Obama shines?

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Last Friday, when the Prize was announced, the gravity of the affair was such that everyone had something to say about it, be it positive or negative. It was the incumbent president of USA, Barack Obama, winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The news had either pleased the listener’s ear or left a sour taste.

Iran was dubious about its response to the win. However, it approved the award by saying – The Nobel Peace Prize should prompt US President Obama to start working towards ending injustice in the world. “We hope that this gives him the incentive to walk in the path of bringing justice in the world order,” said President Mahmoud Ahmednijad.

But the Taliban was not ecstatic about his victory and neither were the representatives of Palestine. Both staunchly criticised the announcement. The Taliban leader noted that they had not seen any change in the strategy of his government that could be called outstandingly pro-peace. Another Taliban leader added that it was disappointing, in fact, that he couldn’t manage to do anything for the people of Afghanistan.

Obama himself was overwhelmed by the announcement. He admitted in many forums that he probably did not deserve the great recognition and that he had not done enough to be on par with many of the transformative figures who had won the Peace Nobel in the past. He said, “I am surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear: I do not view it as recognition of my personal accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.” He said that he viewed the Nobel Price as symbolic of “a call for action.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee had lauded Obama for creating “a new climate in international politics”, singling out his “vision of the work for a world without nuclear weapons.” He promised that he would close down the Guantanamo Bay and called for a “new beginning” between the US and Muslims in Cairo. He leads the nuclear D-armament talks at the UN General Assembly. The President also wants to encourage talks between Israel and Palestine and calls for peace in West Asia. His policies are also designed so that US is in the forefront in climate change summits.

However, it is ironic that the President’s first task after winning the Nobel Prize would be to decide on US Commander General’s request for up to 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan. The flip side to the event is the flak it drew from many people, residents of USA and not. The Palestinians have rejected the Nobel Prize itself on various forums on the internet. The power of opinion sharing was yet again revealed when so many blogs had, without any censorship, let people voice their opinion on the subject.

Many internet users used the medium to voice their opinions. Twitter had broken the news almost in parallel with the other news channels. Many were shocked that Obama, who had hardly been in power for nine months, was being awarded the Nobel Prize. Some of them felt that he had done nothing except talk big and that a person should not be awarded something of this scale, when none of his promises have yet translated into action. He has not withdrawn troops from Afghanistan, does not intend to remove US’s military presence in Iraq till at least 2012, and it is deeply ironical how he is in the fore-front for nuclear disarmament when his own nation is the biggest store-house of nuclear weapons on earth.

One person compared Obama’s feat to winning a beauty pageant, where tall claims are made, but hardly ever realized. Many links with humorous and satirical elements were being shared globally in the virtual world. Many others expressed that ‘not being George W Bush is not reason enough to win a Nobel Prize’. The fact that Obama’s nomination was filed at a point when he had just entered the office of the President and had done nothing at all substantial shows that the Nobel Committee was carried away by the potential they saw in this man. If that is not the case, then the legitimacy of their intention is instantly put at stake. A Palestinian leader said that the Nobel Prize was just political tool now and does nothing to recognise true contributions.

Anyway, whatever be one’s reaction, let’s all hope that Obama is motivated enough by the award and does more in his capacity as the President of the United States to fulfill the promises he has made.

China's containment policy

The current incursion problem between India and China was discussed in the last write-up. The history connected to the problem was also discussed to a certain extend. However, to understand the issue completely one needs to know about the Chinese policy of containment of India and their global connections in great depth.

China’s policy towards India, for several decades now, has been that of containment. By containment we mean literally engulfing India from all sides and trying to influence its foreign relations. This defines the crux of the Sino-Indian Conflict. Of course in the recent years, China has not shied away from maintaining trade relations with India. It is almost ironical that China, as said in the last blog entry, happens to be India’s largest trade partner. They have also agreed for energy cooperation with India.

However, one cannot deny that both nations have been extremely sceptical of each other. Each country observes the other’s actions and strategies with suspicion. China is so powerful today that nothing India does can possibly affect it in a great manner. However, there is also no doubt that China views India as a competitor in retaining its position as Asia’s strong power and the next superpower of the world.

There was a time when India viewed China as a close friend and trusted ally. This was the “Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai” phase when there was peace between the nations and also heart-felt camaraderie. However, this phase wasn’t to last for long. In 1962, China attacked India and broke all its fanciful notions about their friendship. India would never again trust a nation and would now build a strong defense system to counter any such attempts. Sino-Indian relations have been turbulent since then. Its dreams to expand geo-politically in the region were also hurdled by India at many points. Many Indian leaders such as Rajiv Gandhi have visited China after the war, but the wounds of humiliation that India went through after the defeat of 62 never really healed.

This was apparent in the future when India continued to reject China’s swap proposal. The proposal was first put forward by China in 1960s and then in 1980. Both these times, India declared that the deal was not acceptable to India. The swap proposal meant that India will legitimatize China’s control over Aksai Chin and China inturn will accept India monopoly over Arunachal Pradesh. Indian leaders maintained that India would so much as not give an inch of its land to the Chinese at any cost.

Some of the incidents worsened the relations between the nations. Vajpayee had once sent a letter to Clinton, the then President of USA, wherein he wanted to built India’s army and blamed China indirectly for this as its nuclear capacity was making India more vulnerable. China had more recently ditched India at the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group meeting. It had promised to back India to carry on its attempts to get nuclear energy for civilian purposes, but later spoke against India being granted a permit.

As discussed in the earlier blog, China has found a strategic ally in Pakistan and wants to constantly keep India under pressure through this. One can even assume that China would never shy away from backing Pakistan in the wake of a war against India by the conflicting country. China is also building an important port at Quadar in Pakistan that will help it encroach the India sea limits. India has been hugely protesting this, but the response of the international community has been weak. Also, China has always beaten India in Myanmar, where it always gets away with the gas deals at the last moment. China’s growing connections with Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are also cause of growing concern within our nation.

However, India is not silent in the wake of this China containment strategy. It has devised many plans to counter the encircling mission. It has also tried to improve its relations with the neigboring nations. It will be revising its policy of trying to dictate the foreign policies of countries such as Nepal and Bhutan. It has also tried to better its relations with USA, because that is certainly something China would not be happy with. However, India’s counter-containment policies can never match the might of China. Hence, it is important that India try and improve its relations with the most powerful neighbour if its. Another war is certainly not feasible for both the nations, but the incursions of China are certainly indicative of its intentions. It’s like a reality check for India as to who’s the boss in Asia. Hopefully, there will be an end to the animosity at some time in future, as it is never helpful to hold on to old grudges. Chinese and Indian leaders should work on the bilateral relations with better zest.

The border problem....

The recent Chinese incursion in Arunachal Pradesh has created quite a furore in the Indian media. The strike-through stemmed from the fear factor that never really left the Indian hearts after the humiliating defeat of 1962. It can’t be answered easily whether the media genuinely wanted to inform the Indians about the developments in the part of India or it (as usual) wanted to cash-in on the paranoia associated with China by stoking it further. There have been varied opinions about the same. Indian officials have criticised the Indian media for exaggerating the matter. According to them, it’s creating a conflict which is currently non-existent and does not realize the importance of under-playing controversial issues in an effort to maintain peace.

To assess whether the media is justified or not, however, we need to understand the Sino-Indian conflict first. It is known that China-India relations have always been turbulent. We are the only neighbour China seems to have a problem with. The ‘Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai’ phase didn’t last for long. China was soon found criticising Nehru, who had supported formation of Peoples Republic of China in the early years. Internationally, it has portrayed itself as a peace-loving and non-interfering nation, but it has always been sceptical of India. Very recently, the country opposed India's civilian nuclear deal with USA. Probably, it feels threatened by the growing links between the two nations. India has also always felt that China has tried to encircle it from all sides by trying to woo Vietnam, Combodia, Myanmar, and Nepal etc. The worst fears are, however, associated with its links with Pakistan. It has been providing this nation with nuclear support and supporting them so much so that if India goes on war with Pakistan, it will have to face the joint might of its strategic ally as well. The giant – China – will make a two front war inevitable for India.

China’s points of contention with India were Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh. Both countries claim ownership to this land. China doesn’t agree to the international border set-down by India. Once, China had agreed to take over Aksai Chin and leave alone Arunachal Pradesh, but it didn’t work out as India was still angry with them.

The recent declaration by Dalai Lama to visit Tawang, a small beautiful pass on the eastern border has worsened the situation. Tawang is of strategic importance to China, as it is the easiest gateway to India from China. However, Dalai – Tibetian leader- openly said that it belonged to India. This angered China very much and it has been opposing Dalai’s visit there.

However, all said and done there have been positive interactions between the two countries as well. The situation never worsened to war levels after 62 war. And China happens to be India’s biggest trade partner. Indian authorities have declared that there has not been any significant increase in the number of incursions by them and hence, not to get paranoid. However, unless they come out with the documents on the same, one cannot know if government is projecting an under-played image. They have even threatened to sack journalists, who have published articles without government sourcing and proper proof. Only time can tell whether this artery will succumb to the high pressure eventually.