Many oil-rich Gulf states, ostensibly allied with the United States, have a policy of turning a blind eye to the terror planning and financing activities on their territories with Kuwait and Qatar being the worst offenders, according to a US diplomatic cable. Saudi Arabia has done the most to disrupt terror networks, particularly the al […]
The US State Department was concerned about the terrorist-charities increasingly taking over the functions that should ideally be carried out by the Pakistani government. In a cable written on 30 December 2009, the US State Department urged the US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson to convey its worries over the development to the local government. […]
A prominent CPI leader from the Muslim community, M Rahmatullah, has quit the Left and joined Congress ally Indian Union Muslim League, accusing the Communists of losing touch with the minorities. Rahmattullah also accused the CPI of being part of a “new politics” that neglected the Christian and Muslim minorities of Kerala — an obvious […]
UP Chief Minister Mayawati has hit back strongly at the comments made by Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi in Varanasi today and yesterday. In a strong, point-by-point statement read out by the UP cabinet secretary Shashank Shekhar — the top state bureaucrat — Mayawati urged Sonia Gandhi to take her concerns for loss […]
A late 2008 diplomatic cable from the Islamabad embassy of the US has shed new light on the thinking inside the Pakistani establishment about Kashmir, Balochistan and the bombing of Indian embassy in Kabul in the same year. According to the cable, which described a high-level meeting between the US Assistant Secretary for South and […]
Indian public opinion would force the Indian government to take military action against Pakistan in case of another attack like Mumbai, home minister P Chidambaram told the Americans in 2009, according to leaked US diplomatic cables. Chidambaram also blamed Bangladesh and Myanmar for providing sanctuary to insurgents in the North East and called Myanmar “totally […]
India’s defence minister AK Antony has reacted to the Wikileaks’ revelation that parts of the Pakistani government were in touch with the terror groups who bombed the Indian embassy of Kabul in 2008. Antony said the biggest hurdle to better relations between India and Pakistan was the links between high officials in Pakistan and terror […]
The CNN-IBN channel has claimed that the National Commission for Women — a statutory rights body — has prepared a report in which it points to women being stripped and people being burnt by Uttar Pradesh policemen during the recent farmers’ agitation. Claiming to have seen the NCW report prepared after the Commission’s visit eight […]
One of the most recent US diplomatic cables released to be released by Wikileaks has pointed to India’s deep ambitions in Afghanistan. The cable, written as a ‘scene-setter’ for the visit of influential US Senator John Kerry in February last year noted that Indians were restrained in their military co-operation with Afghanistan only because of […]
Officials of the United Arab Emirates, home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, said the tiny country had to “understand the needs” of its bigger neighbors like Iran and Saudi Arabia to survive and can only go so far in helping the US in the region. A cable leaked by Wikileaks reports the UAE Central Bank […]
Many senior Pakistani military officers seemed out of touch with Western reality and are steeped in myths — particularly anti-American ones — while being in awe of the Chinese, according to the experiences of a US Army Colonel who was studying there. Colonel Michael Schleicher, who was attending a senior level course at Pakistan’s prestigious […]
The wikileaks cable has given a rare glimpse of the hard-nosed practicality of Pakistani administrators. Speaking to the Bryan Hunt, Principal Officer at the US Consulate in Lahore, Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of the Punjab province, even joked about using ‘long beards’ — a sign of devotion — to charm the people. Sharif was talking […]
The state elections of 2011 has been remarkable for a variety of reasons — the fall of a 34-year old Communist government in West Bengal, the resounding signal sent by the Tamil Nadu electorate that corruption will not be condoned and the not-quite-there victory of the Congress in Kerala. While the first two have been […]
On the second day of his official tour of Afghanistan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to reassure the Afghani lawmakers that India did not want to ‘impose’ its views on the country, and was interested only in ‘friendship.’ In his brief address to the join session of the two houses of Afghani Parliament, Singh mentioned […]
The 16 Karnataka MLA’s, who were disqualified by the Karnataka Speaker after they switched sides from BJP, have again lent their support to the party, according to BJP state unit. The BJP Karnataka unit has faxed their claim to the Karnataka Rajbhawan, claiming that they continue to have majority in the Assembly. The MLAs too […]
J Jayalalitha, who is being sworn in as Tamil Nadu’s new chief minister, is unlikely to join the Congress-led UPA at the Centre any time soon, according to sources in Chennai. While Sonia Gandhi has already invited the AIADMK supremo for ‘breakfast’ and congratulated her on her victory over Congress ally DMK, the feisty former-actress […]
Tense faces abounded at the Congress offices in the state after it was able to post just a 2-seat majority in an election that was supposed to be a walk-over. Oommen Chandy, the chief ministerial candidate of the UDF (headed by Congress) and KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala said the party will hold an enquiry into […]
Partisan politics has come to haunt the Paliamentary Committee set up to probe the 2G spectrum scam. Congress today demanded the removal of Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister and BJP leader, on the grounds that he has a ‘prejudiced mind.’ Congress alleged that Sinha has decided the issues even before a single sitting of the […]
The second ‘Freedom on the Net’ (FOTN) report by the Washington-based Freedom Institute has expressed concern over the decreasing freedom of expression on the Internet in India. The Institute, which put India in the company of states like China, Egypt and Iran which saw a deterioration of freedom of expression on the Internet since the […]
A December 2006 US diplomatic cable leaked by Wikileaks has given valuable insights into what the Americans, at least the then US ambassador David Mulford, viewed as India’s role in the emerging political scenario in Asia. Not only did Mulford see India as a counterweight to China, “which it can never match,” but he also […]
