Israel Exultant Over Modi Victory

http://www.thecitizen.in/israel-exultant-over-modi-victory/
THE CITIZEN BUREAU
Mon May 19, 2014

NEW DELHI: Israel stood out amidst the congratulations pouring in for Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi from world leaders (Read: The World Welcomes Modi, World Page) across the globe with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu being amongst the first to wish the BJP leader on his electoral success. Modi has reportedly assured Israel that he will be the first Indian premier to visit Jerusalem, according to the Israeli media.

Narendra Modi and the rise of India’s neo-fascist Far-Right: The facts

http://www.loonwatch.com/2014/04/narendra-modi-and-the-rise-of-indias-neo-fascist-far-right-the-facts/
Narendra Modi is campaigning as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (“BJP”). Due to ongoing geopolitical events elsewhere, the implications of Modi’s impending rise to power have received comparatively little media publicity outside South Asia, especially in the West. This is despite the fact that nuclear-armed, 1.2 billion-population India is currently undergoing a political and cultural takeover by that country’s version of the Far-Right, if the claims of Modi’s opponents and critics are accurate.

THE ISLAMIC ARCH

clipped from: dissidentvoice.org
Islamic arch is the strategic centre of gravity

China’s economic development is freeing the countries of the South

The world balance of power is being completely overturned. And the Indian Ocean region finds itself at the heart of the geopolitical storm.
60% of the world's population
70% of the world's oil is shipped through this Ocean

For centuries the West has been looting, But China is offering higher prices for raw materials and is investing in the countries of the South. China has at the same time abolished import taxes on numerous African products. China has also written off the debts of the poorest African countries. China does not interfere in the internal policies. while western powers which never cease creating and bringing down African governments!

western capitalist countries are going through a severe economic crisis while China
continuing with a healthy rate of economic growth. Brazil continued to grow

south-south axis poses two major threats to the imperialist powers,

removing countries that are rich in raw materials from the western sphere of influence
allowing China to access to all the resources it needs to pursue its stellar growth

Washington is therefore seeking to contain the emergence of China and the control of the Indian Ocean lies at the heart of its strategy.

Somalia is the historic Islamic heart of East Africa. They took Sunni Islam all the way to Mozambique.

Before the Suez Canal was opened in 1869, Ottomans, Persians Moghuls and China dominated. This enabled Islam to expand even to China and East Africa. The Indian Ocean came to be largely dominated by Muslim powers.

But a major event, Sepoy revolt in 1857 began the process of European domination
Karl Marx analysed thusly, "Their methods are barbaric, but we should ask ourselves who led them to display such barbarity – it was the British colonialists installed in India". something similar, 11 September. nobody asks what are the factors that have given rise to this kind of terrorism.

sepoy rebellion had two important consequences ; firstly,
management passed officially to the administration of the British government. And
Great Britain deposed the last Islamic ruler of India, the Moghul emperor, Mohammed Bahadur Shah. He was exiled to Burma where he lived out the end of his life.

11 years after the sepoy revolt, the Suez Canal was opened. It was an important factor in facilitating European domination of that ocean. France seized Djibouti. Britain seized first Egypt and then Bahrain. Empire of the Sultanate of Oman was the last great Arabic power active in the Indian Ocean. Europeans mounted a propaganda campaign around the fact that Omanis were exploiting Africans as slaves. Under the pretext of fighting slavery, Europe mobilised and overthrew the Sultanate of Oman

Pentagon is well embedded, base in Okinawa, accords with the Philippines under pretext of fighting terrorism, Indonesian army, base on Diego Garcia

China has two Achilles heels: the straits of Hormuz and of Malacca. The US could block the Straits of Malacca.

China has developed several strategies


A gas pipeline is now linking Turkmenistan to the Chinese province of Xinjiang, 40 billion cubic metres a year, half of current Chinese consumption. also, pipeline linking China to Kazakhstan Caspian Sea.

entered into accords with Bangladesh to acquire gas and oil. an oil pipeline and a gas pipeline which will respectively supply from Myanmar. third Chinese strategy, ‘pearl necklace’. deep water port of Gwadar for traffic in container ships
build others, in Africa in particular. to China from Latin America. these container ships would rather travel via Africa in their journeys between Latin America and Asia
Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa or Madagascar could join this Indian Ocean network.

This will cause a major economic boom in this part of Africa. Marseilles or Antwerp would decline. South-South axis is being established. The world is being turned upside down.

clipped from: dissidentvoice.org
Until the 19th century, China was a great power.
Viceroy Lin Zexu ordered the destruction of 1838 chests full of opium that Great Britain had been importing illegally
first Opium War
Beaten, the Chinese were forced to open
imperialist powers
demanded legalisation of opium sales
Great Britain and France unleashed the “Second opium war” (1856-1860)
sale of opium was legalised and Great Britain and the US devoted themselves to it at great profit to themselves
caused the death of over 100 million Chinese people
1949 and the revolution led by Mao that China re-established itself
Deng Xiaoping
under Mao
7 and 10 percent every year
China could become an entirely capitalist country, but one that is not dominated by imperialism
US will seek to prevent
has
China
become an imperialist power
Confusion exists
over Lenin’s definition of imperialism
export of capital to foreign countries
this economic domination is inseparable from a political domination
if you are an imperialist, you must

clipped from: dissidentvoice.org
export your capital, create a puppet
train your semi colony’s army to organise military putsches if the puppet was to disobey
Honduras
imperialism rests on a two-fold domination, economic and political
China does not interfere in the politics
but on the contrary assists countries that are the victims of imperialism to free themselves
direct military confrontation with China seems improbable
Washington seems still to be mired in the Middle East
other strategies
vassal states in Africa in order to control that continent and block China’s access to raw materials.
applied after the Second World War to contain Japan’s development.
Egypt
Ethiopia
Nigeria
South Africa. But this strategy has failed
snub
Pentagon
Africom
Every country
refused
“collective African decision”
even
Zambia
Currently
based in … Stuttgart
Another US strategy
use India against China
Iran and Iraq in the 1980s
the 1960s
the US
used India
against China
India was beaten
But in the Far East
Washington has failed because of its greed. South-east Asia
1997

clipped from: dissidentvoice.org
started with a devaluation of the Thai currency
attack from speculators
White House
US multinationals took advantage
wipe out their Asian competitors
it was China which saved the region
decision not to devalue its currency
China allowed the countries of the region to rebuild their exports
Malaysian prime minister declared “China
saved the region
China
hegemony
US thought
Indian Ocean would be frightened
seek to be protected
China
relations based on
equality
US has
lost
China
needs energy
US is
seeking to control these resources to prevent them reaching China
major objective
in Iraq and Afghanistan
fiasco
new Iraqi and Afghan government trade with China!
Chinese companies simply bought up oil concessions at auction
one option still open
maintaining chaos
extending it to countries such as Iran, Yemen or Somalia.
Second World War
intervened very late in the conflict
financed (very lucratively) both sides
Finally,
to the assistance of the Allies.
Great Britain
debt
German
destroyed
USSR
20 million dead

clipped from: dissidentvoice.org
then spent all the jackpot
to fight against communism
US economy was militarised
Korea to Iraq, via Vietnam
for every dollar
60 cents goes to the army. It’s a disaster
other major industries have been destroyed,
public schools and hospitals are in a deplorable state
militarisation process has plunged the US into debt
main creditor
China
Thus in financing US debt, China in fact finances the war on terror
Pentagon is waging
control the energy
to contain
China
US has failed and
on the edge of bankruptcy
one option left
reduce its military expenditure and to utilise its budget to kickstart the economy
But imperialist logic
keeps going unto the death. The historian Paul Kennedy
great empires
economy
slowing down
military expenditure increases
great power
disappear
US hegemony nearing its end
return to protectionism
end of globalisation
Regional economic blocs will emerge
Asia will be the strongest
Europe?
two types of leader
pro-US
truly European
are allying with Russia
8 years of the Bush
aggressive policies
clipped from: dissidentvoice.org
massive military expenditure
crushing defeats
accelerated the fall of the US
the reactionary character of US imperialism has resurfaced
Imperialism cannot be changed or adapted. It has to be overthrown
All the world’s peoples have an interest
putting an end as quickly as possible to the western hegemony that has engendered so much aggression and crime
a grand alliance to emerge
to develop themselves independently and in the interests of their people, i.e., by escaping from the imperialist powers’ looting and interference.
To put an end to the hegemony of the imperialist powers will open up great potential for the liberation of the people of the world.

INDIA AND CHABAHAR PORT

clipped from: indiatoday.intoday.in

India is keen to expedite the development of Iran's Chabahar port, which will give the country direct access to Afghanistan and Central Asia, without needing to go through Pakistan.

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The port's strategic significance also lies in the fact that it is barely 72 km away from Pakistan's deep-sea Gwadar port, which has been built with Chinese assistance.

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India has already built the Zaranj-Delaram road in Afghanistan's Nimroz province, which will connect to the Chabahar port via Milak.

---

Sources said the Chabahar-Milak-Zaranj-Delaram highway will open up the Indian market to Afghan agricultural products and other exports.

DATTATREYA

Dattatreya (Sanskrit: दत्तात्रेय, Dattātreya) or Datta is considered by Hindus to be god who is an incarnation of the Divine Trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The word Datta means "Given", Datta is called so because the divine trinity have "given" themselves in the form of a son to the sage couple Atri and Anasuya. He is the son of Atri, hence the name "Atreya."

SILICON VALLEY IN INDIA

Indian IT began in 1974, when the mainframe manufacturer, Burroughs, asked its India sales agent, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), to export programmers for installing system software for a U.S. client

Bombay-based conglomerates. It began when Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister in 1984
Indian IT companies such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Infosys, HCL et al

Destinations such as Bangalore, Hyderabad and Gurgaon have evolved into global IT hubs.

Several IT parks have come up at Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Gurgaon etc. These parks offer Silicon Valley type infrastructure

ARUNDHATI ROY ON MAOIST NAXALITES

FROM LENIN'S TOMB

Arundhati Roy is to be investigated by police in Chhattisgarh over her "links" with Maoist insurgents, who recently killed seventy-six Indian paramilitaries. This is a backlash by the BJP-controlled state in response to an article that she wrote for Outlook magazine, which detailed her encounters with Maoist insurgents in Dantewada, central India, where the ambush was staged. The Maoists are among the forces resisting the capitalist takeover of rural India and growing in influence due in part to the failures of the Left Front in West Bengal and to state repression meted out to the communities they operate in - though they are far from alone. In a sympathetic piece, Roy argues that the Maoists are being forced into violence by the state, pushed into a situation where strategies of non-violence are guaranteed to fail. Watch her interview on Indian television here (wherein she castigates the "empty condemnation industry", something we are all very familiar with):

ENRON INDIA DABHOL

The Dabhol power project, located on the Maharashtra coast approximately 180 kilometers south of Mumbai, is Enron's flagship project in India. Dabhol Phase I, generating 740 MW of power, began operating in May 1999. When Phase II is completed at the end of 2001, Dabhol will generate 2,450 MW of power to become the world's largest independent natural gas-fired power plant.

The Dabhol Power Corporation (DPC). The DPC started as a 100 percent foreign-owned private limited liability company incorporated in India by Enron, Bechtel Enterprises Holdings and General Electric Capital Structured Finance Group. The three partners controlled DPC through a chain of companies based in Mauritius, a tax haven. Enron held 80 percent of the shares of DPC, while Bechtel and GE each hold 10 percent.

See Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline

See Enron Blog

See Coalition of the Obvious

Arundhati Roy on the Palestinian / Israeli Conflict

Arundhati Roy, has offered her services to act as a representative on behalf of the Maoist resistance group fighting Indian Armed Forces and Security Services
She is not in the good book of both Pro-Israel and Hindutva groups because she has compared Indian occupation of Muslim majority Kashmir with the Jewish illegal occupation of Palestine

Arundhati Roy’s offer, while well-comed by the Maoist leadership – has irked Hindutva establishment.



They mirror the incredible mental descent and cultural depravity of a post-Bollywood, web-savvy class, cut off from historical precedent, unaware of India’s socio-economic past, unaware of rational, sensible discourse and debate, ignorant about India’s own philosophical traditions, let alone world history– about colonization and the genocide against aboriginal people.

It is time for all the alternative left and democratic opposition to come together on a common platform oppose this horrendous Green Hunt before full scale massacres start happening.

Naxalite/Maoist/Red Corridor essay
Walking With The Comrades
Gandhians with a Gun? Arundhati Roy plunges into the sea of Gondi people to find some answers...
Arundhati Roy

Hum Dekhenge ( Iqbal Bano ) Complete Poem

Walking With The Comrades
Gandhians with a Gun? Arundhati Roy plunges into the sea of Gondi people to find some answers...
Arundhati Roy

Comrade Sukhdev asks if he can download the music from my Ipod onto his computer. We listen to a recording of Iqbal Bano singing Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s Hum Dekhenge (We will Witness the Day) at the famous concert in Lahore at the height of the repression during the Zia-ul-Haq years.

Jab ahl-e-safa-Mardud-e-haram,
Masnad pe bithaiye jayenge

(When the heretics and the reviled will be seated on high)

Sab taaj uchhale jayenge
Sab takht giraye jayenge

(All crowns will be snatched away
All thrones toppled)

Hum dekhenge

Fifty thousand people in the audience in that Pakistan begin a defiant chant: Inqilab Zindabad! Inqilab Zindabad! All these years later, that chant reverberates around this forest. Strange, the alliances that get made.



(English Translation) We shall see


We shall see

It is a must that we shall see
The day that has been prophesized
The one written on the Tablet of Fate

We shall see

When the insurmountable mountains of oppression
Shall blow as if cotton flakes
And beneath the feet of us common folk
This land will throb with a deafening sound
And upon the heads of the despotic folk
Lightening will strike a thundering pound.

We shall see

When from the Palace of our Lord
All earthly gods will be taken out
We, righteous ones, outcasts of Church,
shall don a glorious robe, no doubt.
All crowns will fly
All thrones will fall

We shall see

Only the name of the Lord will stay on
who is unseen, yet ever seeing
who is the sight, as well as the scene
The shout of "I am The Truth"* shall rise
which is true for you and I
and the creation of the Lord will rule
which is true for you and I.

We shall see

It is a must that we shall see

We shall see.

YEMEN BIT PICTURE

Jan 9, 2010
A year ago, Saleh foung a group of Islamists linked to the Israeli intelligence forces. General David Petraeus, dropped in on Saturday. Obama
assuring step up intelligence-sharing and training and joint attacks against militants. The intervention in Yemen is America's answer to China's surge.
Uncle Sam is "marking territory". The US is also moving into Somalia and Kenya
in an entire unbroken stretch of real estate all along the Indian Ocean's western rim. US has now foreclosed China's options. The coastline that is available for China to set up a naval base in the region will be Iran
Obama's main core objective will be to establish an enduring military presence
This serves many purposes.

A new great game begins

First, the US move has to be viewed against the historic backdrop of the Shi'ite awakening in the region (mostly of the Zaidi group). They could be anywhere up to 45%, in the northern part of the country, they constitute the majority. The Believing Youth Organization led by Hussein Badr al-Houthi
is modeled after Hezbollah in Lebanon in all respects - politically, economically, socially and culturally. Next-door Oman, which is a key American base, is predominantly Shi'ite. The idea of Shi'ite empowerment spreading to Saudi Arabia's highly restive Shi'ite regions adjoining Yemen is a problem. There is a new generation is set to take over the leadership in Riyadh. There is a vast scale of institutionalized Shi'ite persecution in Saudi Arabia by the Wahhabi establishment. Riyadh is petrified as the recent
resort to military power against the north Yemeni Shi'ite testifies

US faces a classic dilemma. Obama highlight the need of reform
in his Cairo speech but democratization in the Yemeni context would involve Shi'ite empowerment. The US would rather be with the repressive, autocratic government of Saleh than let the genie of reform out of the bottle.

The paradox: Iran happens to be the only "democratic" system operating in that entire region. Iran's shadow over the Yemeni Shi'ite worries the US

Obama, Conceivably, isn't finding it easy. If his own memoirs are to be believed vague recollections of his childhood in Indonesia and his precious memories of his own mother, a free-wheeling intellectual and humanist, must be stalking him

Israel moves in

With Yemen, the US has tightened the cordon around Iran. Yemen could be put to use as a springboard by the Israelis. It is a cakewalk for the formidable Israeli intelligence to carve out a niche in Yemen. Islamism doesn't deter Israel at all. Yemeni Islamists are a fragmented lot. Israeli intelligence operates in such twilight zones. Israel has always been handicapped by its lack of access to the Persian Gulf region. The overarching US military presence helps Israel politically to consolidate its Yemeni chapter. Petraeus is moving on Yemen in tandem with Israel, "pro-West" Arab states remain as mute spectators. Israeli is a safer bet than the spread of Shi'ite empowerment
out of Iran, Iraq and Hezbollah. Israeli will infiltrate extremist Sunni outfits known as affiliates of al-Qaeda. Infinite possibilities exist

It's all about China

Most important the port of Aden the gateway to Asia. Control of Aden and the Malacca Strait. the US in the "great game" of the Indian Ocean. The sea lanes
the jugular veins of China's economy. India is a natural ally of the US Both disfavor Chinese naval presence. India to roll back Chinese influence in Sri Lanka. US has taken a u-turn in its Myanmar policy. US is unhappy with China's efforts to reach the warm waters of the Persian Gulf through the Central Asian region and Pakistan. Washington is tightening the noose. Pakistani elites will make a strategic choice between the US and China. The existential questions, will Obama, building up India as the pre-eminent power

US-India-Israel axis

Delhi is concluding that he is a clone of his predecessor, containment of China is a core template. Delhi takes the surge of the Israeli lobby as the litmus test. the Jewish lobby was always a helpful ally. India-Israel security relationship is gaining greater momentum. a massive avenue of military cooperation is about to open and will make India a serious challenger to China's growing military prowess. a cozy three-way US-Israel-India alliance provides the underpinning for all the maneuvering that is going on.

terrorism experts are missing when they analyze Yemen in terms of hunting down al-Qaeda. Obama's presidency is like driving a train rather than a car
it must run on its tracks. There is no instances of a declining world power meekly accepting its destiny and walking into the sunset. The US cannot give up on its global dominance without putting up a real fight. And the reality of all such momentous struggles is that they cannot be fought piece-meal. You cannot fight China without occupying Yemen.

CIA'S DALAI LAMA HUSTLE

(5): The Dalai Lama's CIA Connection

Ironically, Dalai Lama who headed the so-called "Free-Tibet" movement, is himself not so free from the CIA manipulation ever since he fled China in the 50's.

The "Money-Matters" of the Dalai Lama & his Government-in-exile.

The Dalai Lama has been on the CIA payroll since the late 1950s. It is important to understand this longer than half-a-century relationship between the Dalai Lama and the US intelligence agency in analyzing the recent turmoil in Tibet.

From the late 50's until 1974, the Dalai Lama had been on the CIA's payroll, reportedly receiving 180,000 USD a year. Besides that, his government set up in exile in Northern India had also received US$1.7 million a year from the CIA. The money was paid for guerrilla operations against the Chinese.

Today, his government-in-exile's funding comprises seven departments and several other special offices including charitable trusts, a publishing company, hotels in India and Nepal and a handicrafts distribution company in the US and in Australia.

The government was involved in running 24 businesses in all, but decided in 2003 that it would withdraw from these because such commercial involvement was not appropriate.

Many donations are channeled through the New York-based Tibet Fund, set up in 1981 by Tibetan refugees and US citizens. It has grown into a multi-million-dollar organization that disburses $US3 million each year to its various programs.

Part of its funding comes from the US State Department's Bureau for Refugee Programs

http://eldib.wordpress.com/2008/03/26/the-role-of-the-cia-behind-the-dalai-lamas-holy-cloak/

http://bbs.chinadaily.com.cn/viewthread.php?tid=631597

ROGUE AGENT

NEW DELHI: After being denied access to interrogate American national David Coleman Headley with regards to the Mumbai attacks by US authorities, Indian intelligence sources now suspect that the alleged terrorist could be a CIA agent turned rogue.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\12\16\story_16-12-2009_pg7_39

ON THE OTHER HAND

United States President Barack Obama scored a convincing "A" in the tortuous test that he was put to on the structuring of a new Afghan strategy.

he grasped the essence of the problem

that the Afghan people are starting to view the Americans as
occupiers and it is time to consider an exit strategy.

to attribute centrality in his strategy to the government led by President Hamid Karzai

Obama's new strategy emphasizes the strengthening of Karzai's government as quickly as possible. It acknowledges that only Afghans themselves can solve their problem

Everything in the Hindu Kush has worked from time immemorial on the basis of trust and loyalty and kinships. All that claptrap about merit, etc falls by the wayside.

never once decried "warlordism"

assigns a major role for the so-called "warlords" for stabilizing Afghanistan
additional cos

US$30 billion to $40 billion per year, already stood at $65 billion

However, the most profound part of the new Obama strategy is that it signals a conclusive farewell to the neo-conservative agenda for US foreign policy.

As Obama put it, the nation-building project in Afghanistan "sets goals that are beyond what can be achieved at a reasonable cost, and what we need to achieve to secure our interests". He was brutally frank in admitting that America "can't simply afford to ignore the price of these wars".

instead tried to "rebuild our strength here at home

On Tuesday, the president formally brought the curtain down on Pax Americana.
that America had forgotten to "appreciate the connection between our national security and our economy ... So we can't simply afford to ignore the price of these wars."

jettisons the counter-insurgency strategy in favor of a forceful counter-terrorism strategy.

to degrade the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the shortest possible time within the coming 18 months or so

Obama didn't quite reveal his mind on a political settlement in Afghanistan

All the same
In carefully chosen words, he said, "We have no interest in occupying your country. We will support efforts by the Afghan government to open the door to those Taliban who abandon violence and respect the human rights of their fellow citizens."

But, here again, the current approach to engage the Taliban via the good offices of the Saudi or Pakistani intelligence is extremely short-sighted and dangerous

the attempt should be to "liberate" the Taliban from the Pakistani clutches.

the success of any Afghan strategy crucially depends on the US's capacity to compel Pakistan from supporting militant groups.

India and Pakistan must be firmly dissuaded from turning Afghanistan into an arena of rivalry

the dynamics of the US-India strategic partnership will be keenly watched by Islamabad.

The Obama administration has done well to "demilitarize" the US-India strategic partnership

Without doubt, unless Pakistan's threat perceptions of a "hegemonistic" India are squarely addressed, Islamabad will continue to resort to asymmetrical warfare.

Will Obama's emphasis on an exit strategy have the unexpected result of encouraging Pakistan's military to estimate that all that is needed is to counsel the Taliban to lie low during the forthcoming buildup of US troops and simply wait until the troops go home?

Special Protection Group (SPG) and Tareq and Michaele Salahi

Barack
Obama's state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Washington and say it is a costly lapse.
"We are glad that it happened in the US. If such a security breach had happened out here in Hyderabad House, or even Vigyan Bhavan, we would have never heard the end of it and heads would have rolled," pointed out a senior protocol officer in charge of VIP security.
The Special Protection Group (SPG) responsible for the protection of the prime minister, has not raised any objection with the Secret Service.
Security and intelligence officials recall how they completely secured the Purana Qila, the ruins of a magnificent 16th century fort, when former president George W Bush addressed Indian people in March 2006.
Around two dozen Indian security officials along with US officials sanitised the entire area and took complete control of the fort 72 hours before Bush's address.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/27/cliff-working-carl-cannon-column/

Dabhol power project

November 1993: The Indian government gives approval for Enron's Dabhol power plant, located near Bombay on the west coast of India. Enron has invested $3 billion, the largest single foreign investment in India's history. Enron owns 65 percent of Dabhol. This liquefied natural gas powered plant is supposed to provide one-fifth of India's energy needs by 1997 [Asia Times, 1/81/01, Indian Express, 2/27/00] It is the largest gas-fired power plant in the world. Earlier in the year, the World Bank concludes that the plant is "not economically viable" and refuses to invest in it. [New York Times, 3/20/01] Enron apparently tries to make the plant financially viable by investing in gas fields in nearby Uzbekistan (see June 24, 1996), but it cannot get that gas to Dabhol without a gas pipeline through Afghanistan (see June 24, 1996 and June 1998 (B)). Construction of the plant is abandoned just before completion (see June 2001 (J)).

June 24, 1996: Uzbekistan signs a deal with Enron "that could lead to joint development of the Central Asian nation's potentially rich natural gas fields." [Houston Chronicle, 6/25/96] The $1.3 billion venture teams Enron with the state companies of Russian and Uzbekistan. [Houston Chronicle, 6/30/96] On July 8, 1996, the US government agrees to give $400 million to help Enron and an Uzbeki state company develop these natural gas fields. [Oil and Gas Journal, 7/8/96] However, the deal is later canceled when it becomes apparent a gas pipeline will not be built across Afghanistan, and there is no easy way to get the gas out of the region (see November 1993 and June 1998 (B)).

June 1998 (B): Enron's agreement to develop natural gas with the government of Uzbekistan is not renewed (see June 24, 1996). Enron closes its office there. The reason for the "failure of Enron's flagship project" is an inability to get the natural gas out of the region. Uzbekistan's production is "well below capacity" and only 10 percent of its production is being exported, all to other countries in the region. The hope was to use a pipeline through Afghanistan, but "Uzbekistan is extremely concerned at the growing strength of the Taliban and its potential impact on stability in Uzbekistan, making any future cooperation on a pipeline project which benefits the Taliban unlikely." A $12 billion pipeline through China is being considered as one solution, but that wouldn't be completed until the end of the next decade at the earliest. [Alexander's Gas and Oil Connections, 10/12/98]

June 2001 (J): Enron's power plant in Dabhol, India, is shut down. The failure of the $3 billion plant, Enron's largest investment, contributes to Enron's bankruptcy later in the year (see December 2, 2001). Earlier in the year, India stopped paying its bill for the energy from the plant, because energy from the plant cost three times the usual rates. [New York Times, 3/20/01] Enron had hoped to feed the plant with cheap Central Asian gas, but this hope was dashed when a gas pipeline through Afghanistan was not completed (see June 1998 (B)). The larger part of the plant is still only 90 percent complete when construction stops at about this time. [New York Times, 3/20/01] It is known that Vice President Cheney lobbies the leader of India's main opposition party about the plant this month. [New York Times, 2/21/02] A lawsuit is in motion to get additional government documents released that could reveal what else the US did to support this plant (see October 17, 2002 and February 7, 2003 (B)). Enron may eventually restart the plant (see October 18, 2002).

Central Asian oil, Enron and the Afghanistan pipelines. For a separate page of these entries only, click here.

Dabhol Power Company

http://www.atimes.com/reports/CA13Ai01.html#top6

Playing cards with India

ndia does not enjoy the pride of place in America's foreign policy agenda granted it by President Bush
This U.S. administration, unlike its predecessor, appears to disfavor values-based cooperation as an organizing principle of American foreign policy
subjecting cooperation with both India and China to an unsentimental cost-benefit calculation
India
has defined a compelling interest in preserving the gains from globalization by liberalizing international flows of trade, investment, services, and human capital. India's rapidly expanding middle class, currently the size of the entire U.S. population
Domestic consumption
well under half of China's, giving it a more sustainable, less export-dependent economic foundation for growth.
by 2025 those figures will reverse as China's population "falls off a demographic cliff,"
India is expected to bypass Japan in the 2020s as the world's third-largest economy, and to bypass China in the early 2030s as the world's most populous country.

India is the kind of revisionist power with an exceptional self-regard
America'
a model for India's own (peaceful) ambitions, partly because both define their exceptionalism with reference to their open societies. As Indian analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta puts it, Indians have "great admiration for U.S. power" and want their country to "replicate" rather than oppose it.
So let's put to bed the myth that America has more in common with China,
The United States has an enormous stake in the emergence of a rich, confident, democratic India that shares American ambitions to manage Chinese power, protect Indian Ocean sea lanes, safeguard an open international economy, stabilize a volatile region encompassing the heartland of jihadist extremism in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and constructively manage challenges of proliferation, climate change, and other global issues.

THE YUGOSLAVABILITY IN INDIA

clipped from: www.bharat-rakshak.com

FAILED STATES

India is ringed by failed / failing states.

• Pakistan

• Nepal

• Bangladesh

• Myanmar

Failed /failing states export instability, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, arms and drugs

CHINA

On our North, in addition, we face China, the guru that influences / or uses as proxy other countries mentioned earlier in every possible way to weigh India down.

capabilities are more important than perceived intentions, as China has demonstrated not only to India but also to the world. It has intelligently diverted international focus away from itself to North Korea, Pakistan and countries like Iran. For example, in the six country nuclear talks with North Korea , it is Beijing that calls the shots. It can switch on or off the negotiations at its will

PAKISTAN

since its creation, Pakistan has perpetually been resorting to war and export of terrorism to appropriate more Indian territory. Pakistan faces a negative profile of indoctrinated and unemployed youth trained in Islamic Jehad Factory against us. The obsession to harm us ultimately allured Pakistan to become rent-a–state country. It lives on others money. Despite being broke, Islamabad continues to fuel anti-India activities through Nepal and Bangladesh with impunity. India remains the target and operating ground for Islamic fundamentalists and terrorist groups orchestrated by ISI

New Delhi needs to evolve an alternative strategy to comprehensively defeat the adversary’s nefarious activities that poses military, nuclear and demographic inversion threats. This is a do-able proposition provided our elders can think beyond the overwhelming burden created by the inherited fault line.

New Delhi needs to move on three axes simultaneously

• New Delhi –West Asia ,

• New Delhi–Southeast Asia and

• New Delhi–Central Asia .

Out of the three, the most critical is the New Delhi-Kabul-Tehran-Moscow axis, on two counts. First, for centuries this is the route of invasions and will remain so.
Second, as the second largest consumer of oil and gas in Asia , and as one of the engines that will power the world economy, energy security is the most critical factor in India ’s national security calculus.

This resource rich territory will fall prey to Pak sponsored Talibanisation if India and other countries do not preempt it.'

it may be prudent for American capital to join hands with the Indians in a JV
This will in turn check the destructive influence of Islamabad and balance the Chinese strategic thrust

NEPAL/MAOIST

Nepal continues to slip into the Chinese sphere of influence due to counter-productive policy by New Delhi

In Nepal , the Maoists have a sizeable influence in 45 of the 75 districts, their most formidable presence being in mid-western Nepal . The Maoists have linked up with the Peoples War Group (PWG) in India . The latter in a bid to expand its influence has carved a corridor encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh–Madhya Pradesh–Chhatisgarh–Orissa–West Bengal–Jharkhand–Bihar as shown in the map. This corridor that has been formed with ease depicts the Indian Fault Line with stark clarity on ground.

· Combine the bleak picture above with Bangladesh and Myanmar borders and the Indian Fault Line engulfs most of the eastern half of the Union

. Insurgency in varying degrees impacts on the Northeast with the exception of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh and has trans-border dimensions with Myanmar and Bangladesh .



The 21 to 65 km wide and 200 km long narrow Siliguri corridor between Nepal and Bangladesh is delicately poised when also considering China in the north. This corridor threatened by Kamtapuri insurgency and demographic inversion by Bangladesh can cut off the only land link to the Indian Northeast and in such an eventuality supplies will have to be maintained by air.

Consequently, Bhutan may also slip into the Chinese sphere of influence.

There is already a nexus between Maoists in Nepal and ULFA in Assam and is being enlarged to include PWG in India and Islamic terrorist groups in Bangladesh . With Dacca ’s geographical interface with five Indian states i.e. West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; Indian security stands threatened by: demographic assault, arms and drug smuggling, and safe havens for Indian insurgent groups.

Islamic groups in Bangladesh under ISI tutelage, Saudi finance, and China ’s patronage, have become more vicious, thus adding another dimension to India ’s security headache.

if a vertical line from Central Uttar Pradesh southwards to Eastern Andhra Pradesh were drawn, it would lead to an ineluctale observation that India ’s Eastern Half is in turmoil. The Western Half is not only relatively progressive and peaceful but also generates most of the wealth along with the South

Just imagine the result if the Eastern Half along with Kashmir can be put in order through development and bold counter-measures, to ensure the requisite peace and stability, conducive to generation of wealth.

HINDUS VERSUS MUSLIMS

BATTLE OF THE PORTS: CHABAHAR VS GWADAR: INDIA VERSUS CHINA: US VERSUS?

clipped from: acorn.nationalinterest.in

The 218-km road connecting Delaram (on the Kandahar-Herat highway) to Zaranj, on the border with Iran has been completed.
It will provide landlocked Afghanistan an alternative access to the sea, the Iranian port of Chahbahar, allowing it to break free from Pakistan’s traditional stranglehold.

it remains to be seen if Iran will prove to be a better neighbour than Pakistan.
For Afghanistan, this is an opportunity to regain better access to the Indian market that it lost in 1947. For India, it is an opportunity to regain better access to Central Asia that it too lost in 1947.

US MILITARY SUPPLY ROUTE TO AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban has all but shut down the Pakistan supply route to Afghanistan. Russian routes are an option. The other option is to use the Iranian port of Chahbahar. The Indian government has spent over $1 billion to construct a multi-lane highway from the western Afghan city of Heart to the Iranian border to meet up with the road from Chahbahar. Some form of political deal with the regime in Tehran would enable the US and NATO to redirect most, if not all, the traffic that currently goes to Karachi—providing they retain control over Herat.



CHINA ALSO HAS A PLAN

clipped from: http://gawadarinnltd.com/page_1161468194468.html

In fact, Gwadar enjoys the status of a third Deep Sea Port of Pakistan which has a special significance with reference to trade links with Central Asian Countries, Persian Gulf, East Africa, United Arab Emirates and North Western India.

The Gwadar project came about as a result of a Sino-Pakistan agreement in March 2002, under which China Harbor Construction Corporation will build the port.

Beijing has provided $198 million for the first phase of the project and Islamabad's contribution has been $ 50 million. The scope of phase-1 includes construction of three multi-purpose berths each 200 meters long and capable of handling vessels up to 30,000 DWT.

By virtue of its excellent location, Gwadar port is also visualized to become a regional hub serving incoming and outgoing commercial traffic of the Middle Eastern and Gulf countries, the Xinjiang province of China, Iran in the west and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the south and east.



According to some sources, Beijing also intends to take advantage of Gwadar's accessible international trade routes to Central Asian republics and Xinjiang. The plan envisages extending China's east-west railway from the border city of Kashi to Peshawar.

The incoming and outgoing cargo from Gwadar can then be delivered to China through the shortest route from Karachi to Peshawar. The same road and rail network can also be used for the supply of oil from the Gulf to the western provinces of China.

Additionally, China could also gain rail and road access to Iran through Pakistan's internal road and rail network. Use of Gwadar port by China should accelerate the growth and development of the port and the hinterland and enhance its overall commercial and strategic value.

India is helping develop the Chabahar port and that would give it access to the oil and gas resources in Iran and the Central Asian states, in this it is competing with the Chinese which is building the Gwadar port, in Pakistani Baluchistan.

Iran plans to use Chabahar for transhipment to Afghanistan and Central Asia while reserving the port of Bandar Abbas as a major hub mainly for trade with Russia and Europe.



India, Iran and Afghanistan have signed an agreement to give Indian goods, heading for Central Asia and Afghanistan, preferential treatment and tariff reductions at Chabahar

Work on the Chabahar-Melak-Zaranj-Dilaram route from Iran to Afghanistan is in progress. Iran is with Indian aid upgrading the Chabahar-Melak road and constructing a bridge on the route to Zaranj. India's BRO is laying the 213-kilometer Zaranj-Dilaram road. It is a part of its USD 750 million aid package to Afghanistan.

The advantages that Chabahar has compared to Gwadar are the greater political stability and security of the Iranian hinterland and the hositlity and mistrust that the Pakistani Baluchis hold against the Punjabi dominated Pakistani Federal government. The Baluchis consider Sino-Pak initiative at Gwadar as a strategy from Islamabad to deny the province its deserved share of development pie. They also look with suspicion on the settlement of more and more non-Baluchis in the port area.

The Chabahar port project is Iran's chance to end its US sponsored economic isolation and benefit form the resurgent Indian economy. Along with Bandar Abbas, Chabahar is the Iranian entrepot on the North - South corridor. A strategic partnership between India, Iran and Russia to establish a multi-modal transport link connecting Mumbai with St. Petersburg. Providing Europe and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia access to Asia and vice-versa.