BlackSonic
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NEW DELHI: The change of guard in PMO, with former foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon taking over as National Security Adviser is likely to lead to greater focus on India's borders -- an arc of interest encompassing ******, Sri Lanka, Nepal, China and Myanmar.
Given Menon's facility with neighbouring nations, his appointment as NSA is seen to indicate that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is keen on tackling somelong-running sores. Stability in India's ties with countries vital to its geo-political interests may well be top priority for the PM in his second term.
Sources confirmed that a renewed engagement with neighbours was on the cards. And while pushing peace with Pakistan remained a fraught project -- as the row over IPL excluding Pakistani cricketers showed -- there would no lack in India's effort to mend ties as long as Islamabad clearly understood the need to convincingly crack down on terrorism.
A start has already been made with India reciprocating Dhaka's cooperation over terror by a generous line of credit and removing the Tipaimukh dam, seen as an irritant in Bangladesh's internal politics, from bilateral discourse. Former NSA M K Narayanan was very much part of the Bangladesh script, but the new NSA's job may be much more geared to fashioning a cooperative doctrine.
Singh feels the need to frame a response to the surge in China's clout. His discussions with foreign leaders like Russia's Dmitri Medvedev and Vladimir Putin besides others, have convinced him of the need to fashion a sound approach to the newly assertive neighbour. Menon has a less alarmist view on China, and dismisses the "string of pearls" theory of military encirclement of India as a "pretty ineffective murder weapon".
An engagement with China without straining ties is pretty much what the PM believes is necessary. The bellicose Chinese response to Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang last year did surprise India and caliberating relations in a manner that takes into account China's super-power aspirations as well as internal anxieties over Tibet and Xinjiang will need skill, patience and firmness.
Sources said India was better placed to improve ties with Sri Lanka and Myanmar today than has been the case previously. The defeat of LTTE has created massive human challenges in terms of displaced persons but Tamils are being wooed by both the leading candidates in Sri Lanka's national elections. Though Tamils remain cautious, they could be one of the deciding factors. Cooperation with Myanmar was progressing as the junta there had acted against anti-India insurgents.
The mood on Pakistan post the Sharm el-Sheikh fiasco is cautious. But the PM has tried to push for peace in the past once telling a TV interviewer in May last year that he and former Pakistan president Gen Pervez Musharraf had been close to a "non-territorial" solution on Kashmir.
In his capacity as NSA, Narayanan often did the plain-talking on security, not mincing words on threats like jihadi groups or Left-wing extremists. He has on occasion spoken frankly about India's atomic establishments being targets, of terror money in stock markets or of marine jihadis. In short, he presented what is seen as a hard-nosed view of the security situation.
A foreign service professional with an eye for historical processes, Menon is more in sync with the PM's view that some out-of-the-box thinking was needed to break time-defying logjams. Though Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement has now been abandoned, the ill-fated document reflected PM's desire to move beyond the "obvious". The Baluchistan reference was explained as reflective of India's confidence that it had "nothing to hide".
It is not that Menon isn't pragmatic on Pakistan. "If you owe the bank enough, you end up owning it" is the pithy manner in which he likes to sum up Pakistan's ability to leverage the US. The PM himself has insisted that unequivocal steps against terror by Pakistan are a must.
Menon's role in the India-US nuclear deal makes it obvious that he will not be confined to neighbourhood issues alone. The PM is quite conscious of India's role in world affairs but it is also felt that it can't be bypassed on any number of issues ranging from climate change to economic recovery. Setting India's backyard in order can't be put off much longer.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 493000.cms
Given Menon's facility with neighbouring nations, his appointment as NSA is seen to indicate that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is keen on tackling somelong-running sores. Stability in India's ties with countries vital to its geo-political interests may well be top priority for the PM in his second term.
Sources confirmed that a renewed engagement with neighbours was on the cards. And while pushing peace with Pakistan remained a fraught project -- as the row over IPL excluding Pakistani cricketers showed -- there would no lack in India's effort to mend ties as long as Islamabad clearly understood the need to convincingly crack down on terrorism.
A start has already been made with India reciprocating Dhaka's cooperation over terror by a generous line of credit and removing the Tipaimukh dam, seen as an irritant in Bangladesh's internal politics, from bilateral discourse. Former NSA M K Narayanan was very much part of the Bangladesh script, but the new NSA's job may be much more geared to fashioning a cooperative doctrine.
Singh feels the need to frame a response to the surge in China's clout. His discussions with foreign leaders like Russia's Dmitri Medvedev and Vladimir Putin besides others, have convinced him of the need to fashion a sound approach to the newly assertive neighbour. Menon has a less alarmist view on China, and dismisses the "string of pearls" theory of military encirclement of India as a "pretty ineffective murder weapon".
An engagement with China without straining ties is pretty much what the PM believes is necessary. The bellicose Chinese response to Dalai Lama's visit to Tawang last year did surprise India and caliberating relations in a manner that takes into account China's super-power aspirations as well as internal anxieties over Tibet and Xinjiang will need skill, patience and firmness.
Sources said India was better placed to improve ties with Sri Lanka and Myanmar today than has been the case previously. The defeat of LTTE has created massive human challenges in terms of displaced persons but Tamils are being wooed by both the leading candidates in Sri Lanka's national elections. Though Tamils remain cautious, they could be one of the deciding factors. Cooperation with Myanmar was progressing as the junta there had acted against anti-India insurgents.
The mood on Pakistan post the Sharm el-Sheikh fiasco is cautious. But the PM has tried to push for peace in the past once telling a TV interviewer in May last year that he and former Pakistan president Gen Pervez Musharraf had been close to a "non-territorial" solution on Kashmir.
In his capacity as NSA, Narayanan often did the plain-talking on security, not mincing words on threats like jihadi groups or Left-wing extremists. He has on occasion spoken frankly about India's atomic establishments being targets, of terror money in stock markets or of marine jihadis. In short, he presented what is seen as a hard-nosed view of the security situation.
A foreign service professional with an eye for historical processes, Menon is more in sync with the PM's view that some out-of-the-box thinking was needed to break time-defying logjams. Though Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement has now been abandoned, the ill-fated document reflected PM's desire to move beyond the "obvious". The Baluchistan reference was explained as reflective of India's confidence that it had "nothing to hide".
It is not that Menon isn't pragmatic on Pakistan. "If you owe the bank enough, you end up owning it" is the pithy manner in which he likes to sum up Pakistan's ability to leverage the US. The PM himself has insisted that unequivocal steps against terror by Pakistan are a must.
Menon's role in the India-US nuclear deal makes it obvious that he will not be confined to neighbourhood issues alone. The PM is quite conscious of India's role in world affairs but it is also felt that it can't be bypassed on any number of issues ranging from climate change to economic recovery. Setting India's backyard in order can't be put off much longer.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 493000.cms
