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2004-01-21 Home Front

Bush Seeking Better U.S.-India Relations

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Posted by Steve White 2004-01-21 12:52:38 AM|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1760 views since 2007-05-07] Top

1 One word here...UGH. I trust the Indian government as far as I can throw it..no sorry...even less than that. Heck I'm Indian and even I'm admitting that. While theres a lot of reasons to have India on friendly terms, they aren't exactly fully on our side.

Posted by Val 2004-1-21 5:06:29 AM|| 2004-1-21 5:06:29 AM|| Front Page Top

2 Val, I tend to agree with you but still think India is a natural ally in the WOT and worth cultivating. Just have to get them past all that socialism nonsense.

Posted by Phil B 2004-1-21 5:53:55 AM|| 2004-1-21 5:53:55 AM|| Front Page Top

3 I had read something awhile ago that suprised me - India has one of the most consistantly anti-American voting records in the UN.
Given the UN is beyond useless so votes there count for nothing, I was still shocked by it.

Posted by JerseyMike 2004-1-21 7:47:15 AM|| 2004-1-21 7:47:15 AM|| Front Page Top

4 Given the UN is beyond useless so votes there count for nothing, I was still shocked by it.

Why would you be shocked? Read any English language paper from India on the Internet, any day of the week - they read like the People's Daily, with an Indian twist. India is no status quo power - it has territorial claims all over the region*. Unlike China, which negotiated orderly handovers with Portugal and the UK over Macao and Hong Kong, India seized Goa** from Portugal (via invasion) in the 1960's. The result? Macao and Hong Kong have First World infrastructure and are the richest cities in China, whereas Goa is just another squalid Third World backwater.

* These claims are in spite of the fact that India today is really the British empire in South Asia, with Burma, Sri Lanka, Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh detached. Pre-British rule, India did not exist as a nation - understandably so, given that India includes a real mish-mash of distinct languages within its boundaries. India is a British creation, just as today's China was a Manchu creation.

** And unlike Macao and Hong Kong, which had been part of the Chinese empire before they were ceded to Portugal and Great Britain, Goa was never part of the British empire in South Asia - it was seized by the Portuguese from the Turkish Ottoman rulers, many centuries ago, before the British colonized the South Asian subcontinent. And yet the Indians seized Goa on the basis of incredibly dubious territorial claims.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2004-1-21 10:02:30 AM|| 2004-1-21 10:02:30 AM|| Front Page Top

5 Read any English language paper from India on the Internet, any day of the week - they read like the People's Daily, with an Indian twist.

That would be China's People's Daily. You do have to read the Chinese version in translation (via Google or Altavista) to get some insight into what they're really thinking (and they're not nice, comforting thoughts).

Posted by Zhang Fei 2004-1-21 10:06:40 AM|| 2004-1-21 10:06:40 AM|| Front Page Top

6 I trust India more than I trust America - only because Bush and his gang of merry terrorist are running the government.

Posted by Outsider 2004-1-21 12:20:57 PM|| 2004-1-21 12:20:57 PM|| Front Page Top

7 Good point, Outsider! Very witty!
When will you move to India; or are you already there?
What are you doing after study hall?

Posted by Les Nessman 2004-1-21 12:32:18 PM|| 2004-1-21 12:32:18 PM|| Front Page Top

8 Goa was a third world backwater long before India siezed it.

Posted by john 2004-1-21 12:40:38 PM|| 2004-1-21 12:40:38 PM|| Front Page Top

9 I trust India more than I trust America - only because Bush and his gang of merry terrorist are running the government.

Sounds like "Outsider" is either a terrorist sympathizer or a pinko. Which one is it?

Posted by Bomb-a-rama 2004-1-21 12:49:56 PM|| 2004-1-21 12:49:56 PM|| Front Page Top

10 BAR, he's probably some trust-fund baby ditching his 1 O'clock at Berkley. He's spending his afternoon coming up w/pithy one-liners as per the above submission but is not much for substance, prose, or content. Though I am sure he can drool like a champ. However, I'm just a dumb Marine led by a rogue terrorist and his cronies - so what do I know? Maybe OS can go to India and then report back to us the finer points of their governmental process and the benfits of the caste system.

Posted by Jarhead 2004-1-21 1:31:30 PM|| 2004-1-21 1:31:30 PM|| Front Page Top

11 Mr. Outsider... this is the famed RantBurg where trolls are treasured and cuddled like baby ducks. But a RantBurg Troll is special and rare.

And frankly you're not in this league.
Have you considered BlogFoeAmerica? I understand it is very witty.

Posted by Shipman 2004-1-21 4:04:58 PM|| 2004-1-21 4:04:58 PM|| Front Page Top

12 Goa was a third world backwater long before India siezed it.

Actually, Goa was similar* to Portugal's other Asian holding, Macau, before India seized it. Macau's GDP (on a purchasing power parity basis) was $18,500 in 2002. India's (and by extension, Goa's) was $2,600. But this isn't atypical - from the Jewel of the Crown (i.e. the British empire) to one of the world's poorest countries - this is the legacy of India's inspired leadership.

* That is, a pocket of the First World in the Third World.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2004-1-21 11:48:19 PM|| 2004-1-21 11:48:19 PM|| Front Page Top

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