THE last two weeks have seen Kashmir in turmoil. The death of a teenage student, Tufail Ahmed Mattoo, who allegedly died due to injuries suffered by a teargas shell fired at a demonstration in Srinagar led to protests in the streets. Subsequently, two more young men have died in police firing during successive rounds of protests, Rafiq Bangroo and Javed Ahmed Malla. The latest incident having occurred on June 20 when a paramilitary police picket fired when they came under attack by a crowd. There was a complete strike in the valley on June 21 in protest against the killing.

Though there has been a sharp drop in the extremist violence, the alienation of the people is expressing itself through mass protests and strikes whenever there are atrocities committed by the security forces.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s  visit comes at a time when there is promise of a new era of peace and progress in Sri Lanka. Terrorism and secessionist forces have been resolutely defeated. Rehabilitation and reconciliation are the need of the hour. Sri Lankan Government has undertaken the immediate and challenging task of resettling the nearly 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), who emerged out of the conflict zone traumatized by the violence. India is confident that in the coming days, the remaining IDPs will also return to their places of residence to resume their life in peace and security. The restoration of their livelihood, rekindling of their entrepreneurial spirit and resumption of cultural and developmental activities combined with strong financial and moral support will help them resume productive lives again.

The visit of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to India beginning on June 8, 2010  will be an occasion for the reaffirmation of the close and friendly ties between India and Sri Lanka. The visit should contribute towards strengthening these relations further.

On the occasion of the President’s visit, the Indian government should impress upon the Sri Lankan President the need for an expeditious political settlement of the Tamil question which would involve the devolution of powers and autonomy for the Tamil-speaking areas. Such a political solution will strengthen the unity and integrity of Sri Lanka.

The Ministry of Environment & Forests and the Survey of India has jointly launched  the first time a very unique initiative to map the hazard line along 1500 kms. of India’s coast. At the ceremony to sign a Memorandum of Understanding  for demarcation of Hazard Line along the coastal areas of the country between the Ministry of Environment and Forests and Survey of India, Ministry of Science and Technology, Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister of State for Environment and Forests (I/c) further said that his project will cost Rs. 135 crore. It will take 4 ½ years to complete.

Almost 800 people will be involved in this exercise. He informed that the digital map will be available at the end of two year and the hard copy of the hazard line will be available in 4 ½ years. He termed this as an essential tool for coastal zone planning and management, which has emerged as a major area of concern. With Climate Change,particularly, with the rise in mean sea level, now proved beyond doubt that hazard line becomes extremely significant.

Three islands namely  Lohachara,  Suparibhanga  and New Moore Island / South Talpatti Island of the Sundarbans have eroded due to dynamic deltaic subsidence but not been submerged due to rising sea level.  Loss of land erosion through bank erosion due to action of waves and storm surges is more pronounced in the islands of Sundarbans.  The Andaman andNicobar islands have steeper slopes and hence danger from the inundation due to sea level rise is small.

The Indus Waters Treaty 1960 between Government of India and Government of Pakistan for the utilization of the waters of the Indus system of rivers which includes river Chenab exists. An “Agreement Between His Majesty’s Government of Nepal and the Government of India on the Kosi Project (19th December, 1966)” also exists and it provides for withdrawal of water from Kosi river by Nepal and regulation of balance of supplies in Kosi river, by the ‘Union’ i.e. the Government of India at the barrage site, available from time to time.

In the aftermath of the horrific terrorist attack in Mumbai, it is only to be expected that a raging debate has erupted about national security and possible lapses. However, little light has been shed on systemic changes that are clearly required.Much of the debate has been poorly informed and, especially on TV, often clouded by emotional responses. Unfounded rumours, unverified gossip or inspired leaks from different arms of government seeking to blame each other have not helped. Some of the desire for punitive action against the perpetrators and their sponsors may be understandable, but such attitudes are not conducive to the desired goal, namely a thoroughgoing reform of the security apparatus to prevent further such disasters.

As part of initiatives to improve connectivity between Northeast India and Southeast Asia, the government is considering a rail link from Manipur to Vietnam, Union minister Shashi Tharoor said.

“Efforts are underway to have a rail link from Jiribham (close to the Assam border) to Hanoi in Vietnam passing through Myanmar,”.

For India, it is the moment of truth. If it wants leverage over Pakistan, it has to stop thinking that cosying up to the US is all that is required. The US strategic interests will always trump India’s interests – this is something the Manmohan Singh Government has to learn. If it did not, the recent Pakistan-US strategic dialogue and its attempts to access David Headley, must have made this clear. The crucial question is can this Government retool its foreign policy and start thinking beyond the US? Or will it still run to the US seeking its blessings in its dialogue with Pakistan?

According to available information, 74 Missing Defence Personnel are believed to be in Pakistani jails, including 54 since 1971.

Government has repeatedly taken up the matter with the Government of Pakistan through diplomatic channels and during high-level contacts for their release. However, Pakistan does not acknowledge the presence of any Missing Defence Personnel in its custody. During the visit of External Affairs Minister to Pakistan in January 2007, Pakistan Government was persuaded to receive a delegation of relatives of Missing Defence Personnel to permit them to visit prisons in Pakistan, where they are believed to be incarcerated. A delegation of relatives, accordingly, visited 10 jails in Pakistan from June 1-14, 2007.

During the visit of Prime Minister HE Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh, the three agreements/MOUs relating to security issues signed were –

(i) Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Matters;

(ii) Agreement on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons; and

(iii)Agreement on Combating International Terrorism, Organized Crime and Illicit Drug Trafficking.

Terrorism of any variety is simply unacceptable for India and there can be no compromise on the efforts required to exterminate this menace. Fight against terrorism is non-negotiable. Through dialogue Pakistan must be told this firmly to take firm action against terrorism emanating from its soil against India.

The decision by franchise owning businessmen to not to pick any of the Pakistani players available in the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction for its third season was unfortunate. The IPL franchisee owners clearly did not think much of the feelings of the cricketers who entered the auction process through a circuitous route, after having invited them to the auction and then refusing to choose any of them through the bidding process.

The US-China Joint Statement issued on 17 November 2009 during the visit of President Obama to China states that “the two sides welcomed all efforts conducive to peace, stability and development in South Asia. They support the efforts of Afghanistan and Pakistan to fight terrorism, maintain domestic stability and achieve sustainable economic and social development, and support the improvement and growth of relations between India and Pakistan.”

India’s relationship with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is central to her Look East Policy. The Look East Policy of the Government of India has been evolving since early 1990s and India has significantly deepened her interaction with ASEAN. The primary objective of the Look East Policy of India is to take advantage of the new opportunities in trade and investment by improving socio-economic and political relationship with the neighbouring countries. The Look East Policy is pursued in a multifaceted manner in diverse areas such as improved connectivity, promotion of trade and investment and cultural exchanges.

There is no commonly delineated Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India  and China.     There has not been any significant change in the Chinese activity along the LAC over the last few years.

            Incidents of incursions are taken up with the Chinese side through established mechanisms such as Hot Lines, Flag Meetings, Border Personnel Meetings and normal diplomatic channels. These mechanisms facilitate maintenance of peace. 

The best promise of the newly minted republic of Nepal was in the manner that the “constitutional republic” was being constructed. Nepal had managed to achieve a truly democratic and representative Constituent Assembly (CA) for the first time ever in South Asia in 2007. There were great hopes for a Constitution to be wrought out of debates and discussions in the CA between established political parties that had worked together to end decades of “soft” and “hard” autocracy through mass mobilisation and with international goodwill.

Prolonging the farce that the current regime in Nepal is; prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal (who lost two Constituent Assembly constituencies, no less and was nominated to the Constituent Assembly) recently elevated foreign minister and Nepali Congress leader, Sujata Koirala to the post of deputy prime minister – the second person to occupy the post besides Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (MJF) leader Bijay Gacchadar. Koirala’s only claim for her current status was the fact that she was being propped up to the post by senior National Congress  leader and father Girija Prasad Koirala.