Opportunism vs Pragmatism

The opportunistic, insane and anti-national opposition of the NDA and the Left Front to the Indo-US nuclear deal is another example of partisan politics drowning India in a pool of messy and humiliating complications. This strident disagreement threatens to block the passage of a favourable deal in our national interests, which will dismantle the nuclear apartheid prevailing against India for the last three decades and lay the foundation of the emergence of India as a globally relevant nation. Beijing's discomfiture at the prospect of the operationalisation of the deal is an unambiguous indication of China viewing the deal as one which grants India enviable concessions, which Beijing would never want to see the light of the day. The Left's sincere kowtowing to China's world view is an open secret, and the government would be committing a momentous blunder if it lets the deal slip by, thereby nullifying the painstakingly admirable efforts taken by our diplomats in the negotiating process, and also eroding India's credibility to such an extent from which she will find it excruciatingly difficult to recover.

Al-Qaeda Threat

The newly released Al-Qaeda CD stating that Indian and U.S. diplomatic missions are legitimate Al-Qaeda targets emphasises the fact that Al-Qaeda has always considered India to be its enemy and a 'conspirator along with the U.S. and Israel' in the global war on terror. The Indian National Security Advisor M.K. Narayanan also candidly admitted that the Al-Qaeda, through the Lashker-e-Tayyaba, has always been present in India, to further its nefarious goals and bigoted ideology. The Indian government must stop being cagey about admitting this reality and stop fooling themselves by expressing that Al-Qaeda will find it difficult to set foot in India and 'establish bases'. The harsh fact is that Islamist terror which wreaked havoc in India in the 90s has internationalised in the aftermath of 9/11. The rightful improvements in Indo-US/ Israeli strategic ties have only exacerbated the raison d'être for Al-Qaeda's ire against India, which always existed. India needs to stand firm and further strengthen her alliance with the West and Israel to combat the venomous menace of international terror.

Deepening Of Indo-U.S. Ties

The torturous but successful negotiations leading to the finalisation of the 123 agreement between the U.S.A. and India is a sign of the increasingly positive direction Indo-U.S. relations are headed toward. The personal intervention and determination of the Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Vice-President Dick Cheney and President Bush indicates America's strong desire to forge closer geopolitical, geostrategic and economic ties with India for reasons pertaining to national interest. Rice's recent invitation to India to join a potential U.S.-led club of democratic societies and the suggestion of the irrelevance of NAM also make it abundantly clear that the trust deficit on both sides is beginning to diminish and both sides realise the fruitfulness of cooperation between the world's largest and the oldest democracy in areas of trade, defence and globally relevant political issues. The concern of China wanting to establish its hegemony over Asia and considering India as a rival in its path makes it all the more imperative for India and the U.S. to form an alliance to safeguard each other's interests.

Global Terrorism's Indian Recruits

The involvement of two Indians in the UK terror plot plainly exposes the fact that Al-Qaeda and other international terrorist outfits possess Indian recruits too. Indians have, with a sense of pride, verbally brandished for long that international terrorist outfits like the Al-Qaeda have not been able to radicalise and recruit a single Indian Muslim. That certainly isn't the case any more. This was a catastrophe waiting to happen. India has to wake up to the fact that transnational terrorism no longer targets only the West for ideological reasons. India too, is considered by international terror gangs as one of the morally prime targets for destruction in order to further their goals.Meanwhile, it was heartening to note that there was co-operation between Indian and British intelligence agencies in regard to the UK terror plot. The negative consequence of all of this would be racial profiling, which has become a necessary evil.