PM Singh Interview with Fareed Zakaria CNN

[EjazR]

Power in Pakistan rests with the army: Manmohan

Washington: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reached the United States of America on Sunday for a four-day state visit.

Singh's talks with US President Barack Obama will be wide-ranging and touch on several bilateral issues - including the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.

The Indian Prime Minister spoke exclusively to Fareed Zakaria on CNN about many issues including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indo-US civil nuclear deal and China.

On terror and Pakistan

Fareed Zakaria: Do you feel that Pakistan has done enough to bring to justice and to give you intelligence about the terrorists who planned the Mumbai attacks?

Manmohan Singh: No, they have not done enough. They have taken some steps. I have discussed this matter with (Pakistani) Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani when we met at Sharm-al-sheikh, the joint statement which we issued said. H reassured us that Pakistan will do all that is possible to bring to justice the perpetrators of Mumbai massacre. Hafeez Saeed is roaming around freely. Maulana Azhar Masood and other terrorist elements, the Lashkar-e-Toiba, which according to Pakistan's own admissions is actively involved in perpetrating massacre in Mumbai, they are moving around freely. The conspiracy took place in Pakistan so a friendly Pakistani government which would be equally determined to tackle terrorism in Pakistan would take the case to its logical conclusion but that has not happened.

Fareed Zakaria: Who do you think is running Pakistan right now?

Manmohan Singh: Well I think the most important force in Pakistan is the army. There is democracy, we would like democracy to succeed and flourish in Pakistan but we have to recognise that the power today rests virtually with the army.

Fareed Zakaria: Do you feel you have a partner in Pakistan with whom you can negotiate?

Manmohan Singh: Well I don’t know if we have a partner right now. I think when General Pervez Musharraf was there I used to ask him and he said well I am the army, I represent the armed forces, I represent the people. Now I don’t know who to deal with.

Fareed Zakaria: Do you see any prospects for productive negotiations on Kashmir with Pakistan because you were quite close to some kind of a deal with General Musharraf before he had to leave office?

Manmohan Singh: Well I publicly stated that there can be no re-drawing of borders but our two countries can work together to ensure these are borders of peace, that people to people contacts grow in a manner in which people do not worry if they are located on this side of the border or that side. If trade is free, trade people to people contacts and our both countries competing with each other to give a life of, to enable to live a life with dignity and self respect... those are issue we can discuss, reach an agreement.

Pakistan's role in Afghanistan

Fareed Zakaria: What is Pakistan's objective in Afghanistan in your view?

Manmohan Singh: I sometimes fear that Pakistan's objectives are not in harmony with the US's objectives. Pakistan sometimes feels that the Americans are short term maximisers. That if the pressure continues they will not have the courage to stick on, that they will walk away and then Afghanistan will become a natural backyard for Pakistan to influence its policies and programs.

Fareed Zakaria: Do you think the Pakistani army will ever take on the Afghan Taliban? Those terrorist elements that attack not Pakistanis but Afghans, Indians, perhaps Westerners

Manmohan Singh: I'm not certain whether the Pakistan army will take on those elements.

ON nuclear deal

Fareed Zakaria: Do you worry that there might be undue restrictions placed on these transfers and that the Obama administration may be too concerned about issues of nuclear proliferation and will not transfer technology to you?

Manmohan Singh: We are a nuclear weapon state but we are a responsible nuclear power. We have an impeccable record of not having contributed to unauthorised proliferation of these weapons of mass destruction so I think India does require greater consideration of the global community. India needs to industrialise, India needs to operate on the frontiers of modern science and technology and therefore restrictions on dual use technologies affect our growth. We need an annual growth rate of eight to nine per cent to get rid of chronic poverty ignorance and disease which still afflicts millions and millions of people in our country and in that context industrialisation and transfer of dual use technologies can play a very important role.

On China

Manmohan Singh: The rise of China has contributed handsomely to sustaining the growth momentum in the world economy and as far as India is concerned, I have said it many times before that India and China are not in competition. We believe that there is enough economic space for both our countries to realise the growth ambitions of our respective countries and that is the attitude that guides us in dealing with China.

 

[RiazHaq]

I saw the interview.

I think Fareed Zakaria is an unabashed cheerleader for India, lacking any objectivity as a journalist. He threw many softball questions at Manmohan Singh, asking him to badmouth Pakistan and China and repeat the familiar Indian positions, without ever bringing up the issues of poverty and deprivation in India, or challenges for Indian democracy. No mention of the Maoists insurgency that the Indian PM himself has described as the "greatest challenge to India's security" since independence.

It was Manmohan Singh who mentioned that India needs to sustain economic growth to bring "millions and millions" of people out of poverty.

Indians are lucky to have a leader like Manmohan Singh who knows what's important for him as the leader of the country.

Haq's Musings: Can Congress Deliver in India?

Haq's Musings: Western Myths About "Peaceful, Stable, and Prosperous" India

 

[ek_indian]

^^
I do not think MMS was saying bad about China.

 

[SU-57E]

well he is the person who is responsible for economic reforms in india...
so expectations are a lot from him..
IMO he is the best PM in last 15 years at least.
feel free to disagree.....

 

[SMC]

Fareed Zakaria is an indian who was born in india and moved to USA. I have seen some of his previous interviews and his comments and his bias towards india and against Pakistan is clear. He should not be taken too seriously by Pakistanis. Indians can take him whatever way they want.

 

[arihant]

Fareed Zakaria is an indian who was born in india and moved to USA. I have seen some of his previous interviews and his comments and his bias towards india and against Pakistan is clear. He should not be taken too seriously by Pakistanis. Indians can take him whatever way they want.

So, he should be pakistan to be unbaised. Good enough, watching your comments from sometime.

 

[SMC]

Your missing the point. He being indian will be inherently biased no matter what when it comes to Pakistan. His bias is further in his talk show which I watch every now and then to see what he is up to. His previous articles further enforce my view. Stop spinning my words.

 

[Nomad]

Your missing the point. He being indian will be inherently biased no matter what when it comes to Pakistan. His bias is further in his talk show which I watch every now and then to see what he is up to. His previous articles further enforce my view. Stop spinning my words.

The was a recent survey which a majority of Pakistanis identified themselves as Muslims first and Pakistani's second. Maybe you should give Fareed the benefit of doubt. He did not get to where he is in the white man's world by kow towing for the GOI, or for matter the Muslim cause, or the Umah. You should be thankful for a Muslim who has accomplished so much, for they are very few. However, no matter his accomplishments (no Pakistani is even in the neighbourhood), because he is an Indian he is a lesser Muslim in your books. This is why your (or any of your) concept of Umah, or Caliphate or Islamic resurgence will never suceed, because everyone who disagrees with you or any one else will be a lesser muslim. So guess what.... anyone who accomplishes anything will have enough detractors to declare them untrue Muslims

 

[SMC]

WTF? What the ****? Dude do you know me? You do realize that I am an agonstic? I do not follow or practice Islam and thus do not call myself a muslim.

As for rest of your comments, I can guarantee you he wouldn't be at CNN if he was had a pro-Pakistan bias. No Pakistani in the neighbourhood? So he made it to CNN and no other Pakistani did. Big deal. Unless your talking about a comparable career in terms of salary and there are probably several Pakistanis in US who make as much.

And stop making assumptions about me or putting words in my mouth. I don't believe being an indian makes him a lesser muslim. What it does make him is less credible when it comes to Pakistan.

 

[StingRoy]

The was a recent survey which a majority of Pakistanis identified themselves as Muslims first and Pakistani's second. Maybe you should give Fareed the benefit of doubt. He did not get to where he is in the white man's world by kow towing for the GOI, or for matter the Muslim cause, or the Umah. You should be thankful for a Muslim who has accomplished so much, for they are very few. However, no matter his accomplishments (no Pakistani is even in the neighbourhood), because he is an Indian he is a lesser Muslim in your books. This is why your (or any of your) concept of Umah, or Caliphate or Islamic resurgence will never suceed, because everyone who disagrees with you or any one else will be a lesser muslim. So guess what.... anyone who accomplishes anything will have enough detractors to declare them untrue Muslims

You just stole the words from my mouth...well put. Fareed is a respected journalist and I often watch his program. I am surprised at the response from Ahsan_R. I did not think the response from Nomad was in anyway offensive which would warrant such a reaction. All said and done I think Fareed took a safe route in the interview and did not delve deep into the subjects. (I haven't looked at the full interview only basing my comments on the excerpt posted here)

 

[SMC]

Dude, the whole caliphite, islamic resurgence angle. You think it's not offensive in the sense that he is making assumptions about who I am and putting words into my mouth?

His whole angle of Fareed being less muslim was dealt with as well.

 

[Nomad]

WTF? What the ****? Dude do you know me? You do realize that I am an agonstic? I do not follow or practice Islam and thus do not call myself a muslim.

Dude I don't know you.... I don't care if you are Muslim, agnostic, atheist, believe in the moon god or the sun god. So your belief system means nothing to me, and mine should not be to you either.

As for rest of your comments, I can guarantee you he wouldn't be at CNN if he was had a pro-Pakistan bias.

It is not just being at CNN, he would not have been there or anywhere if he had even a pro India bias or any other bias. My point is that he did it because of his abilities and I respect him for that. Your comments were:

Your missing the point. He being indian will be inherently biased no matter what when it comes to Pakistan. His bias is further in his talk show which I watch every now and then to see what he is up to. His previous articles further enforce my view. Stop spinning my words.

So he is not spinning thing the way you want to, so he is inherently biased, I have seen spin masters extraordinaire...once again, he is not where he is by blowing smoke....

No Pakistani in the neighbourhood? So he made it to CNN and no other Pakistani did. Big deal. Unless your talking about a comparable career in terms of salary and there are probably several Pakistanis in US who make as much.

I can are guarantee you that there are many Pakistanis that make more money than him, maybe even Rana at First World Immigration service. I was not talking about the money he made...but the things he has accomplished...name me one person from a Muslim background that millions of westerners respect for his balanced views.

And stop making assumptions about me or putting words in my mouth. I don't believe being an indian makes him a lesser muslim. What it does make him is less credible when it comes to Pakistan.

Your words so far has absolutely diminished him for being an Indian, no matter what he has accomplished being a Muslim in a western world, just because he doesn't spin in Pakistan's interest.

You being agnostic (as you claim) will not make you any more credible either, in this forum. I am still waiting for the GOP (who by your own words is being prevented by the US) to bring proof of RAW and CIA involvement. You keep saying you don't understand why the GOP is not presenting the proofs. It takes a lot of courage for some one from a Muslim background to say they are agnostic. It takes even more to reach the zenith of the journalistic western world Muslim world as Fareed Zakaria has done .

 

[HAIDER]

I watch his early interview...he is biased by all means. Now i skip the channel when i see this guy. Just take look at the sequence of his question, you can easily judge his pro media demand journalism jugglism...

 

[SMC]

Dude I don't know you.... I don't care if you are Muslim, agnostic, atheist, believe in the moon god or the sun god. So your belief system means nothing to me, and mine should not be to you either.

Right, so don't make the caliphate and resurgence talk without knowing.

It is not just being at CNN, he would not have been there or anywhere if he had even a pro India bias or any other bias. My point is that he did it because of his abilities and I respect him for that. Your comments were:

I am sorry but he wouldn't be at CNN if he had a pro India bias? He already is.

The Real Problem With Pakistan by Fareed Zakaria

Zakaria: Pakistan Must Choose | Newsweek Voices - Fareed Zakaria | Newsweek.com

Video: Fareed Zakaria | The Daily Show | Comedy Central

Zakaria: Pakistan's crackdown will create chaos - CNN.com <--- Read this one in particular. He wants Pakistan to do operation against TTP but at the same time wants it do be done with all the population living there so they can be killed. We know how successful Swat operation was (which he is referring to). The conclusion I get from this article is that Pakistan should do the operation and also should not.

Zakaria: Has Pakistan's Army Changed Its Stripes? | Newsweek Voices - Fareed Zakaria | Newsweek.com

I mean if these articles don't prove his bias, I don't know what could.
I have regularly watched his shows in the past and everytime Pakistan was mentioned his bias was apparant.

Additionally, CNN is not a bias free channel and has liberal leanings.

I can are guarantee you that there are many Pakistanis that make more money than him, maybe even Rana at First World Immigration service. I was not talking about the money he made...but the things he has accomplished...name me one person from a Muslim background that millions of westerners respect for his balanced views.

Westerners respecting someone for balanced view (not balanced btw) is hardly an accomplishment. Please, accomplishment does not mean people from a particular part of the world respecting you for your views. I can suck up to US by making statements. He has accomplished something in becoming such a big journalist and having his own show at CNN. That's an accomplishment. Not what you said.

And other muslim may have accomplished same respect with westerners but I don't consider that an accomplishment.

Your words so far has absolutely diminished him for being an Indian, no matter what he has accomplished being a Muslim in a western world, just because he doesn't spin in Pakistan's interest.

Being a muslim has nothing to do with this. Stop bringing that spin into that angle.

You being agnostic (as you claim) will not make you any more credible either, in this forum. I am still waiting for the GOP (who by your own words is being prevented by the US) to bring proof of RAW and CIA involvement. You keep saying you don't understand why the GOP is not presenting the proofs. It takes a lot of courage for some one from a Muslim background to say they are agnostic. It takes even more to reach the zenith of the journalistic western world Muslim world as Fareed Zakaria has done .

Not sure what you're asking me from here. You're asking me for proof and then you answered that question yourself. I do understand why GoP is not presenting the proof and you answered that yourself.

 

[SMC]

Additionally, more proof of his bias that I remember. He had an interview with Musharraf where he asked some questions. Few days or weeks later, he (Zakaria) was a guest on one of CNN's show. He raised the same question again that was answered by Musharraf, but did not say what Musharraf said. All the questions, including this one, was solidly answered by Musharraf in his interview.

In fact let me post what I posted on another forum right on the day that Zakaria came as a guest on the show in question.

Was just watching CNN with Anderson Cooper and Fareed Zakaria and some defence analyst (David Gergen I think). I can't believe how much crap and false information they were spewing against Pakistan.

They were questioning the military operation and particularly how so many civilians are being displaced, and saying that civilians being displaced will not work in the long run and that civilians being displaced is good for the Taliban. This is seriously what they said, no joke or exaggaration. Seriously WTF do they expect? Army taking out Taliban while potentially killing lots of civilians and Taliban using human shields?

Then they questioned what happened with the 10 billion dollars. Fareed Zakaria was right there with Musharraf last week when he was telling him how they 10 billion dollars were spent. But he did not speak a word about that in this interview, and continued talking like he doesn't know what happened with the 10 billion dollars.

Then Fareed Zakaria also questioned why nothing is being done in Quetta. Musharraf talked about this in his interview but he did not say anything that Musharraf said.

If you don't believe that I posted this, just ask me for the link to the forum and the date on the post should be enough.

So if the cunningness, bias and propaganda (in true sense here) was not clear, it should be now.