Terrorism, Defense, Security and Science & Technology

• The US admitted that Kashmir-oriented terrorist camps exist in Pakistan and little is being done to dismantle them. In a Senate briefing, Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia Richard Boucher said that although Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has made a "fundamental decision" to stamp out terrorism in Pakistan, several terrorist camps exist near the Line of Control (LoC). Pakistan has always existed that no such camps exist there. While the Central Intelligence Agency has confirmed this, until now the State Government has never acknowledged its presence.

• According to a Jane's Defence Weekly, the French conglomerate Direction Des Construction (DCN) has prepared a plan to export five conventional submarines to Pakistan. They will now submit this plan to the French Defense review committee, which is known to have rejected several applications by French manufacturers to sell arms to Pakistan as they feared that this will escalate tensions between the neighbors. They are also conscious of the larger Indian market and India's sensitivity to sales to Pakistan. Pakistan has also asked Germany's HDW and Spain's Navantia to submit bids for submarines. DCN was involved in the purchase of six Scorpene submarines to India for over USD 3 billion last year. DCN had supplied 3 Agosta 90B submarines for USD 984 million in 1994; 2 of them are in service and the third to join soon. Pakistan retired four French Hangor (Daphne) class submarines last month and plans to acquire 3 to 5 replacements within the decade. Meanwhile, the US said that it will be transferring free of cost eight older PC-3 Orion Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft (MRA) to Pakistan. They are funding a refurbishing of the aircraft aiming to empower Pakistan to monitor its porous border with Pakistan. However, Pakistan has said that it will use these to also monitor the operations of the Indian Navy, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf region. The value of the aircraft and the cost of the refurbishing and the time when the aircraft will be delivered to Pakistan are not known.

• Accusing the Government of vote-bank politics, the Bharatiya Janata Party, staged a walkout in the Parliament over the controversial survey of Muslims in secular Government organizations. The Government insists that the information is to determine the social, economic, and educational status of Muslims so they can address these issues. Many political parties including the Government's allies question the rationale and logic arguing that poverty and development were common across all religions, sects, and castes. They question the motive of the Government to accord such status to people from a single religion leaving vast pockets of other citizens behind. Some say that while the intention is honorable the method is faulty. The BJP has threatened to take their agitation to the streets.

Neighbors

• The Iran nuclear issue and Indian vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency has assumed a life-threatening form for the Government. The communist and his caste-oriented myopic allies from Uttar Pradesh are threatening to publicly quarter the Government. While the Samajwadi Party was a no-confidence motion to bring down the Government for national elections, the communists say that they only want a debate. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh issued a statement providing the rationale for the vote including a detailed outline of the events leading to this vote. With the detailed explanation of Iran's nuclear weapons intention, the Bharatiya Janata Party has agreed with the Government decision that it is not in India's interest to have another neighbor with nuclear weapons. This is the first time in Indian coalition history that allies supporting the Government from the outside have such a stranglehold of the Government on domestic and foreign policy.

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World

• Five independent investigators of the United Nations Commission of Human Rights (UNHCR) asked the United States to shut down the detention center at Guantanomo Bay. Amid rising number of videos coming out showing naked prisoner being tortured in violation of the Geneva Convention, they asked the US to either bring these prisoners before a competent jury or release them. They say that holding them indefinitely violates their fundamental rights.

• About 50,000 Pakistanis marched to protest the cartoons that depict Prophet Mohammed distastefully in Karachi. Multinationals companies, Christian cinemas, flew black flags to show sympathy to the marchers and also to avoid being attacked. Armed soldiers watched over the procession from rooftop but no violence was reported. A religious rally leader urged the rally to be peaceful and called on Pakistan to terminate relations with European countries that published these cartoons. Pakistan accused founder-leader of banned terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Toiba of violating prohibitory orders against demonstration and placed the under house arrest. They also detained 150 protestors. A Pakistani cleric offered reward to anyone who would kill the cartoonist. In India, a Uttar Pradesh Minister and senior Samajwadi Party member Yaqoob Qureshi shocked India by offering Rs. 51 crore in gold to the "avenger" who will behead the cartoonist; he said Muslim women will donate their jewelry to pay for the killing. He has violated various sections of the Indian Penal Code for abetting violence, exporting violence, and creating animosity between religious groups. If the Government acts on these charges, he can be jailed for 7-25 years or get the death penalty if someone should actually kill the cartoonist. The Andhra Pradesh Assembly unanimously voted to denounce the cartoons and urged the Government of India to communicate its reservations to Denmark, Norway, and other European nations where the cartoons were reproduced. Violent incidents in Hyderabad brought life to a standstill where irate Muslims burnt police assets, stoned shops, and attacked a place of worship.

• An under-reported crisis that may hit Indo-US relations down the road is the question of US visas to Indian Government scientists and how Indians are being treated. Govardhan Mehta a former Director of the Indian Institute of Science complained of rude and irreverent attitude of US visa officials. Another scientist who was formerly Director of Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at Kalpakkam also complained of the same treatment. This is not the first time that US visa officials and their ultra-rude Indian security staff have come in for criticism for undiplomatic behavior towards Indians-- regardless of age, sex, or purpose of travel. Many Indians have called for India to raise the issue bilaterally, but the Government of India has yet to make a decision on how it would like to deal with it.

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