My incoherent thinking on recent happenings

1. Australian Tennis team refuses to play in Devis Cup matches in India.
2. According to some papers Taleban has entered in Kashmir.
3. G20 summit many countries including China pledges to pump more money to IMF.
4. Few senior Indian diplomats visiting SriLanka to discuss the LTTE situation.
5. SriLanka refuses Visa to the Swedish Foreign Minister.
   

To me they all appear connected and show our in-ability as a nation to take hard decisions or think big.

Australian team can refuse to play in India citing shifting of IPL to SA. They have a reason that if IPL has been moved out from India it was for some logic. Their cricket team has been refusing to tour Pak for quite sometime. Kudos to South Africa which can hold IPL even though they too are going through their own General Elections. Remember sometime back our Foreign Minister going to Australia. Some of the reports suggested this visit was after Aussies refused to supply India some of the minerals which could be supposedly used for Nukes.

Taleban enters Kashmir and our Army chief says that Pakistan is still providing helping hand to Terrorists. Recollect what was our response to 26/11? A big set of papers and hue cry in front of media that we have stopped all the dialogues with Pak (which we did indeed) till they stop aiding terrorists. So how is that they come again?

All the developed countries are pumping money into IMF & Worldbank type of organizations so that these institutions can put more money for loans to developing world and others. China is not in the list of countries who will receive loan but is in the list of donors who pledged more money to these institutions. So who will receive it, many countries including Pakistan, and who else, India ofcourse the world’s fifth largest economy.

For much of 60s-70s- 80s we were always clubbed with Pakistan with many can hardly distinguish any difference between an Indian and Pakistani (very often the same ‘derogatory’ term will be for both the citizens) in 90s with some real politic and hard nosed economic decisions we started pulling away from the likes of Pakistan and started imagining ourselves in the league of China.

Yet China was always acknowledged as a power and is a permanent member of security council. India briefly flirted with and tried to make a strong case for a permanent membership but it has died down in the changed world after 9/11.

So where are we now. Back to blaming Pakistan and almost like school goers ‘if you do not give me my pencil I will not talk to you’ and when few more enter into Kashmir ‘I will still not talk to you if you take my rubber also’.

Now Srilanka is decisively winning a war which it is fighting for more than 2 decades. To dodge our internal political bickering which has become spicier due to the elections we send some of our top notch diplomats to Srilanka. But what is their brief? Is it to stop the war? Or is it to allow trapped civilians to get to a safer place? Or do they have a solution which could be favourable to the Srilankan Govt?

Does India has any leverage on Srilanka? It was in 80s when we can send our army to support them but since then our neglect has made them drift towards Pakistan and China and today they source most of their arms from these two countries and hardly depend on India for anything. (even the quick-ness with which Srilanka responded in sending their cricket team to Pak after India refused to send Indian team that to after 26/11 shows how govt in Srilanka could be thinking).

When was the last time our PM/President or some very senior govt official visited Srilanka. When was the last time we invited Srilankan President/PM to india and accorded them state guests status? Why would we expect Srilanka to listen to us? Our refusal to identify a very good friend has give a big foothold to China in Indian Ocean. Practically also it is very hard for India to back or even seen to be backing LTTE as most of their funding remain dubious. Also LTTE has never claimed any friendship with us and is directly accused in killing our former PM. A practical decision would have allowed us to back Srilankan war against LTTE and get back some of warmth in the relationship. Also it does not help that on the same 'Ram' who is questioned in India, Srilanka is trying to identify places attached to 'Ram' and develop them as a tourist attraction.

And think of it Srilanka not allowing visa to a very prominent minister. Remember the stream of visitors we had after 26/11 and everyone urged us to remain calm but no one said for how long?