Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

"Someone has to be out of his mind to trust (Pakistan)," he said.

This really looks like a direct threat to China. India, China and Russia will probably strengthen their alliance as a consequence.

In exchange, the United States can place its military stockpiles on Pakistani soil.

These are smart people they recognize the danger of America’s quest for hegemony and that it is the number one threat to their sovereignty. For this reason it is my belief at present that irregardless of what seeds of dissention the United States sows they will remain allied against us. Time is on their side, they belong to tomorrow, we belong to today. The longer war is put on hold the better for them. I do not think we would be victorious against them now, but as time passes our chances of winning will become even less.

After the ‘final conflict’ then they will address whatever problems remain within their coalition. IMO –Am

Analysis: Red-faced India caught unaware

By Harbaksh Singh Nanda
New Delhi (UPI) March 20, 2004
The U.S. decision to grant Pakistan a major non-NATO ally status has stunned India to the point where red-faced officials are maintaining a baffling silence.
If there is no official reaction so far, it is only out of sheer humiliation that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell did not sound out Indian leadership on the status Washington was going to accord to its arch rival.

Powell discussed every possible issue with Indian leaders during his Tuesday meetings with Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, opposition leader Sonia Gandhi and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra.

Not once did Powell let New Delhi know that Washington was going to again reward Islamabad for backing it in its war against the Taliban. The reward this time was not only greenbacks in millions but a status certificate of being a non-NATO ally, which will go a long way in changing the image of a nation that was not long ago considered a breeding ground for terrorism.

Powell Thursday declared Pakistan to be anointed as a major non-NATO ally, to join an elite group comprising Israel, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Jordan, Argentina, Bahrain, Thailand and the Philippines.

And quite surprisingly, just two days before Powell had told reporters in New Delhi that Washington wouldn't supply F-16 fighter jets to Islamabad.

Ahead of his trip, Powell told reporters that he would press Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to step up vigil along the Afghan-Pakistan border and provide help in containing the Taliban movement.

If Powell had a stick in one hand for Musharraf, he surely had a carrot in the other.

India's Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra have been embarrassed for they are considered to be friends with Powell. The blossoming of India-U.S. ties had started during Singh's earlier stint as India's foreign minister, but Powell did not even take the two of them into his confidence about a development he was going to announce a day later.

India may not admit it officially, but it surely was caught unaware -- as was the United States when New Delhi conducted nuclear tests in 1998.

And it couldn't have come at a worst moment for the ruling coalition led by Bharatiya Janata Party, which has been describing India-U.S friendship as its single most foreign policy achievement.

With elections round the corner, the BJP will find it hard to tell majority Hindu population on what basis it is warming up to the United States while it is Pakistan that gets to reap the benefits.

"The timing is awful," a senior Indian official said.

"It's amazing that United States should grant this status to a country whose top-most scientist sold nuclear secrets to its foes (Iran and Libya)," Hardev Singh, a voter, said.

"Someone has to be out of his mind to trust (Pakistan)," he said.

But it would seem that Washington's opinion differs.

The recent stepped up military operations along the Afghan border seem to be the first outcome of the prized tag. Musharraf has said that a high-value target has been cornered by his troops.

Washington's move is being widely seen in the United States as a quid pro quo for delivering Osama bin Laden and his deputy, The Times of India reported.

The daily also reported separately that U.S. Embassy sent its No. 2 official, Robert Blake, to do the fire fighting with Indian officials.

Indian officials say that the decision would lead to Pakistan piling up a new generation of U.S. weapons that could in turn force India to match it.

Pakistan's new position will get it preferential treatment in defense supplies from the United States, special financial assistance for military research and special privileges in U.S military training for Pakistan's military.

In exchange, the United States can place its military stockpiles on Pakistani soil.

However, Powell tried to dispel those Indian fears. "Declaring Pakistan a non-NATO ally has no link with (military) operations in Pakistan. We give that status to countries that have special relations with us," Powell told Pakistan's Geo television in an interview.

The Times of India quoted Powell as saying that Pakistan's upgrade is "in some instances more symbolic than practical."

"In international relations, as the old cliché goes, there are no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interests. The Bush administration, desperate to catch Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida followers before the presidential elections heat up, needs Islamabad's unstinted backing," the daily said in an editorial.

"Rather than to risk a sexist metaphor behave like the 'wronged' woman, New Delhi would do well to respond to the American provocation in a measured way. Instead of crying foul, it must learn to engage Washington on more realistic terms, extracting what strategic, economic or indeed, technological pay-offs it can in the process."

"As they say in America, don't get mad, get even," The Times said.

http://www.spacedaily.com/upi/20040319-17071100.html