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India-Pakistan

Narendra Modi's new NSA, Ajit Kumar Doval starts big, has bigger goals

2014-05-29

NEW DELHI: Ajit Kumar Doval (69), Narendra Modi's national security advisor-designate, started big on his new job -- before the PM met his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif for a one-on-one meeting, he went through a background note prepared by Doval. People familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition they not be identified told ET that Doval, a former Intelligence Bureau chief, had worked closely with Modi's Principal Secretary Nripendra Misra over the weekend. Doval and Misra had worked out talking points to be taken up with various SAARC leaders. Talks with Pakistan were especially crucial and emphasis was on improving bilateral ties and delivering a firm message on terrorism. Getting the message right was the first major task for Doval, known for having a tough approach to terror. Doval's appointment was the first file Modi's principal secretary took to the PM. The PM signed the file in the morning. People familiar with the matter said Prime Minister Modi had met Doval three times before the government formation exercise was complete."They get along really well...and have same views on many critical security issues," one person said. "Modi expects Doval to give concrete shape to India's anti-terror and anti-Maoist strategy and streamline anti-terror and anti-Maoist operations," this person added. Doval will only be the second NSA after MK Narayanan to have a professional career in intelligence. Most NSAs such as Brajesh Mishra for Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and JN Dixit, Shyam Saran and SS Menon for Manmohan Singh, had foreign service backgrounds. And the foreign service is never used as cover for intelligence.~ In fact, Narayanan started as Singh's internal security advisor, and only took over NSA duties when Dixit passed away. An official in the PMO who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Modi may appoint a deputy NSA with a foreign service background. Among the names being considered should the post of deputy NSA be created is Hardeep Puri, retired IFS, who was India's man in the United Nations. Close observers of India's security apparatus and its talent level say Doval's career as a spymaster has been among the more successful in recent past. A 1968 batch IPS officer who spent virtually all his career in IB, Doval is credited by security experts with intelligence successes like infiltrating the Mizo National Army and planning key Myanmar- and China-related missions. His intelligence work was also crucial in Operation Black Thunder, the mop-up operation that followed Operation Blue Star, the first big action against Punjab militants in Golden Temple. Undercover work in Pakistan and the tough job of being one of the negotiators in the 1C-814 hijacking episode added sufficiently to his CV so that when BJP lost power in 2004, the Congress government appointed him as IB chief, despite Doval's perceived closeness to BJP leaders. Doval retired in 2005 and was considered a certainty for NSA's job had BJP won in 2009 elections. The long wait for Doval between 2005 and 2014 was spent mostly in setting up the Vivekananda International Foundation, a Delhibased think tank with a centreright intellectual perspective.

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India-Pakistan

US to work with India on nuclear non-proliferation

2009-03-24

WASHINGTON-The Obama administration wants to build on a U.S.-India civilian nuclear power deal to work with the Indians to strengthen the global non-proliferation system, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Monday. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said the 2005 atomic power deal allowing New Delhi to import nuclear technology after a 33-year freeze gave both countries a duty to shore up the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty system. “Both the United States and India have the responsibility to help to craft a strengthened NPT regime to foster safe, affordable nuclear power to help the globe’s energy and environment needs, while assuring against the spread of nuclear weapons,” he said. India, which is not a signatory to the NPT, is nonetheless ”in the position to look at the kinds of commitments it can make to be part of an international approach,” Steinberg said at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. The 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group agreed in September to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India, imposed after its first nuclear test in 1974 and for its refusal to join the NPT. Washington overcame significant opposition to win the NSG waiver in order to implement the nuclear cooperation pact, a key strategic, clean energy, environmental and commercial goal of the United States. India’s special envoy for nuclear issues and climate change said the nuclear deal and NSG waiver meant his country was “now accepted as a partner in the global nuclear domain.” “Thanks to the civil nuclear agreement, we are now, potentially at a different level of engagement on these hitherto sensitive and even contentious issues,” envoy Shyam Saran said at Brookings. “How we deal with bringing India and Pakistan into the NPT world is a critical question,” Steinberg said. How Washington and New Delhi would cooperate on non-proliferation issues would be worked out in talks once the Obama administration filled key posts and following India’s general elections in April and May, he added.

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India-Pakistan

Lift restriction on dual use technology trade: India to US

2009-03-24

India on Monday pressed the new Barack Obama Administration to lift the "unnecessary" restrictions on international trade with India on dual use items and technology. Addressing a meeting at the prestigious Brookings Institute, a Washington-based think-tank, Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Climate Change Shyam Saran also hoped that America would scrap the so-called entity list, which prohibits sale of US technology to a number of Indian companies. Saran, who played an influential role in the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal in various capacities, said: "With the opening up of nuclear commerce with India, there is a need now to review and remove these unnecessary restrictions on international trade with dual use item and technology." As India's economy matures and its industry moves into higher-end manufacturing, the demand for high technology goods and services is destined for a major boost. And the US, of course, remains preferred source of such goods and services, he said. "It is also our hope that the so-called Entity List, which still prohibits sale of US technology and goods to a number of Indian high-tech companies, will be scrapped sooner or later. The positive impact of a more liberal technology trade regime is already beginning to make an impact on India's sourcing of defence hardware from the US," Saran said. Thanks to the historic Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, Saran said, the two countries are now on a different level of engagement on the "hitherto sensitive and even contentious" issues of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament, compared to the past. "The success of the civil nuclear initiative has engendered a sense of assurance and confidence enables us to look proactively and not defensively, at a new global agenda for nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament," Saran, who had been the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Nuclear Deal, said.

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Down Under

Silly not to sell uranium to India: Robb

2008-03-31

The Rudd government will be forced to reverse its "hypocritical" ban on uranium exports to India, the federal opposition says. It described the ban, implemented shortly after Labor won the November federal election, as "stupidity" because Australia freely sold uranium to states such as China and Russia. Opposition foreign affair spokesman Andrew Robb says it is hypocritical to deny India, which has always abided by the rules of non-proliferation despite not being party to international agreements, the benefits of nuclear technology while China gains full access. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's new government made clear to India soon after taking office that it had no intention of changing its policy of only selling uranium to countries which were party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith passed on this view to Indian special envoy Shyam Saran in January. Mr Robb says he expects the government will be forced ultimately to overturn its decision. "The Rudd government position is wrong and unsustainable," Mr Robb told the Sydney Institute. "The decision also reflects confused and inconsistent policy priorities given that one of Mr Rudd's supposed three pillars of his foreign policy is enhancing relations with Asia. "Ultimately, I expect that the Rudd government will need to reverse this decision not to sell Australian yellowcake to India. "The decision and the amateur way in which the decision was communicated to the Indian government has left a very bitter taste in Indian mouths." The former Howard coalition government agreed in August last year to sell uranium to India subject to the finalisation of a US-India nuclear technology exchange deal and the conclusion of a bilateral Australia-India safeguards agreement. "It was proposed that Australia sell uranium to India according to the identical strict safeguards under which we sell uranium to China and Russia," Mr Robb said. "In years gone by, China has sold nuclear technology to Pakistan and North Korea - unlike India which has abided by the NPT obligations, even from the outside." It would be "highly hypocritical" to deny India - provided it fully met agreed conditions - the technology while China benefited from full nuclear access. India and Australia were two great democracies sharing the common values and interests of democracies, Mr Robb said. "This is a critical moment in seeking to cement an Australian-Indian strategic partnership - a relationship of great importance to Australia's interests and Australia's future. "It is a strategic partnership that can be built around the challenge of energy in an energy-hungry world, while simultaneously addressing two of the great challenges of our time - climate change and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons."

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India-Pakistan

Australia not to sell uranium to India

2007-05-24

MELBOURNE — Australia will not sell uranium to India until it signs the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane has said. The minister’s remarks were in contrast to the recent hints from Prime Minister John Howard that Australia could shift its policy and allow yellowcake to be exported to India. “The answer is no,” Macfarlane said adding “the Australian uranium industry can prosper without India, that's my answer. “We have a prohibition on the basis they have not signed the NPT,” he told The Age newspaper. As recently as March, Howard appeared to leave open the prospect of Australian uranium sales to India. Speaking during a visit by India's nuclear envoy Shyam Saran, the prime minister said: “We see India as a very responsible country. The relationship between Australia and India is growing. It's a very important relationship. They will be considerations that we will bear in mind.” Asked about the steps the government is taking towards a framework for nuclear power in Australia, Macfarlane said companies, which he declined to name, have already approached him to discuss commercial opportunities to enrich uranium in Australia.

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India-Pakistan

Australia not to sell uranium to India

2007-05-23

MELBOURNE: Australia will not sell uranium to India until it signs the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane has said. The Minister's remarks were in contrast to the recent hints from Prime Minister John Howard that Australia could shift its policy and allow yellowcake to be exported to India. "The answer is no," Macfarlane said adding "the Australian uranium industry can prosper without India, that's my answer. "We have a prohibition on the basis they have not signed the NPT," he told The Age newspaper. As recently as March, Howard appeared to leave open the prospect of Australian uranium sales to India. Speaking during a visit by India's nuclear envoy Shyam Saran, the Prime Minister said: "We see India as a very responsible country. The relationship between Australia and India is growing. It's a very important relationship. They will be considerations that we will bear in mind." Asked about the steps the government is taking towards a framework for nuclear power in Australia, Macfarlane said companies, which he declined to name, have already approached him to discuss commercial opportunities to enrich uranium in Australia. Macfarlane warned that Australia could not go down the nuclear route unless there was clear bipartisan support and the public accepted nuclear energy.

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India-Pakistan

Hafiz Saeed’s detention: Ground cleared for Singh and Musharraf to meet

2006-08-11

NEW DELHI: Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Mohammad Saeed’s house arrest in Lahore could pave the way for a meeting between Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit to be held in Havana in the middle of September. I wouldn't get too excited. It's a house arrest. When they're under house arrest in Pak, they have the habit of leaving the house and going anywhere they damned well please. And it's only for a month. I'd call it a charade. Indian officials see the LT founder’s month-long detention as a ‘welcome development’. After dialogue between the foreign secretaries of the two countries in Dhaka earlier this month, it is believed that a senior Pakistani official visited India recently, and met an Indian interlocutor to prepare the ground for the summit meeting. Sources said that after the Mumbai blasts, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved ‘punitive measures’ against Pakistan, he directed that ‘these should not end up in permanent hostility’. Which makes no sense at all. Indian officials said Sayeed’s arrest was a welcome move because Indians believed that a resumption of dialogue was not acceptable if practical steps were not taken in Islamabad to control terrorists allegedly operating from Pakistan. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said in Dhaka that Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Jamaatud Dawa, and Syed Salahuddin, chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen, were roaming free in Pakistan. Sayeed and Salahuddin’s arrests were only ‘some of the actions that Pakistan could take easily’, said Saran while referring to Pakistan’s claims that it was doing all it could to fight terrorism. Officials, however, brushed aside reports that India had given a ‘non-paper’ to Pakistan, envisaging the return of Jammu and Kashmir to its pre-1953 status, which granted it autonomy in most subjects.

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India-Pakistan

India Accuses Pakistan In Railroad Bombings

2006-07-16

The bombers who targeted Bombay's rail system had support from inside Pakistan, India's prime minister said, warning that the nuclear-armed rivals' peace process could be derailed unless Islamabad reins in terrorists. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's unusually blunt comments on Friday appeared to signal an abrupt shift in relations between India and Pakistan, whose ties had warmed over the past two years. Initial fallout came quickly, with high-level India-Pakistan talks planned for July 20 canceled, news reports said Saturday. The Hindustan Times, quoting unidentified officials, said the talks would not be held as planned between the foreign secretaries of the two countries. Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran declined Friday to say whether the talks would proceed as planned. But while insisting the peace process would continue, he told reporters that "Cooperation is a two-way street." Also Friday, investigators named a third suspect in the carefully coordinated bombings that shattered first-class commuter rail cars Tuesday, killing more than 200 people. "We will leave no stone unturned -- I reiterate, no stone unturned -- in ensuring that terrorist elements in India are neutralized and smashed," Singh told reporters in Bombay.

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-Lurid Crime Tales-

Indo-Pak Foreign Secy-level talks officially called off

2006-07-15

Toughening its stand after the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, India on Saturday formally told Pakistan that the Foreign Secretary-level talks had been called off. The talks were scheduled for July 20. New dates for the talks, meant to review the third round of composite dialogue, have also not been proposed. The new dates will be decided later, diplomatic sources said. The decision was conveyed by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to the Pakistan High Commission, a day after the government emphasised that the attacks in Mumbai had "vitiated" the atmosphere for the talks. This move will also be conveyed by Indian High Commission in Islamabad to Pakistan Foreign Office. Earlier, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said that the Mumbai blasts had put a "question mark" on the peace initiative with Pakistan as "it is becoming difficult" for India to take forward the process in view of the terror strike. "Each time such incident takes place, we point out that our ability, like in any democracy, to take the peace process forward is dependent on public opinion," he told reporters. "We have to take people along. Every time something like this takes place, it undermines public opinion. Negative public opinion and anger is created and whether we like it or not, it puts a question mark on the process," Saran said. Refusing to specify what could be the threshold for tolerance of terrorism, he simply said that "as a result of this terrible terrorist incident, it is becoming difficult to take the peace process forward." Another Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said that the talks with Pakistan were not on New Delhi's immediate agenda. Saran, however, emphasised that India was "very much committed" to the peace process with Pakistan and pointed out that New Delhi had initiated a number of confidence-building measures, most of which relate to Jammu and Kashmir.

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India-Pakistan

All terror attacks are inter-linked: Saran

2006-07-15

(Indian) Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran has said that the recent terror attacks are all inter-linked. "We'll review the progress of cooperation with Pakistan. Showing no tolerance to terror is only option," Saran said. Saying a segmented approach to terrorism won't do, he asked those fighting the menace to share information. Secretary level talks scheduled between India and Pakistan have been cancelled after New Delhi said it was convinced of Pakistan's involvement in the serial blasts in Mumbai. The July 11 blasts, which were one of the worst to have hit India, claimed 179 lives and injured 770 people. Pakistan, on its part, has consistently been denying any involvement in the Mumbai blasts and has offered assistance in the investigations. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Mumbai and made a direct reference to the Pakistani connection in the blasts. He said that the peace talks would not continue unless Pakistan curbed cross border terrorism. "We have been trying to normalise relations with Pakistan but we have explained to the government of Pakistan at the highest level that unless Pakistan curbs terrorist activities, no government can continue with a peace process. "Pakistan had assured us in 2004 that it would not aid and abet terrorism on its soil it has to fulfill that obligation," said Singh. The talks were to be held on July 21, during which the two sides were to review the third round of their composite dialogue. There has been another fallout of the serial blasts in Mumbai. Two MPs Sandeep Diskhit and Brinda Karat, who were to travel to Pakistan on Sunday, to take part in the Commonwealth parliamentarians' conference in Islamabad have cancelled their visit. The Commonwealth conference is being held to discuss gender issue.

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India-Pakistan

U.S., India try to rescue nuclear deal

2006-05-17

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior U.S. and Indian officials plan to meet in London next week to try and rescue an imperiled agreement that would give India access to U.S. nuclear energy technology for the first time in three decades. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, the lead U.S. negotiator, said he and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran agreed on the talks in a phone call on Tuesday. "We agreed to meet to go over all aspects of the U.S.-India agreement so we can move this along on both sides .. We agreed to meet next week in London," Burns said in remarks at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He did not specify a day. The nuclear agreement has run into serious trouble in Washington and New Delhi, where critics on both sides complain their side got too little and the other side got too much. In the United States, Congress must approve the deal, which was first agreed in principle by President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last July 18. The leading Democratic supporter, Rep. Tom Lantos of California, last week said the accord lacked the support needed to pass and proposed a compromise intended to keep it alive but which could delay the process. It was a cold dose of reality since the administration, Burns in particular, has been upbeat about quick passage of the agreement, which would radically alter 30 years of U.S. policy designed to punish India because it developed nuclear weapons in contravention of international norms. Burns said he would meet Lantos on Wednesday and declined to publicly critique the lawmaker's compromise. Another senior U.S. State Department official last week rejected Lantos' proposal and Burns said "we feel we have put our best foot forward." But Burns also seemed to leave the door open to discussion saying he would share with Lantos "our ideas about how this agreement should best be put forward for a vote." He said Congress had finished its hearings on the issue and he hoped for a vote, "perhaps this summer." Lantos last week said there are too few days left on the legislative calendar to resolve disputed issues this year. Under Lantos' initiative, Congress would welcome both the nuclear deal and vastly improved relations with the world's largest democracy. But the proposal would delay making critical changes in U.S. law until the two countries negotiated a stalled formal peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement -- implementing last July's political deal -- and until India agreed on a system of inspections of its civil nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Washington has given India a draft text of the implementing agreement but there has been no formal reply from New Delhi, according to congressional and expert sources. The Indians have objected to a provision -- standard in such accords -- asserting the United States has the legal right to halt nuclear cooperation if India tests a nuclear weapon. India wants assurances the flow of technology, including reactors and fuel, will not be interrupted. Without saying how the dispute could be settled, Burns said he was confident India would abide by its July 18 commitment to maintain a voluntary testing moratorium. Many non-proliferation experts and lawmakers have expressed concern about the U.S.-India deal, arguing it could allow India to increase its nuclear weapons stockpile. Burns rejected this analysis. India never signed the nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, developing weapons in contravention of international norms.

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Afghanistan

Taliban threatens to kill hostage, wants all Indians to leave Afghanistan

2006-04-29

Taliban militia, holding an Indian engineer hostage in southern Afghanistan, on Saturday evening threatened to kill him if all Indians do not leave the country within 24 hours. The threat has prompted the the government to intensify efforts to secure his early and safe release. Hyderabad-based family of 41-year-old K Suryanarayan, who was abducted on Friday evening on Kandahar-Kabul highway in Hassan Kareiz district of Zabul, appealed the abductors to free him without any harm. His Afghan driver was also abducted. A high-level meeting, chaired by Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi, was held in New Delhi to review the evolving developments. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also being briefed about the situation. A father of three, Suryanarayan had gone to Afghanistan four months ago and was working with a Bahrain-based company 'Al Moayyad' which is engaged in a project for Afghan mobile phone service provider Roshan Telecom. Issuing the threat, a man claiming to be the spokesman for Taliban called up a news agency and claimed that Suryanarayan was an "American spy". "We warn all Indians working here to leave Afghanistan within 24 hours starting 6 pm (7 pm IST) today, otherwise we will kill him," the caller identifying himself as Qari Yousef Ahmadi was quoted saying. Ahmadi releases regular statements on behalf of Taliban. Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said the government was in touch with the Afghan authorities and had intensified efforts to seek early and safe release of the hostage. Saran asserted that India will "continue to fulfil its solemn commitments to Afghanistan's development", pointing out that "our presence in that country is to promote the welfare of the people" of that country. He said Indians, working on various projects in Afghanistan, are making a contribution to the much-needed economic recovery and reconstruction of the friendly country and vast majority of people of that country had welcomed this. India has also contacted the US-led International Security Force deployed in Zabul province where the abduction took place, the Foreign Secretary said. "We are constantly monitoring the situation," he said, adding Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood was in constant touch with Afghan National Security Adviser and other senior officials besides the employers of Suryanarayan and the telecom company whose project is being executed. "We would like to assure Suryanarayan's family that no stone is being left unturned to obtain his release. We share their pain and grief and their anxiety and will continue with our efforts using all the resources at hand," he said. Shocked family members of Suryanarayan, who has two daughters and a son, appealed to the abductors to release him without harm. Suryanarayan's father Chandrashekar urged the government to take immediate steps for his safe release. An official of Afghan mobile phone company Roshan, which had contracted 'Al Moayyad' to help expand its network across the volatile southern provinces, was quoted as saying by a news agency that his firm had no word on the Indian's fate.

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