Shah Rukh Khan on Shiv Sena *hit list*

LAHORE: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said on Saturday Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan deserved to be awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian honour, Nishaan-e-Pakistan, for supporting the inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Hindustan Times reported.

The Bollywood superstar, also the Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner, had said that he would have picked a Pakistani player for his IPL team if his team had a slot. In an editorial in Saturday’s party mouthpiece Saamna, Thackeray said the “Khan” inside Shah Rukh Khan must be crushed by the “Har Har Mahadev” war cry of the “Shivaji” inside the Hindus. The remark was reference to Chhatrapati Shivaji’s killing of Bijapur general Afzal Khan, sent by Sultan Adil Shah II of Bijapur in 1659, at Pratapgad in Satara district of western Maharashtra.

IPL franchise owners did not bid for Pakistani players during the auction for the IPL III, which has snowballed into a major spat between the two countries.

Thackeray said if “Shah Rukh wants to give a red carpet treatment to Pakistani cricketers on the blood of innocent Indians slain by Pakistani terrorists from Kashmir to Mumbai”, then, Thackeray warned, the Shiv Sena will never permit it.

He said by supporting the cause of Pakistani players, Shah Rukh had insulted the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Thackeray said, “Since SRK has so much love for the Pakistanis, he could appoint 26/11 terror accused Ajmal Kasab as the captain of his Kolkata Knight Riders team and Mohammed Afzal Guru (facing death penalty for the 2001 attack on parliament) as the vice captain in the forthcoming IPL matches”. In a related development, Congress state spokesman Hussain Dalwai wrote to state Home Minister RR Patil demanding security for Shah Rukh’s forthcoming release “My Name Is Khan”. daily times monitor. Sunday, January 31, 2010,
Shah Rukh Khan deserves Nishaan-e-Pakistan, says Bal Thackeray

Facing isolation, Delhi back peddles on Taliban

RupeeNews

This months saw a lot of reversals for Delhi’s foreign policy. Still reeling from its eviction from Tajikistan, Delhi once again faces an about face and U turn on the Taliban. For a decade Bharat (aka India) has been espousing a hardline stance on Afghanistan–no negotiation, continued, war, perpetual occupation, and rejection of the anti-occupation forces.

Turkey did not even bother to invite Bharat to the regional conference on Afghanistan–all the immediate neighbors put up a joint front which essentially established a negotiating framework between the current government and the Taliban.

In London, Delhi again started with its old rhetoric of not negotiating with the Taliban. Its advice and stance fell on deaf ears. Neither the US, nor the UK–nor even China or Russia had any appetite for Delhi’s conspiracy theories about Pakistan and the Taliban.

“We are willing to give it a try,” Krishna told the Times of India in an interview published on Saturday.

“If the Taliban meets the three conditions put forward – acceptance of the Afghan constitution, severing connections with al Qaeda and other terrorist groups and renunciation of violence, and are accepted in the mainstream of Afghan politics and society, we could do business.”

Krishna’s comments come after ministers from 60 countries met in London on Thursday to endorse a plan to win over Taliban foot soldiers with cash and jobs in a renewed effort to turn the tide in the eight-year-old war..

While accepting the reality of the new plan on the Taliban, Krishna made clear the Indian discomfort with the group, saying its fundamental assessment of the Taliban remained unchanged.

“We consider them to be terrorists who have close links with the al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups,” he told the daily.

“We are next door and our experiences make it difficult for us to differentiate between good or bad Taliban,” he said, adding the West saw the group “from far away”.

Besides trying to lure away Taliban fighters from the insurgency, Afghan President Hamid Karzai has also offered to hold talks with the top leaders of the Taliban. The Taliban have not yet responded to his latest appeal.: India is willing to back efforts to seek peace with Taliban to stabilise Afghanistan, foreign minister S.M. Krishna said, indicating a softening of stand towards the group.DELHINEW

The Times of India in fact admitted the total failure of the Bharati foreign policy viz a viz West Asia. Nor only has Bharat failed to isolate Pakistan–Delhi’s big drama on Mumbai has isolated the country from Russia, China, America, Afghanistan, West Asia and Pakistan.

Delhi’s inane stance on non-negotiation with Pakistan has no seekers. Neither Pakistan, nor the world is bothered if Bharat wants to perpetuate its illogical belligerence towards one of the most important countries of West and South Asia. By continueing its animosity towards Pakistan on all forums Bharat has been ignored.

Obviously Bharat will now go to the drawing board, figuring out best case and worst case scenarios on the Hindu Kush. Once it has been determined that Bharat has to vacate its dozen or so Consulates, she will try to bifurcate Afghanistan into spheres of influence. Failing which it will continue to sponsor terror into Pakistan through mercenaries.

‘It seems that the Indian polity is divided, India is confused’: Shah Mahmood Qureshi

RupeeNews

LONDON: Referring to the meeting between the two ministers in New York September last, Shah Mahmood Qureshi clarified: “I gave him (S M Krishna) a very crisp proposal, a roadmap for the future. He said he would get back to me, but he has not got back to me. That means he has nothing to offer.” He persisted: “It seems that the Indian polity is divided, India is confused.”

The war of words between India and Pakistan has escalated with external affairs minister S M Krishna on Friday attempting damage control after his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s accusations against India a day earlier. Both ministers were in London to attend the Afghanistan Conference.

Qureshi had also stated that the MEA was divided on Pakistan. Krishna retorted: “I don’t know what makes him say that the MEA speaks in two voices. I think there is total unity of thinking in the ministry and unity of approach.”

LONDON: A one-day international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday rejected India’s argument that there were no degrees of Talibanism. British

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, hosting the conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, announced in his opening address the establishment of a $500 million ‘trust fund’ to buy “peace and integration” with warriors who are engaged in violence for economic rather than ideological reasons. A whopping $140 million has been pledged already for this year.

During his pre-conference discussion with the British foreign secretary David Miliband, external affairs minister S M Krishna had specifically said, “There should be no distinction between a good Taliban and a bad Taliban.” But this clearly fell on deaf ears. It was also unclear whether remnants of Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance, once cultivated by India, would be accommodated in any way. There was also no reference to the erstwhile foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah, who put up a spirited fight in the first round of the recent controversial presidential election and exposed fraud before withdrawing from the contest.

Krishna was allocated a seat in the second of three rows of attendees at the conference which in itself reflected India’s peripheral role in Afghan affairs in the eyes of the international community. This, despite India being the biggest regional aid-giver to Afghanistan, with a commitment of $1.3 million. Earlier in the week, Turkey, an ally of Pakistan, did not even bother to invite India to a confabulation on Afghanistan.

Krishna was among more than 70 foreign ministers and officials of international organisations who attended the convention at the 185-year-old Lancaster House, a coveted venue for summits and high level interactions.

Pakistan supports a differentiation between Taliban segments, including being generally soft towards the Afghan Taliban, which was sponsored by the Pakistani Army’s Inter-Services Intelligence. In an interview to a British daily on Thursday, foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi claimed: “Pakistan is perhaps better placed than any other country in the world to support Afghan reintegration and reconciliation.”

As a goodwill gesture, the conference was preceded by a lifting of United Nations sanctions on five leaders of the obscurantist Taliban regime, which was ousted by armed forces led by the United States after the 9/11 attack on New York by the Afghanistan-based Al Qaida. Among the beneficiaries is a former foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil.

However, Brown warned, “But those insurgents who refuse to accept the conditions for reintegration, we have no choice but to pursue them militarily.” It is widely believed that hardcore elements among the extremists will not accept the amnesty.

In keeping with United States President Barack Obama’s plan to start withdrawing American troops in a little over 18 months, Brown also declared that to fill the breach the strength of the Afghan army would be increased to 134,000 by October of this year and to 171,600 by October 2011. Corresponding enlargements would also occur in respect of the Afghan police. The template for Afghanistan is similar to the one utilised in Iraq, that of handover of responsibilities province by province to national security forces. Times of India. World rejects India’s Taliban stand

Pakistan offers to train Afghan army

Daily.Pk

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Pakistan has offered training to Afghanistan army and police and also offered to increase cooperation in various fields with Afghanistan.

Talking to a private TV channel said that in the conference the importance of Pakistan was admitted and besides military options, other options for the solution of Afghanistan issue were also discussed.” We would have to move forward by keeping the ground realities in mind, “ adding, “ the Afghanistan government has sought help from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in talks with Taliban”.

Qureshi said that Afghanistan has to prepare 0.3 million army and police officials by 2011.

“According to Pakistan point of view, the conference was very successful and addressing our reservations is our great success”, he added. He said that Hamid Karzai has sought five years time for normalizing the situation in his country.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the international conference in London on Afghanistan’s future, marked a “decisive” moment in Afghanistan’s history.

While he warned that British and international troops fighting the Taliban would face more “tough times” ahead, he said a process was being put in place that would enable them to return home.

“It will take time but I believe that the conditions set out in the plan that we will sign up today can be met sooner than many expect and, as a result, the process of handover district-by-district will begin later this year,” he said speaking to a 60-nation conference in London. “It will mark the beginning of a new phase and a decisive step towards Afghans taking responsibility for their own security.”