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Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:35 pm
by jay62728
Many times Indian government, political parties and people point finger to world powers like USA, UK for their action in many global affairs. And what do India do, when situation demands action from us? India is tactically supporting a rogue regime in Burma when it should have supported the pro-democracy movement there and opposes killing of innocent, unarmed monks and civilians by the military junta. India has no moral right to blame any other country. Our government and all our political parties are mute spectators for killing of innocent Burmese monks and people by the military dictators. The same political parties do not hesitate to call “strike/ bandhs” for trivial issues. I understand the silence of the communists, as they need their big brother China’s agreement; but why others are silent? As a country, are we not more hypocrite as compared to USA/UK (at least they put heavy sanctions on Burmese military junta, while we are doing business and supplying arms to them)? We don’t deserve to become a regional power, leave alone a permanent member of UN Security Council and global superpower (as many of our politicians dream). Jungle will be worse if jackals become the king. India is behaving just like a screwed, selfish people who know nothing but money.Any comment? Relavent links:http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7017496.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7013943.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7013975.stmhttp://www.indianexpress.com/story/222028.html
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 12:09 am
by nand
countries need to look out for their self interest. the US makes all kinds of noises about freedom and democracy and fair speech and yet supports dictators all around the world. the fact is that dictators are easier to deal with than democracies. that said the burmese dictators are truly barbaric and i sincerely hope for their downfall.
The indian govt needs to see where they stand with the burmese junta. Right now it seems like there is more to gain by supporing democracy as the current regime is more favorably disposed to China. should that stance change it is pragmatic to turn a blind eye to what is going on there. the world is a b****h.
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:07 am
by ssppss
OP:
Why not raise your voice Kashmiri Pundits in slum-like refugee camps in their own country. Shouldn't charity and caring for human rights begin at home? Why not the tears for the residents of Baltistan and other northern areas of Kashmir which is Indian territory but is under Paki occupation? What about the abuses that are hurled on them (Indian citizens under foreign occupation)? Why not for them?
No sir, we should only butt our heads in hopeless situations where no one listens to us, where we cannot do anything and it would only hurt our national interests. Let nothing be done to improve human rights AND secure indian interests.
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 10:31 pm
by tejasvee
We all pick our battles. You can't keep fighting all the time, then your life is hopeless.
Indian people and government representing them have selected some battles and chosen to ignore the rest.
Some big things on Indian mind:
[LIST=1]
Pakistan's occupation of parts of Kashmir
Paki inspired insurgants seeping into Kashmir
Paki internal trouble like Mushy/Nawaz/Supreme Court
Chinese (Tibet) border near Sikkim, Ladakh and Arunachal.
Indo-US Nuclear deal
US occupation of Iraq
Sri Lanka/LTTE
Nepal Maoists
Israel/Palestaine[/LIST]
I don't think Burma/Myanmar is anywhere in the top 20 of Indian foreign affairs. Same thing applies to Darfur, Haiti, Balkan regions, Ethiopia, East Timur, Chechnia etc.
So matter how much noise we hear in other media, common man in India won't be bothered by anything not in the top 10 or 20. Yes it's sad, but every country behaves the same way.
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:02 pm
by anand1
I read in a recent news article that India invested lot of resources in Myanmar. It also is helping Myanmar in its infrastructure. These are all strategic moves as part of its "look east" policy. It also seems like India helped them build up military arsenal .. too bad if they are being used to suppress democracy. US makes noises when it suits them best.. how about they putting Musharraf on pedestal and rewarding Pakistan with several deadly weapons despite India's protests that they will be used against India ? Some times you just have to do what you got to do.
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2007 11:48 pm
by jay62728
If you dream big, want to become a permanent member of UN Security Council, you must think beyond short-term self-interest involving only money, like typical petty businessman. If you want more, global power, you must know how to take care of bigger, global responsibility. Particularly when the world is getting smaller due to Internet and other ways of accessibility of info. Suppressing news is getting tougher.
Dealing with dictators is much, much more problematic as compared to democratically elected govt. Dictators formulate policies depending on their personal whims. That?s the one of the main reasons why one time great ally like Iraq under Saddam Hussein turned against US within a short time (in terms of national foreign policy).
The reason India is getting the valuable US cooperation for civilian nuclear deal is it?s clean past, unlike Pakistan and some other states.
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:10 am
by Bobus
anand1;48162I read in a recent news article that India invested lot of resources in Myanmar. It also is helping Myanmar in its infrastructure. These are all strategic moves as part of its "look east" policy. It also seems like India helped them build up military arsenal .. too bad if they are being used to suppress democracy. US makes noises when it suits them best.. how about they putting Musharraf on pedestal and rewarding Pakistan with several deadly weapons despite India's protests that they will be used against India ? Some times you just have to do what you got to do.[/quote]
Anand:
Some time back, in another thread, my recollection is that your stance was that India policy has been very "moral" - please correct me if am wrong. Do you see an inconsistency between that stance and the quote above?
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 5:56 am
by tejasvee
jay62728;48329If you want more, global power, you must know how to take care of bigger, global responsibility.
The reason India is getting the valuable US cooperation for civilian nuclear deal is it?s clean past, unlike Pakistan and some other states. [/quote]
Taking bigger global responsibility doesn't mean getting involved with more problems around the world, that too in cases like Myanmar which is worthless for most of India goals. As long as Myanmar keeps anti-India bodo/naga groups at bay and doesn't fall to China's army grip, India has other fishes to fry.
US giving nuke deal to India (not completed yet) has not much to do with India's clean past. There have been many more 'responsible' countries. US inking a deal with India has more to do with future strategies from both countries. Remember that US has always been suspicious of India's affiliations, considering Nehru's impractical idealism.
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 6:13 am
by anand1
Bobus
I came across this news only recently and there were not many details. This is definitely a new development as far as my knowledge is concerned since the other thread where I might have made a statement that India's foreign policies have been moral. Before going into full details of India's involvement with Myanmar, I cannot comment any further on this.
Having said that, I am not quite sure India getting involved in other countries (happened to be a dictator country) for economic interests can be termed as immoral. For that matter, India even had diplomatic and business relations with Saddam's Iraq. India continues to have relations with Iran while Iran is viewed as a terrorist country by USA. If I remember right, my comments about India having "moral" foreign policy was in the thread of "what if India is attacked by USA". I said India's foreign policy was not to poke into other people's affairs to the extent of inviting an attack on itself. In that context, I dont think India's economic interests and relations with Myanmar can be viewed in the same angle as Pakistan supporting Taliban Govt.
Shame on Indian Government for it?s position on Burma during recent protests there
Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 6:34 am
by anand1
tejasvee;48363Taking bigger global responsibility doesn't mean getting involved with more problems around the world, that too in cases like Myanmar which is worthless for most of India goals. As long as Myanmar keeps anti-India bodo/naga groups at bay and doesn't fall to China's army grip, India has other fishes to fry.
US giving nuke deal to India (not completed yet) has not much to do with India's clean past. There have been many more 'responsible' countries. US inking a deal with India has more to do with future strategies from both countries. Remember that US has always been suspicious of India's affiliations, considering Nehru's impractical idealism.
Absolutely agree with the highlighted statement above. Some of the reports suggested it was the Vajpayee Govt's concerted efforts to make US see what India stands for and what it stood for all along. "US and India are the natural partners" was the quote popularized by Vajpayee Govt. You could see there was a sea change in the attitude of State Dept after that. Before that, during the years when I first came to USA, I was so upset seeing the way India was bashed left and right at every opportunity both by media and US Govt alike. India did not change much but I hardly see any negative publicity against India today.
Having said that, if US had a choice, it would like to support a country like Pakistan as a major world power (can be kicked around at will) even today in lieu of India just because India is too independent in its policies and views. For the same reason, they want to maintain good relations with Pakistan as they know Pakistan will always be a thorn in India's way. Look at the history, to contain USSR, they supported China. To contain China, they want to team up with India. In case India becomes too big, they have Pakistan. No body does the strategic thinking the way USA does. :)