The 20th century was the American century. The international trends in the first decade of the 21st highlight the decline of the United States. It is still the most prosperous and powerful country, but no longer the arbiter of the destiny of human kind.
President Obama like most of his predecessors has a somewhat limited understanding of the non-western world. He inherited a mess in Iraq and in Afghanistan/Pakistan. President Bush sowed the wind. Obama is reaping the whirl wind.
Does the US today have a well thought through Afghan policy, a Taliban policy or a Pakistan policy? For the USA, at the moment, it is impossible to live with Pakistan. Also impossible to live without Pakistan. These are complex geo-political nightmares.
My main focus is on Indo-Pak, relations. This precludes my holding forth on those nightmares. At the end of the Saarc summit in the Maldives, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pronounced that his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani "was a man of peace." Gilani did not return the compliment.
Indo-Pak relations are complex and accident prone. Manmohan Singh's desire to have cordial and good neighbourly relations with Pakistan are laudable. How to convert hope into reality? He has not come up with a convincing answer because he takes a somewhat simplistic view of Indo-Pak relations. His Pakistan policy lacks gravitas.
Sherm-al-Sheik is a striking example. Why in the name of heaven insert Baluchistan in the joint statement? His principal foreign policy adviser is his National Security Adviser. He should know better having headed our mission in Pakistan.
What, if any, role the minister of external affairs plays remains a mystery. Does the prime minister hold the view that Gilani, his man of peace, can deliver? He cannot! The Army and the ISI can. These two are unlikely to oblige Manmohan Singh. Our home minster does not share the prime minister's soft corner for Gilani. The man who matters in Pakistan is General Ashraf Pervez Kayani.
Till the FDI fiasco, Manmohan Singh was America's favourite Indian. No longer! As of now the PM will be licking his wounds to take any major foreign policy initiatives. The resumption of the composite dialogue will be a media event devoid of significance.
The world lacks statesmen at a time when there is a crying need for them. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton during her brief stay in Chennai said that India should be more assertive in this part of the globe. Even assume a leadership role.
President Obama like most of his predecessors has a somewhat limited understanding of the non-western world. He inherited a mess in Iraq and in Afghanistan/Pakistan. President Bush sowed the wind. Obama is reaping the whirl wind.
Does the US today have a well thought through Afghan policy, a Taliban policy or a Pakistan policy? For the USA, at the moment, it is impossible to live with Pakistan. Also impossible to live without Pakistan. These are complex geo-political nightmares.
My main focus is on Indo-Pak, relations. This precludes my holding forth on those nightmares. At the end of the Saarc summit in the Maldives, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pronounced that his Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani "was a man of peace." Gilani did not return the compliment.
Indo-Pak relations are complex and accident prone. Manmohan Singh's desire to have cordial and good neighbourly relations with Pakistan are laudable. How to convert hope into reality? He has not come up with a convincing answer because he takes a somewhat simplistic view of Indo-Pak relations. His Pakistan policy lacks gravitas.
Sherm-al-Sheik is a striking example. Why in the name of heaven insert Baluchistan in the joint statement? His principal foreign policy adviser is his National Security Adviser. He should know better having headed our mission in Pakistan.
What, if any, role the minister of external affairs plays remains a mystery. Does the prime minister hold the view that Gilani, his man of peace, can deliver? He cannot! The Army and the ISI can. These two are unlikely to oblige Manmohan Singh. Our home minster does not share the prime minister's soft corner for Gilani. The man who matters in Pakistan is General Ashraf Pervez Kayani.
Till the FDI fiasco, Manmohan Singh was America's favourite Indian. No longer! As of now the PM will be licking his wounds to take any major foreign policy initiatives. The resumption of the composite dialogue will be a media event devoid of significance.
The world lacks statesmen at a time when there is a crying need for them. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton during her brief stay in Chennai said that India should be more assertive in this part of the globe. Even assume a leadership role.
Source: Pakistan, India relations
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