India warns Obama over Kashmir

[alienlovechild 75]

India warns Obama over Kashmir

By James Lamont and Amy Kazmin in New Delhi

Published: February 3 2009 13:56 | Last updated: February 3 2009 13:56

India has warned US President Barack Obama that he risks “barking up the wrong tree” if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

MK Narayanan, India’s national security advisor, said that the new US administration was in danger of dredging up out of date Clinton administration-era strategies in a bid to bring about improved ties between the two nuclear armed neighbours.

“It’s possible that at this time there are elements, perhaps in the administration who are harking back to the pre-2000 era.”

The warning comes as Richard Holbrooke, Mr Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, prepares to come to the region for the first time in his new capacity. Mr Narayanan is close to Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, and Sonia Gandhi, the president of the ruling Congress Party.

Kashmir, over which India and Pakistan have fought two wars and where both countries mass troops, is a highly sensitive issue for New Delhi.

Last month, David Miliband, the UK’s foreign secretary, angered the Indian government by saying that the unresolved dispute over Kashmir was a cause of terrorism in the region. Its vilification of Mr Miliband was interpreted as a tacit signal to Washington to keep out.

Kashmir, which has a Muslim majority, was claimed by both India and Pakistan following partition in 1947 at the end of British rule. Since 1989 New Delhi has been battling a separatist insurgency in a struggle estimated to have cost up to 70,000 lives.

Earlier this year large anti-India protests drew up to 500,000 people onto the streets and led to the imposition of a long curfew. But New Delhi was encouraged by a largely peaceful state election late last year that recorded a better than expected voter turnout.

“References made by president Obama, which seem to suggest that there is some kind of link with settlement on Pakistan’s western border and the Kashmir issue certainly have caused concern,” said Mr Narayanan. But he said the new US administration and India had yet to have direct contact over the issue.

C. Raja Mohan, professor of international relations at Singapore’s Nanyang University, said New Delhi’s treatment of Mr Miliband had helped persuade Washington to abandon any overt linkage of the Kashmir dispute with combating extremism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Washington’s decision to drop India from formal inclusion in Mr Holbrooke’s special envoy mandate reflected these sensitivities.

“You kill a chicken to scare a monkey,” Mr Mohan said at a recent seminar in New Delhi on US relations with South Asia. “We killed the chicken and the monkey got the message.”

Mr Mohan said India and Pakistan had agreed a basic outline of a peace deal on Kashmir during the tenure of Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, but that the process had faltered as Mr Musharraf had weakenend and finally lost power.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a545f3b0-f1f9-11...00779fd2ac.html

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

India misses Bush

India’s chattering classes may be carried away by Obama’s talk of ‘change’ in Washington. On Kashmir at least, India badly needs ‘continuity’ with President George W Bush’s deliberate hands-off approach.

Although his historic civil nuclear initiative got all the attention, President Bush’s Kashmir policy has contributed even more significantly to the transformation of Indo-U S relations.

Despite relentless pressures from Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Bush refused to inject the U S into the Indo-Pak conflict. By ending the traditional American meddling in Kashmir, Bush created the conditions for purposeful bilateral negotiations between New Delhi and Islamabad. India would not want Obama to disrupt this positive dynamic in the subcontinent.

[Ban Hammer 13,347]

India misses Bush

India’s chattering classes may be carried away by Obama’s talk of ‘change’ in Washington. On Kashmir at least, India badly needs ‘continuity’ with President George W Bush’s deliberate hands-off approach.

Although his historic civil nuclear initiative got all the attention, President Bush’s Kashmir policy has contributed even more significantly to the transformation of Indo-U S relations.

Despite relentless pressures from Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Bush refused to inject the U S into the Indo-Pak conflict. By ending the traditional American meddling in Kashmir, Bush created the conditions for purposeful bilateral negotiations between New Delhi and Islamabad. India would not want Obama to disrupt this positive dynamic in the subcontinent.

zomg someone said something good about bush!

[Saddle Bronc 124]

India misses Bush

India’s chattering classes may be carried away by Obama’s talk of ‘change’ in Washington. On Kashmir at least, India badly needs ‘continuity’ with President George W Bush’s deliberate hands-off approach.

Although his historic civil nuclear initiative got all the attention, President Bush’s Kashmir policy has contributed even more significantly to the transformation of Indo-U S relations.

Despite relentless pressures from Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Bush refused to inject the U S into the Indo-Pak conflict. By ending the traditional American meddling in Kashmir, Bush created the conditions for purposeful bilateral negotiations between New Delhi and Islamabad. India would not want Obama to disrupt this positive dynamic in the subcontinent.

Evidence that Bush is not as dumb as some (especially those who call him "shrub") think--since he understood right-off-bat that Musharraf's attempts were driven by hatred of India, the very basis of the dictator's ethnic identity of mohajir.

(either that or he learned from past--such as Nixon's belated attempt to intervene in favour of Pakistan in 1971--which still implies he is not a fool)

Edited February 5, 2009 by CherryXS

[almaty 19]

f##k India....and pakistan///

that area is a tinderbox of nuclear hellfire..

Edited February 5, 2009 by almaty

[alienlovechild 75]

f##k India....and pakistan///

that area is a tinderbox of nuclear hellfire..

But I'm sure Iran will be far more responsible when they get the bomb.

Edited February 5, 2009 by alienlovechild

[almaty 19]

f##k India....and pakistan///

that area is a tinderbox of nuclear hellfire..

But I'm sure Iran will be far more responsible when they get the bomb.

'nope..leave them be too..i am for america to back-off and not be the world's police...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

'nope..leave them be too..i am for america to back-off and not be the world's police...

I agree, leave them be. Let the Israelis and Palestinians figure their ####### out for themselves and let the Indians/Pakistanis figure theirs out too.

We have an economy to focus on!

[almaty 19]

'nope..leave them be too..i am for america to back-off and not be the world's police...

I agree, leave them be. Let the Israelis and Palestinians figure their ####### out for themselves and let the Indians/Pakistanis figure theirs out too.

We have an economy to focus on!

yes, time to work on Our issues and the main one is the economic....

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

And right after the economy we gotta figure out what to do about those pesky gheys.

[almaty 19]

And right after the economy we gotta figure out what to do about those pesky gheys.

and illegals..

and global warming

[zqt3344 21]

The USA is in serious trouble, BHO is no leader nor is he even close to being ready like he promised on day one to be President, things will slowly start to unravel and come apart at the seams with each passing day.

India warns Obama over Kashmir

By James Lamont and Amy Kazmin in New Delhi

Published: February 3 2009 13:56 | Last updated: February 3 2009 13:56

India has warned US President Barack Obama that he risks “barking up the wrong tree” if he seeks to broker a settlement between Pakistan and India over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

MK Narayanan, India’s national security advisor, said that the new US administration was in danger of dredging up out of date Clinton administration-era strategies in a bid to bring about improved ties between the two nuclear armed neighbours.

“It’s possible that at this time there are elements, perhaps in the administration who are harking back to the pre-2000 era.”

The warning comes as Richard Holbrooke, Mr Obama’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, prepares to come to the region for the first time in his new capacity. Mr Narayanan is close to Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, and Sonia Gandhi, the president of the ruling Congress Party.

Kashmir, over which India and Pakistan have fought two wars and where both countries mass troops, is a highly sensitive issue for New Delhi.

Last month, David Miliband, the UK’s foreign secretary, angered the Indian government by saying that the unresolved dispute over Kashmir was a cause of terrorism in the region. Its vilification of Mr Miliband was interpreted as a tacit signal to Washington to keep out.

Kashmir, which has a Muslim majority, was claimed by both India and Pakistan following partition in 1947 at the end of British rule. Since 1989 New Delhi has been battling a separatist insurgency in a struggle estimated to have cost up to 70,000 lives.

Earlier this year large anti-India protests drew up to 500,000 people onto the streets and led to the imposition of a long curfew. But New Delhi was encouraged by a largely peaceful state election late last year that recorded a better than expected voter turnout.

“References made by president Obama, which seem to suggest that there is some kind of link with settlement on Pakistan’s western border and the Kashmir issue certainly have caused concern,” said Mr Narayanan. But he said the new US administration and India had yet to have direct contact over the issue.

C. Raja Mohan, professor of international relations at Singapore’s Nanyang University, said New Delhi’s treatment of Mr Miliband had helped persuade Washington to abandon any overt linkage of the Kashmir dispute with combating extremism in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Washington’s decision to drop India from formal inclusion in Mr Holbrooke’s special envoy mandate reflected these sensitivities.

“You kill a chicken to scare a monkey,” Mr Mohan said at a recent seminar in New Delhi on US relations with South Asia. “We killed the chicken and the monkey got the message.”

Mr Mohan said India and Pakistan had agreed a basic outline of a peace deal on Kashmir during the tenure of Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf, but that the process had faltered as Mr Musharraf had weakenend and finally lost power.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a545f3b0-f1f9-11...00779fd2ac.html

[almaty 19]

thanks nostradamus

[zqt3344 21]

Your Welcome Jack Handy!

thanks nostradamus

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well someone needs to warn people that Cashmir fabric is delicate and will be ruined if you don't follow the washing instructions on the label.