IF BARRY OR MAVERICK ACTUALLY UNDERSTOOD THE WORLD...:

Now it's war against India in Afghanistan (Sudha Ramachandran, 7/09/08, Asia Times)

The suicide bomber who crashed an explosive-laden car into the Indian Embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday not only killed 41 people and injured more than 140, he sent a powerful message to Delhi that its significant presence and growing influence in Afghanistan through its reconstruction projects are now in the firing line.

Among the dead were four Indians, including Defense Attache Brigadier R D Mehta, diplomat Venkateswara Rao and two guards at the embassy, who were personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police - a paramilitary outfit. The attack is said to be among the deadliest in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. [...]

Indian experts say that the needle of suspicion points to the Taliban and its backers in the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's intelligence agency. This is the view in Kabul as well. While Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said the "attack was carried out in coordination and consultation with an active intelligence service in the region" - alluding to the ISI - Karzai said the bombing was the work of the "enemies of Afghanistan-India friendship", an implicit reference to Pakistan.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was quick to deny the allegations, saying that Pakistan "needed a stable Afghanistan".

India and Afghanistan enjoy a close relationship nowadays, a matter that irks their common neighbor and traditional foe, Pakistan.

India’s Nuclear Pact With U.S. Near Completion (SOMINI SENGUPTA, 7/08/08, NY Times)

A day after India’s prime minister left for the Group of 8 summit meeting in Japan with his government intact and enough political strength to seal a landmark nuclear deal with the United States, his Communist backers announced Tuesday that they would withdraw their support of his government, ending months of political strain and allowing the government to advance its negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency. [...]

The Communists have resolutely opposed the nuclear deal, on the grounds that it would fortify strategic ties with the United States.

India's fight over 'national interest' (Soutik Biswas, 7/08/08, BBC News)

What constitutes the national interest in India, a country trying to reconcile economic growth and inequality at home and pining to claim its place in the world at the same time?

Is it a landmark nuclear deal with the United States under which India will get access to US civilian nuclear technology and fuel? [...]

India's dour communists hate anything to do with the US - they argue that the deal would give the Americans undue influence over India's foreign and nuclear policy.

Wrong, says the government.

In the words of the architect of the deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the agreement is historic and does India good. It is "an offer you cannot refuse".

...they'd visit India, not Europe.

MORE:
Indian Ocean Nexus (Martin Walker, Wilson Quarterly)

Posted by Orrin Judd at July 8, 2008 6:21 AM