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HOME | NEWS | COLUMNISTS | G PARTHASARATHY |
August 1, 2001
NEWSLINKS
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G Parthasarathy
Murder this Musharraf Mania, please!For the last two months, our media and its young television anchors spent huge amounts of time and money trying to discover 'concessions' that should be given to Pakistan's military ruler even before he arrived in India. New Delhi's assertions about its role in its neighbourhood will be regarded as empty rhetoric unless we assume a much more pro-active role both bilaterally and regionally with countries near us. On July 24 the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam launched a devastating attack on the Katunayake airbase near Colombo. At least six combat aircraft and helicopters were destroyed. We surely could have responded by loaning the beleaguered Sri Lankan government half a dozen MiG 27 strike aircraft till they are able to replace their losses. This would have been a symbol of our commitment against terrorism worldwide. We should not shy away from such pro-active measures because of imaginary fears of adverse reactions in Tamil Nadu. The Congress-All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance, after all, swept the polls in 1989 during the height of the Indian Peace Keeping Force operations against the LTTE. We should similarly take up issues pertaining to river water projects in Nepal in a manner that convinces the people there that the implementation of projects like Pancheswar, Sapatakoshi and Karnali will add immensely to their economic prosperity and wellbeing. It is heartening that the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is not dealing with the Maoists in western Nepal exclusively as a law-and-order problem, but as a socio-economic issue requiring a political response. It is in our own interests that we cooperate in a discreet manner with the government, the Palace, and all political parties in Nepal in addressing these issues. Given the increasing use of our open borders with Nepal by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, it is imperative our exchange of information with Nepal on issues of mutual interest should be expanded and energised. The time has also come for us to take an activist, project-oriented approach to regional issues. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation foreign secretaries are to meet shortly in Colombo. India should insist on an early implementation of the Vision 2000 report, and ask for the setting up of a high-level group to work out the modalities for making the sub-continent a free trade area by 2008 and an Economic Community by 2020. We also need to combine efforts to conclude free trade agreements with Bangladesh and Myanmar with measures to make the entire Bay of Bengal Association comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand a free trade and investment area. With Thailand and Singapore keen to enter into free trade agreements with us in tandem with moves for the establishment of an ASEAN free trade area, we should shed our intrinsic protectionist inhibitions and move towards the establishment of a larger Asian Economic Community. The Bay of Bengal Region remains an area of immense potential for cooperation in the energy sector. This potential has to be harnessed imaginatively so that the people of the region regard the projects that emerge as being mutually beneficial. It is now clear that given the mindset of General Musharraf and the 'Military, Mullah, Madrassa Complex' he presides over, the process of normalisation with Pakistan is going to be a long and difficult -- if not impossible -- task. While every effort should continue to expand cooperation and enhance mutual confidence with our western neighbour, it is now time to pay greater attention to expanding cooperation bilaterally, sub-regionally and regionally with other countries in the Indian Ocean and Central Asian regions. One only hopes that during the course of this effort, the luminaries of our media will adopt a policy of benign neglect towards the antics of the military regime in Pakistan!
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