Indian foreign policy

Submitted by Shishir (United Arab Emirates), Apr 15, 2011 at 05:03

Mr Mudgal-The contributions of Indians to scientific ,technological and business pursuits especially abroad are common knowledge.I believe what Ms Crosette was referring to ,this was in 1994, was the state of Indians within India itself.At the time it was pitiable indeed.Now in 2011 of course it is considerably superior.However that doesnt negate her point ,however callously undiplomatic the manner in which she delivers it.

Not just the masses ,the middle classes are just as ignorant of Western history and culture as the Americans are about the rest of the world(Indians are more than happy to bring up American ignorance about the world but rarely acknowledge that their awareness is severely lacking as well).How else do you explain India,the most pro Israel country in the world where Jews have never been persecuted have a restaurant in Mumbai named after Hitler ,does business with Iran,and muse over Indian MBA students eagerly lap up Mein Kampf as a "management manual". A wise man once said "Never attribute to malice what you can to incompetence" or in the case of Indians utter ignorance and stupidity.

However there is light at the end of the tunnel,during the later years of the BJP and current Congress government India has been brought kicking and screaming into the real world since 9/11 ,specifically the war on their backyard Afghanistan and China flexing its naval strength in the Bay of Bengal.

I am impressed that India has now the audacity to state that Afghanistan is its backyard and not Pakistan and Iran's.There are more than a 1000 Indian soldiers in Afghanistan ,mostly helping protect Indian interests i.e lend logistic support for charities,hospitals,schools and other civil institutions funded by Indian and built by Indian contractors.This was why Indian embassy in Kabul was bombed.We all guess who was behind that.

RAW, the Indian intelligence outfit is an incredibly underrated entity.Indeed they are responsible for a great deal of destabilization of Pakistan during the 90s.It is not known to what extent if at all ,they are responsible for the Pakistani Talibans near victory over the Pakistani armed forces in the SWAT valley last year.

Also India is showing some impressive realpolitik in Burma,saying all the correct shibboleths about Aun Sung Kyi and democracy but silently working with the military junta to curtail Chinese ambitions and tap their vast energy reserves.

I dont expect an emerging power like India,despite its pro Israel credentials, to go out of its way to deny itself cheap Iranian gas (the Reliance pipeline),but I hope Indias friendship with Iran(coupled with the formers nuclear arsenal) will give Iran second thoughts about its end time schemes.

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