tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381909.post4240933708549245178..comments2023-08-04T17:34:49.094+05:30Comments on A New Praxis in a changed world: Lies, Damn Lies and SycophancySrinivasan Ramanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13620263203764236450noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381909.post-44975150281573293992008-07-12T13:33:00.000+05:302008-07-12T13:33:00.000+05:30As such, the safeguards text has been written in a...As such, the safeguards text has been written in a fashion that India is treated as somewhere between the NPT nuclear haves and the NPT nuclear have-nots. The language and structure (some of the considerations that India was looking for as both a nuclear weapon state as well as a indigenous civil nuclear energy producer) were placed in preamble references while others were termed using "diplomatese" in the relevant clauses within the text. <BR/><BR/>Now, the trouble is that there was a problem with the "vagueness" of certain phrases such as "corrective measures" which did not (and could not go well before the release of the text) find acceptance by some of the nuclear energy scientists in the country as well as the non-proliferation lobby in the US/ others. The government perhaps was afraid of the processes getting delayed because of the adverse attention to the text of the safeguards agreement. <BR/><BR/>As such, the government is keen on working well within the time table set by the Bush administration to get the deal through, "no matter what". The understanding of course is to make the cooperation and deal as "irreversible" as possible with all the bottlenecks being taken care by the governments at their respective ends. And that is precisely why the Indian government felt it better to keep the text under wraps; but after obvious public condemnation they had to put the text in the public domain. <BR/><BR/>More than anything, it is this undue haste to act on the orders of the Bush administration that is absolutely galling. The government has seen it fit to give the opposition and even its allies the shortest shrift possible. In essence, it is insulting the people of the country with its charade of terming the text classified one day and releasing it on every damn website on earth the other. <BR/><BR/>But with the support of corporate groups (both Anil and Mukesh want their bags of pounds of flesh through their cronies in government), the intense US lobbying with various political groups in the country, the fact that many regional outfits see things from their expedient political situation; the government is confident of wading through the vote of confidence and ram through the deal before the demise of the Bush administration in December. <BR/><BR/>In crude words, Manmohan Singh has emerged as Bush's B team leader in the American efforts to secure their strategic interests in various parts of the world. Even Ehud Olmert will be jealous of Singh.Srinivasan Ramanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13620263203764236450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381909.post-83777562532449836112008-07-12T12:44:00.000+05:302008-07-12T12:44:00.000+05:30Dear Srini,Now we know that there was no restricti...Dear Srini,<BR/><BR/>Now we know that there was no restriction from the IAEA on sharing the Safeguards Agreement draft document. Why did the government then give this false statement that according to IAEA procedure they are treating the Safeguards Agreement draft as a classified one and therefore cannot disclose it to a third party? Why there was so many contradictory statements coming from the government? <BR/><BR/>As the draft is now in public domain, can you give your insights on specifically what the government was trying to hide?shubhohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661646608744489943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381909.post-52573359332344075012008-07-11T02:52:00.000+05:302008-07-11T02:52:00.000+05:30The UPA Government has basically lost it in the la...The UPA Government has basically lost it in the last 48 hours!! From speaking white lies, they have also stationed Veerappa Moily to lambast the Left parties for being 'insensitive' and 'joining the communal forces'!!Leaving Moily to his antics, it is important to note that even at this time, when the government has been reduced to a minority, it has sought to reinforce its characteristic feature of blatant lying and taking the people for a ride. Swing from 'the safeguards cannot be publicized as it was a classified document(Something the IAEA itself clarified as not being so) to technology falling into wrong hands', the people of this country have been taken for a ride. Such utter desperation on the part of the government to seal the deal has led to the neglect of the double digit inflation. The people of this country may very well seal the 'deal' of this government led by the Congress. The PM must realize that vehicles plying on our roads and the food we eat depend on the petroleum products and not nuclear fuel.ആനന്ദ് പി.കെhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17194732681395414283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381909.post-20538512096240734252008-07-10T19:37:00.000+05:302008-07-10T19:37:00.000+05:30Dear Shubho-da, You are very right. The battle wil...Dear Shubho-da, <BR/><BR/>You are very right. The battle will continue. It is disconcerting that the PM should be so beholden to the US administration and does not at all see it fit to wait for a new US administration replacing the discredited Bush ruled one, before making moves on the nuclear deal. That would help India to escape both the impinging features of the Hyde Act as well from dovetailing into the geo-strategic games that the US administration under Bush wants to play in the Asian region. <BR/><BR/>Contrary to what the media makes it to be, it is possible for us to live without a imported nuclear energy component in the short term and develop enough alternatives for the long term. Surely, nuclear power cannot fuel transportation, which remains the biggest sufferer because of the oil crisis. The gas pipeline can help mitigate this problem surely. And the US remains staunchly opposed to the gas pipeline project from Iran, too.<BR/><BR/>At the same time, it is also possible for India to work together with other regimes across the world to build a disarmament regime (which is more possible if Bush is shown the exit door) that is equitable and non-discriminatory. Once that is done, we can still have civil nuclear cooperation with various countries across the world, provided that this forms only a certain optimal part of our overall energy policy. You should in this regard, read scholars such as D.D.Kosambi who have identified the necessity and power of solar energy ("leave it to the sun to do the fission and fusion for us!").Srinivasan Ramanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13620263203764236450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381909.post-13014229722309186172008-07-10T19:15:00.000+05:302008-07-10T19:15:00.000+05:30Dear Srini,It is interesting to note that in his f...Dear Srini,<BR/><BR/>It is interesting to note that in his four years in office, Dr. Singh was never found to be bold, determined and confident to address various national issues as he is found to be today while standing beside George Bush. The media is overwhelmed and glad to finally discover a firm and will powered Prime Minister. Dr. Singh is giving the impression now that he was holding the chair only to augment the process of a wide strategic alliance with the United States. The print and electronic media in a motivated manner is consistently trying to explain to the people of India in simplistic terms about the goodness of the deal but the fact remains that in the pretext to meet India’s nuclear energy needs, the Indo-US Nuclear Deal is actually a close strategic and military tie up covering political, economic and military cooperation with Washington.<BR/><BR/>We should acclaim the Left, especially the CPIM for initiating a battle of resistance. Only after thorough research and analysis they have appeared for the battle and thus their point of debate cannot be easily brushed aside by uttering cliché words like ‘anti-American’ or ‘pro-Chinese’. Their categorical and continuous exposure of the evil designs behind the deal has made a section of this country, may be small, aware and alert that things are not as good as they appear. The useful links you have provided will also make these points clear.<BR/><BR/>The media is upbeat to comment that the Left is fighting a lost the battle. Many of us do not think so. But we can make out that the actual battle has only just started.shubhohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661646608744489943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381909.post-26754355940645235052008-07-10T14:53:00.000+05:302008-07-10T14:53:00.000+05:30Dear Vibhav, Signing a deal like the Indo-US Nucle...Dear Vibhav, <BR/><BR/>Signing a deal like the Indo-US Nuclear Deal is more than mere commercial transfer of nuclear power. If India got a 123 agreement like what the Chinese or the Japanese had, there would not have been so much of a hum-drum against this Hyde Act driven deal. As for withdrawal of support over inflation etc, it can pay political dividends, but why subject the common man to a situation where there is no government and no one to take urgent steps to reduce inflationary pressures? The government can do a lot of work to pad the poor from the problems of inflation. It can strengthen the public distribution system. It can pad costs through taxes on windfall profits and through other measures. <BR/><BR/>Before accusing the Left alone for opposing the deal, you should know that India's premier nuclear scientists have also called for the deal to be scrapped in its present form. If you haven't seen it, this should help: <BR/><BR/>http://www.pragoti.org/node/1562 (Check below for signed statements by PK Iyengar, A Gopalakrishnan and AN Prasad). <BR/><BR/>Foreign policy experts such as MK Bhadrakumar have also opposed the deal's strategic caveats: <BR/><BR/>http://www.pragoti.org/node/1591 (Bhadrakumar's detailed answers to a rediff.com correspondent)<BR/><BR/>And others too.Srinivasan Ramanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13620263203764236450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7381909.post-76128722052705069882008-07-10T14:39:00.000+05:302008-07-10T14:39:00.000+05:30Srini,Agree that Congress has mishandled the N-dea...Srini,<BR/><BR/>Agree that Congress has mishandled the N-deal affairs over the last month. Too much of confusion, commotion and chaos. But Left was just waiting on the sidelines for some situation like this to happen so that it can pull the plug. <BR/>According to me, had they done it when inflation touched 12%, they might have gained some lost ground in WB.<BR/>Communism for the mere sake of it without any rational and logical reasons isn't going to take these parties anywhere. Before opposing the deal, they should have just visited China once more, this time to check their Nuclear power generation facilities.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05677305823223369273noreply@blogger.com