong enough to carry this responsibly and smoothly,or he will crumble under pressure.I read that he has a very sharp mind,hope that comes in handy.I will sign off by wishing Peter all the very best and that God gift him the strength,wisdom,courage and vision to see him through.Jai Ho

India has well wishers in Sydney!!

Do pardon my ineptitude with technology.Its a battle that I'm fighting alone and don't seem to be winning or loosing.For the past few days I've been hit with some kind of influenza that's making the rounds of Sydney and did emerge more or less unscathed but my usually healthy wife,fell prey this time around.when you are sick,you are miserable,but when a loved one is rendered sick,it kills you even more.Anyway,shes a fighter and is back at work.So the issue that was killing me was the report in the Times of India about a prediction that China would attack India and that really bothered me.I read a lot about the issue and posted my comments also on various sites and discussion forums,but nothing reassured me like the two articles that I'm reproducing below.One of it is by a common man like me in Sydney,yet who one who has foresight.His short letter to the editor is worth reading and uplifting for all Indians,second is an article by Dr John Lee who is the foreign policy fellow at the Centre for Independent studies,Sydney.Both the letter and the article were very enlightening and threw light on why China is just the other bully on this side of the globe.If all goes well,then India should gain favour with countries like Australia and be prepared for a fruitful partnership,that could result in a trade partnership.Not that fast,as China won't go down without a fight and its vengeful nature is well known.Like I said before I tried to insert these articles but they were too large in size as attachments,so do pardon my ignorance.But the article and the letter are worth reading.Hillary Clinton's visit also is something to look forward to,but lets be warned that the US is primarily a big enterprise,which looks primarily at it's interest,and rightly so.They never said they were a charity organization,but we have to tread very carefully as we don't want to end up as a strategic point like Pakistan or China,only trading partner.Read on and do excuse the few errors that crept in whilst pasting the documents.So,first is the letter that was published in "Opinions" in Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald and the second one is an article which came in the same edition.Very interesting!!









Court India and spurn China's advances(Letter)


Matt
Wade highlighted a serious foreign policy failure by successive Australia governments ("We must not squander Indian links", July 14):why China and not India?Australians have a right to ask why,over the past two decades, Our politicians have fostered such,close trade dependence on China, a country with a totalitarian government devoid of democratic principles, no respect for the rule of law-as has been Bone out by the detention of Stern Hu for more than a week without charge and no regard for human rights or respect for minorities such as the Tibetans orthe Uighurs. India,on the other hand,a democracy governed bytherule oflaw,hashardly been onthe radar screen with our governments when it comes to trade and political ties.
Why have they not Pursued,stronger and closer relationship with India?

India's economy is growing almost as fast as China's,and with a similar population its market would demand similar amounts of our raw materials,not to mention endless
possibilities for other Australian goods and services.As Wade points out,we share so many more interests with India than China, such as cricket, the English language and the, Commonwealth.'

For too long the Chinese Government has believed it can dictate to other countries'
politicians who they can or Cannot meet,including the Dalai Lama and Taiwanese Government officials, while it happily carries on arming the Robert Mugabe regime
The Hu case should be a wake-up.call to Our politicians to stop behaving as though China was the only market for Australian products: We should be Pursuing our wealth ethically by tying Our future
to democratic India and moving away from trade dependence on totalitarian
China.


Darryl
Toohey
Darlinghurst




China not ready to lead the world(Article)
JOHN
LEE
Ina speech given just before the
17Th Chinese Communist Party
Congress in 2007, Premier Wen
Iiabao rebuked those agitating for
political reform and told a domestic
gathering of policymakers and
intellectuals that China would not be
ready for democracy for 100 years.
Maybe Wenwas merely stating a fact but
events over the past week suggest that
China might not be ready to assume
leadership in the region, let alone the
world, for perhaps almost as long.
Several months ago, a group of state sponsored
Chinese scholars released a
best-selling new book entitled Unhappy
China - The Great Time, Grand
Vision and Our Challenges. It argued
that given the growth of Chinese national
strength, China should put prudence
aside, break away from Western
influence and come to recognise that it
has the power to lead the world.
But one high -profile critic of the book
is Hu Xingdou, a highly respected
economics professor at the Beijing Institute
of Technology. Hu called its publication
a sign of the "ideological
chaos" in China. According to Hu, extreme
nationalism is not the answer.
More than this, he argued that China is
not ready to lead. In Hu's opinion,
China cannot yet exercise international
leadership because its "value systems"
- cultural, political and ideological- are
not yet part of the regional or international
mainstream. Beijing's example
is not an attractive one for other
countries. Subsequently, reserves of
"soft power" required for leadership are
far from adequate.
Two events in the past week bring out
Hu's arguments.
First, tensions in Xinjiang, as in Tibet,
are complex. There were acts of violence
against both Han Chinese and indigenous
Uighurs. But the root cause is
China has a long way to go until it convinces
Asia it has the credentials to be a benevolent
leader and constructive dominant power.
a combination of historical animosity,
as well as the systematic cultural and
economic suppression of ethnic
minorities. In China, Beijing has a
genuinely held stated goal of social
"harmony" but this is defined as harmony
under the dominant Han culture.
Beijing's respect for the different minority
cultures within its country is still
superficial and for show.
There is no better example than the
children in traditional dress, representing
the 56 different ethnic groups
within modern China, who were
paraded to the world at the Olympic
Games opening ceremony last year. It
was subsequently discovered that the
children were all from the majority Han
Chinese race.
Second, the detention and arrest of the
Australian mining giant Rio Tinto's
Shanghai-based executive, Stem Hu, an
Australian citizen of Han Chinese heritage
on charges of espionage for illegally
attaining commercial information, is
deeply worrying. The fact that the arrest
comes shortly after a failed bid by the
Chinese state-owned company Chinalco
to increase its stake in Rio Tinto is unlikely
to be purely coincidental .:
Moreover, although details of what Hu
is alleged to have done have still not been
revealed, the fact that he has been arrested
for spying and charged with causing
grave economic loss to the Chinese
state, thereby causing harm to China's
national interests, is indefensible. It
merely confirms again that Beijing has
grave difficulty separating the public and
the private - differentiating national and
security interests from normal commercial
and business ones.
The fact that Chinese courts at all
levels explicitly remain under the ultimate
jurisdiction of the Chinese Communist
Party also means that judicial due
process in China which Hu will be subject
to has a very different meaning to
what we call "rule of law".
For China to displace America as the
regional hegemony, other Asian states
need to accept the legitimacy and desirability
of Chinese pre-eminence and
leadership. Although Asian states generally
use a "realist" framework in their
foreign policy outlook, they still recognise
that what Hu Xingdou calls domestic
value systems - cultural, political
and ideological ~ have strategic and
practical significance. Asian populations
can sometimes find American
rhetoric about values shrill and annoying,
but they also accept that America
has largely delivered on its rhetoric and
has provided a stable, fair, open and
liberal order for the region to thrive
since World War II.
Unless compelled by the threat of
overwhelming existential force or left
no option by American withdrawal,
Asian states will not accept Chinese
leadership, let alone dominance, in the
region while Beijing's value systems remain
closed, intolerant to differences,
vengeful and overbearing.
Much has been said about Beijing's
advances in building its soft power. This
is overstated. In soft power terms, China
has plucked what diplomats might call
"low-hanging fruit". It has convinced
the region it is a legitimate rising power
- that its re-emergence should be
accommodated. But it has a long way to
go until it convinces Asia it has the
credentials to be a benevolent leader
and constructive dominant power.
If Premier Wen gets his way this
could take 100 years.
Dr John Lee is the foreign policy fellow at the
Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney and a
visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute in
Washington. The second edition of his book Will
China Fai/?was released last month.

calm in sydney

Hi guys,sorry for the delay in posts but I was waiting to comment on something concrete regarding the attacks on students in Sydney and Melbourne.Unfortunately,it seems that China has hijacked that issue and the media and government seem more content in being answerable to them.Very enraging and demeaning but true.Now why is that? By that, I meant,why is China being given more importance.
Now,as a student in New York I did fairly well in F.I.T,which for the uninitiated stands for Fashion Institute of Technology and is considered the Harvard of Fashion when I studied there during 1994-1996.My only competition were Israeli and Chinese students who took more credit per semester than any of us.Credits were the points allocated for a certain subject and an average student would take up to 16 credits which could equate to 4-5 subject depending on how much credit each subject held.It was tough competition from Israeli kids as they were smart,hardworking and intelligent.The Chinese kids were smart,hardworking and intelligent.I was over smart,hardly working and assumed an air of superiority.How did I manage to stay above? Well, a little bit of work was required and in subjects where the exams were essay types,I scored hands down as my English was good.The Chinese kids had a major problem there.This is one of the biggest legacies the Brits left us.....the English language.I read somewhere that 40million Indians(In India and worldwide),speak English as a first language and have better written and comprehension skills in the language.So much so that Indian teachers are being imported in hordes to England to teach English to the English.Now,isn't that ironical?Even when India was a colony,the Brits sent Indian teachers to some of many other colonies like West Indies,Fiji etc. to teach the locals English.

Coming back to the Chinese,right from my New York days I had understood that China enjoyed an MFN status with the US and despite arming themselves,they got away with it.I think many forget or don't even know that China along with the U.S,Russia,UK and France is the fifth member of the UN permanent security council members.Isn't that amazing? One Asian country among all these anglophiles,considering Russia also as a White nation.Maybe White Caucasians would be more appropriate.Even during the pre-colonisation days,unlike us Indians who welcomed Europeans with wide arms to help sove our infighting's,the Chinese always fought off invasions.I remember seeing this programme on SBS channel on how the Chinese captured the first French arrivals and put them in a cart,paraded them and beat them with poles.China also was an ally in the second world war.So as is usual from ancient days,after the battle's won,the spoils are split.So did the allies,and today the power equation that we see are the results from the spoils that were split.China also got away with being a communist regime and has emerged so powerful.In one of the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies, they refer to Chinese Air force as the biggest Air force in the world.Their Army is also a force to reckon with I believe.China has flooded the markets over the last decade or more with Chinese cheap goods and people are dependent on it as recession has been on and off world over.

India figures nowhere in the top agenda's of countries like USA and even Australia.Its very natural why.There's been no love lost between China and India over many issues like border and water disputes and the most touchy one being Tibet and harbouring Dalai Lama over which a deadly war was also fought in the 60's in which the Indian army took a good beating.India was a country coming out of 200years of colonialism and its army was new and weak.China had superiority in man power and weapons.The terrain where the battle was fought was again alien to the Indian soldiers who didn't stand a chance.When a country which is a permanent security council is the aggressor,the media coverage is not much but if a country like India helps Bangladesh to break away from Pakistan there's a lot of media outcry.Since China has an old axe to grind with India,Australia which needs China to buy their minerals and keep that boom going won't supply India with Uranium.I was shocked to read that China has been supplying arms to Pakistan which in turn gave it to militants who use it to spread terror in India.Isn't it obvious as to who put a spoke in the wheel of India's many attempts to get US approval on various issues like Nuclear and defence developments.

I was watching this Nicholas cage movie in which he was an arm dealer and at the end of the movie there was a caption saying that the five security council members of the UN are the five biggest arms suppliers in the world.Isn't that ironical?

As a student in New York,one of my social sciences Professor's remarked that India has everything going for it,but unless it has strong lobbying in the US at the senate levels,India's status would remain weak.Fifteen years have passed and the status still remains the same.

We need a leader who not only can provide stability and peace but also be an International leader.Rajiv Gandhi was the only one who could hold his own amongst leaders of other nations,but he was not allowed to live.

India's image abroad is poor and Indian's in India and abroad have to change attitudes so that people sit up and take notice.We are a great nation that has survived for 2500 years and more and we need to be respected and remembered.And others will only do so if we are proud of our heritage and our culture.If we ourselves deride our own culture and people,why will others respect us.All of us at some point are guilty of that to fit in with the "Saheb".That should stop and we must fight for our rights peacefully.We are from the land of Gandhi,violence was never our way.Gandhi threw out the Brits without throwing a single punch.Lets remember that great man and learn from him.Jai Ho!