THE murder of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti at the hands
of state security forces is both a human and a
national tragedy, with consequences of
unimaginably perilous scale. That such
disproportionate force was used to kill a 79-year
old ailing man and that his bereaved family has
been denied the opportunity to offer their last
respects and accord him a proper burial is
deplorable.
There may be many questions about Akbar Bugti's
conduct as a tribal leader. Today, however, he
stands tall as a man who forsook the comforts of
his home in Dera Bugti and took up abode in
mountain caves to fight for the rights of his
people. The same cannot be said of many of his
detractors living in the comforts of official
residences and in cantonments and defence housing
schemes in Islamabad, Lahore or Karachi.
The calamity and the sordid handling of the
aftermath reflects General Musharraf's arrogant
faith in military solutions to the patently
political problems that the country faces,
including those that have been created by the
perpetuation of the current military dictatorship
since October 1999. The generals have certainly
not learnt any lessons from Pakistan's
unfortunate history of a quarter of a century
ago, nor from the current failure of the world's
sole superpower to enforce its writ in Iraq, or
of the mighty Israeli army's failure to write its
agenda in Lebanon.
In 1971, the then generals opted to lay down
their arms before the Indian army rather than
negotiate and arrive at a compromise with the
leaders of the people of the eastern wing of
Pakistan. This attitude appears to be pervasive
even today. And general Musharraf's
chest-thumping speech in Murree, hurling threats
at the people of Balochistan, as well as of
Pakistan, is likely to stoke more defiance rather
than scare anyone.
The policy drift that the country has suffered
under General Musharraf's leadership portends
disaster for the country. Questions about the
general's judgment had arisen immediately after
the inane militarily untenable Kargil
misadventure. He also made a foreign policy
U-turn, hours after the tragedy of 9/11, and
Pakistan shifted from being the most pro-Taliban
country in the world to the most ardent
'terrorist' busting country in the US camp. The
slogan that was then trumpeted as a rationale for
the U-turn was that Pakistan must come first.
The implications of the principle of this
simplistic justification are disturbing. Extended
further, it could imply that, under external
pressure, the Kashmir cause or the nuclear status
could be abandoned on the grounds that 'Pakistan
has to come first'. After all, it could be
perceivably argued that there can be no struggle
for the freedom of the Kashmiri people if there
was no Pakistan or of what use will the nuclear
arsenal be if there was no Pakistan?
Now General Musharraf has proclaimed that the
writ of the government will be enforced 'at all
costs'. One hopes that 'all costs' does not imply
that the writ of his government - of questionable
legitimacy - will be imposed even at the cost of
Pakistan. These questions are not frivolous,
given the increasingly apparent absence of any
degree of political intellect in general
Musharraf's policy decisions. After all, the
legacy of disastrous policy decisions by the
coterie of Generals headed by Yahya Khan did not
provide any assurance of intelligent conduct.
And, given the current military regime's
paramount and almost exclusive objective of
clinging on to power, there can be no confidence
in the quality of decision-making on national,
regional or international issues.
General Musharraf has tried to present the
conflict in Balochistan as one where a mere three
sardars, out of about 75, are attempting to
sabotage development. The argument holds no
water. Several facts need to be taken into
account. Balochistan is a very heterogeneous
province. The sardari system is a Baloch
institution. Out of 26 districts, one-third of
them in the north/north-east are populated by
Pukhtuns and, as such, not subject to the sardari
system. The system also does not prevail in the
Mekran coast and adjoining districts.
It appears, therefore, that the sardari system is
prevalent only in about one-third of the
districts in the eastern/central part of the
province. This is the part over which up to about
75 sardars are said to hold sway. As such, the
area controlled by the three 'anti-development'
sardars is likely to be rather small. The
question that arises, is: why has development not
blossomed in the rest of the province?
An overview of the development scene in
Balochistan is discomforting and the extent of
relative deprivation in the province is
appalling. Eighteen out of the 20 most
infrastructure-deprived districts in Pakistan are
in Balochistan. The percentage of districts that
are classified as high deprivation stands as
follows: 29 per cent in Punjab, 50 per cent in
Sindh, 62 per cent in the NWFP, and 92 per cent
in Balochistan. If Quetta and Ziarat are
excluded, all of Balochistan falls into the high
deprivation category. And Quetta's ranking would
fall if the cantonment is excluded from the
analysis. The percentage of population living in
a high degree of deprivation stands at 25 per
cent in Punjab, 23 per cent in urban Sindh, 49
per cent in rural Sindh, 51 per cent in the NWFP,
and 88 per cent in Balochistan.
Measured in terms of poverty, the percentage of
population living below the poverty line stands
at 26 per cent in Punjab, 38 per cent in rural
Sindh, 27 per cent in urban Sindh, 29 per cent in
the NWFP, and 48 per cent in Balochistan. Yet
another stark measure of Balochistan's relative
deprivation is that while the country boasts of a
50-per cent-plus literacy rate, the same for
rural women in Balochistan is a mere seven per
cent.
Balochistan's relative decline is also indicated
by provincially disaggregated national accounts
data. Estimates for the period 1973-2000 show
that Punjab alone has increased its share of
national GDP by two percentage points from 52.7
per cent to 54.7 per cent. Sindh - on account of
Karachi - and the NWFP have maintained their
share. Balochistan's share has declined by nearly
one percentage point from 4.5 per cent to 3.7 per
cent. Resultantly, the annual rate of growth of
per capita GDP has been 2.4 per cent in Punjab
and 0.2 per cent in Balochistan.
Statistics tell only a part of the story. In
fact, given the conditions in Balochistan,
Pakistan's national statistics do not tell the
full story. This is because no enumerator of the
official statistics collecting department makes
the effort to visit a settlement that is two days
walking distance away. Conditions in such
settlements are so dire that, if half the
children born in a family survive, it is
considered lucky. The absence of such data has
tended to show national statistics in a better
light than it actually is - and has tended to
conceal Balochistan's real plight.
Apart from chronic underdevelopment, the
insurgency is also a product of the exclusion of
the Baloch from the mainstream national political
process. After all, in the period since
independence to date, how many of the corps
commanders or lieutenant-generals or brigadiers
have been Baloch? How many of the ambassadors or
high commissioners in Pakistan missions abroad
have been Baloch? How many of the federal
secretaries or additional secretaries have been
Baloch? How many of the heads of public
organisations - a la Wapda - have been Baloch?
How many of the heads of the Federation of
Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry have
been Baloch? How many of the members of
Pakistan's national cricket or hockey teams have
been Baloch? And so on. Perhaps General Musharraf
or his prime minister or his more garrulous
ministers would venture to answer some of the
above questions, at least with respect to the
current situation.
Admittedly, Balochistan's underdevelopment is a
product of over half a century of exploitation
and neglect. Unfortunately, however, General
Musharraf's seven years in power has merely seen
an extension of the past record. The fact is
that, not unlike any previous governments, the
Musharraf regime has never had any development
agenda for Balochistan. The few mega projects
that have been undertaken, a la Gwadar, are
actually motivated by strategic considerations.
They are more likely to bypass the local
population and, worse still, turn the Baloch into
a minority in their home province.
The Baloch intelligentsia has seen through
Islamabad's colonisation game and the general
insurgency is merely a response. The military's
operation in Balochistan is a counter response,
not to the insurgency per se, but to the
challenge posed to Islamabad's colonisation
agenda.
Resultantly, the situation is extremely
precarious. With the army possibly embroiled in
Balochistan, the defence of the eastern frontier
is likely to be compromised. There are likely to
be serious impacts on the national economy as
well. Without security across the vast province,
Gwadar port's planned position as the third port
of the country and a transshipment point for
central Asia and western China will go up in
smoke. So will the under-discussion
Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project. The
rest of the country too will not remain
unaffected. Unlike in the case of East Pakistan,
Balochistan is not a thousand kilometers away.
Given Karachi's geographical proximity to
Balochistan, the presence of large Baloch
settlements in the city, and the sympathetic
Sindhi nationalist element, any civil war-like
situation in Balochistan will inevitably envelope
Karachi in the theatre of conflict. And, given
that Karachi and neighbouring Port Qasim are the
only seaports of the country and handle the
entire shipping of export and import cargo, the
situation will impact the economy in all parts of
the country.
The postponement of the National Assembly
session, scheduled for March 3, 1971, in Dhaka,
finally snapped the tenuous emotional thread that
had bound the eastern province with the rest of
the country. Today, the killing of Akbar Bugti
has severely frayed the emotional thread linking
Balochistan with Pakistan.
The withdrawal of Baloch nationalist legislators
from the parliamentary process is an ominous
signal that cannot and should not be ignored. If
the damage to the federation is to be repaired,
the military establishment will need to withdraw
from the political, economic and commercial
arenas and a genuinely elected government will
need to take effective charge of the country to
assuage the deep wounds that have been inflicted
on Balochistan.
French naval export company Armaris, in a bold commercial move, has
proposed a license deal that would permit Pakistan to build all three
Marlin submarines the company offered in its bid for Islamabad’s
diesel-electric submarine program, a French industry official said.
“This is one deal we have to win,” the official said. The sale is worth
around $1 billion.
Germany’s HDW has made a rival bid with its 214 sub, he said.
The building of all three Marlin boats locally would mark a departure from
previous French submarine sales.
In the 1994 sale of three Agosta 90B Khalid submarines to Islmabad,
France’s DCN built the first in series and transferred production of the
other two boats to Pakistan. The French sale of six Scorpene subs to India
earlier this year followed the same industrial model.
Armaris on Aug. 26 submitted its Marlin offer to Pakistan. The offer was
for the submarine only, without SM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles, as
Pakistan
has said it wants to arm the boats with Boeing Harpoon missiles. The boats
would be fitted for, but not with, the Harpoons, the official said. The
cost of integration of the U.S.-built missiles would be in Pakistan’s
charge.
Armaris is a 50-50 joint venture company of DCN and Thales.
In Bulgaria’s tender for four corvettes, Armaris has arranged debt
financing for a purchase with a pool of banks led by French bank Societé
Générale, the official said. The banks would lend Bulgaria money to buy
the
warships, with repayment guaranteed by the Coface export credit agency.
The Bulgarian Navy put Armaris’ Gowind corvette at the top of the list
after the tender closed, and the French company is waiting for a decision
from the Bulgarian government, the official said. The corvette deal is
worth 700 million to 800 million euros ($888 million to $1 billion).
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf urged India on Sept. 12 to make early
concessions to solve a decades-old dispute over the Kashmir region, saying
he was optimistic a solution was within reach.
Musharraf spoke during a visit to Brussels before a meeting, scheduled for
the end of this week, with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a
summit
of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, Cuba.
"The objective is within reach ... I am really hopeful the process will
move forward," he told an audience of European lawmakers.
The Kashmir row is at the heart of an old rivalry between the two nuclear
powers. More than 45,000 people have been killed since a revolt began 17
years ago in the disputed Himalayan region, claimed in full by both India
and Pakistan.
Musharraf insisted it was India's turn to make concessions and take into
account long-running indications from Islamabad that it would no longer
insist on a plebiscite among Kashmiris over their future.
"I have not given an inch. We will not move away from our stance until we
see India move away from its stance," he said, insisting a firm agreement
to dispense with a plebiscite was dependent on Indian efforts to find a
compromise.
"We have to engage in out-of-the-box thinking ... An out-of-the-box
solution is required," he said, calling for more local Kashmiri
involvement
in resolving the dispute.
"Any settlement must be acceptable first to the people of Kashmir."
A peace dialogue launched in 2004 has made little progress so far, but
separatist violence has eased somewhat in recent months.
(Srinagar, September 12, 2006) “The Indian government's
failure to end widespread impunity for human rights abuses
committed both by its security forces and militants is fueling
the cycle of violence in Jammu and Kashmir, Human Rights
Watch said in a report released today.
The 156-page report, "'Everyone Lives in Fear': Patterns of
Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir", documents recent abuses
by the Indian army and paramilitaries, as well as by militants,
many of whom are backed by Pakistan. Indian security forces
have committed torture, 'disappearances' and arbitrary
detentions, and they continue to execute Kashmiris in faked
'encounter killings', claiming that these killings take place
during armed clashes with militants. Militants have carried out
bombings and grenade attacks against civilians, targeted
killings, torture and attacks upon religious and ethnic
minorities.
These abuses have taken place against the backdrop of almost
two decades of the failure of the political and legal systems in
India and Pakistan to end abuses or punish the perpetrators.
Since 1989, the armed secessionist struggle against Indian rule
in Jammu and Kashmir has claimed more than 50,000 lives.
Kashmir remains a potential flashpoint between the nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan.
"Human rights abuses have been a cause as well as a
consequence of the insurgency in Kashmir", said Brad Adams,
Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Kashmiris continue to
live in constant fear because perpetrators of abuses are not
punished. Unless the Indian authorities address the human
rights crisis in Jammu and Kashmir, a political settlement of
the conflict will remain illusory."
The new report, based on research from 2004 to 2006,
documented abuses that have occurred since the election in
2002 of a Jammu and Kashmir state government with an
avowed human rights agenda and the resumption of peace
talks between India and Pakistan that same year (after the
countries nearly went to war in 2002).
Indian security forces claim they are fighting to protect
Kashmiris from militants and Islamic extremists, while
militants claim they are fighting for Kashmiri independence
and to defend Muslim Kashmiris from an abusive Indian army.
In reality, both sides have committed widespread and
numerous human rights abuses and violations of international
humanitarian law (or the laws of war).
Extrajudicial executions by Indian security forces are common.
Police and army officials have told Human Rights Watch that
security forces often execute alleged militants instead of
bringing them to trial in the belief that keeping hardcore
militants in detention is a security risk. Most of those
summarily executed are falsely reported to have died during
armed clashes between the army and militants in 'encounter
killings'.
The Indian government has effectively given its forces free
rein, while Pakistan and armed militant groups have failed to
hold militants accountable for the atrocities they have
committed. Through documentation of the failure to prosecute
in recent cases and some older, key cases, the report shows
how impunity has fueled the insurgency. If the Indian
authorities had addressed these abuses seriously when they
took place, public confidence in the authorities would have
increased and future abuses may have been substantially
reduced. Instead, India failed to prosecute or discipline the
perpetrators.
Impunity has been enabled by Indian law. The report
documents cases where Indian security forces have shot
civilians under the authority of laws such as the Jammu and
Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act and the Armed Forces (Jammu
and Kashmir) Special Powers Act. These laws, enacted near
the beginning of the conflict, allow lethal force to be used
'against any person who is acting in contravention of any law
or order for the time being in force in the disturbed area'.
Other laws offer state agents effective immunity from criminal
prosecution. For example, Article 197 of the Indian Code of
Criminal Procedure only allows the prosecution of state actors
with the permission of the relevant ministry. This is rarely
provided. Prosecutions of security force personnel, even where
the facts are well established, are therefore rare.
Human Rights Watch also stated that the work of both the
National Human Rights Commission and the State Human
Rights Commission in Jammu and Kashmir is severely
hampered by laws that prohibit them from directly
investigating abuses carried out by the army or other federal
forces. Although government officials claim that disciplinary
measures have been taken against some security personnel, it
is unclear this happens, as details are almost never made
public.
"It™s absurd that the world's largest democracy, with a well-developed legal system and internationally recognized
judiciary, has laws on its books that prevent members of its
security forces from being prosecuted for human rights
abuses", said Adams. "It's time for the Indian government to
repeal these laws and recommit itself to justice for victims of
all abuses, whoever the perpetrator may be."
The report also documents serious abuses by militants, many
of whom continue to receive backing from Pakistan.
Numerous massacres, bombings, killings and attacks on
schools attributed to the militants are often intentionally
downplayed by supporters of Kashmiri independence or its
accession to Pakistan. Militant groups have targeted civilians,
including women and children, whom they consider to be
'traitors to the cause' or for expressing views contrary to those
of one or another armed group. Alleged militants have
murdered nearly 600 Kashmiri politicians since the conflict
began, usually as retribution for joining in the electoral
process. Officials conducting the polls have been killed or
tortured, some with their noses or ears chopped off.
Militants have also been responsible for bomb attacks that
targeted civilians. They have attacked religious minorities in
Kashmir such as Hindus and Sikhs, as well as ethnic
minorities such as the Gujjars, whom the militants target
because they believe them to be government informers.
Although many of the militant groups currently operating in
Jammu and Kashmir have become increasingly unpopular,
Kashmiris are afraid to speak out against them. A conflict over
Kashmiri identity and independence has slowly but visibly
mutated into a fight under the banner of religion, pitting Islam
against Hinduism and drawing religious radicals into its heart.
There is considerable evidence that over many years Pakistan
has provided Kashmiri militants with training, weapons,
funding and sanctuary. Officially, Pakistan denies ever arming
and training militants. Under pressure from the United States
after the attacks of September 11, 2001, Pakistan banned
several militant groups in January 2002, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Toiba. But these groups have
continued to operate after changing their names. India blames
these groups for many armed attacks. Pakistan appears to be
keeping its options open should peace talks collapse by
continuing to support these groups. Pakistan remains
accountable for abuses committed by militants that it has
armed and trained.
"The militants and their backers must end the bombings and
the targeting of civilians", said Adams. "Continued abuses
ensure that the cycle of violence will continue. And these
abuses only add to the suffering of the people in whose name
the militants are ostensibly fighting."
On September 21, Human Rights Watch will release a report
on human rights abuses in Azad Kashmir.
To read the report, "'Everyone Lives in Fear': Patterns of Impunity in Jammu and Kashmir", please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/india0906/.
To view photographs from Kashmir by Bob Nickelsburg, please
visit: http://hrw.org/photos/2006/india0906/index.htm.
India’s defense spending for 2007-2012 will jump about 44 percent over the
previous five-year planning period, but there still will not be enough
money to implement some of the country’s most ambitious defense plans,
Defence Ministry sources said.
India’s Planning Commission has approved a defense budget for the 11th
five-year plan of about $142 billion, up from $79 billion in the previous
plan. Sources in the Planning Commission said the defense spending for
2007-2012 is based on the assumption that India’s economic growth will
grow
by around 8 percent.
Defence Ministry officials said the budget falls short of its expectations
by around $22 billion and will not be sufficient to accomplish such goals
as the purchase of network-centric warfare systems and the establishment
of
a nuclear command structure and aerospace command.
Planning Commission sources say the increase will raise India’s annual
defense spending to 2.56 percent of the country’s gross domestic product
(GDP); spending has been about 2.33 percent of GDP under the current
five-year plan. The Defence Ministry had sought to set defense spending at
a minimum of 3 percent of the GDP under the new plan.
India needs to procure about 200 advanced fighter aircraft to keep its
fleet strength at the minimum acceptable level of 40 squadrons; purchase
more than 1,600 155mm guns for the Army as part of its long-term
conversion
of all field guns; purchase air defense systems for the Army, Air Force
and
the Navy; and buy advanced radars.
The military also must execute its long-term network-centric warfare plans
by setting up C4I systems and buying dedicated satellites.
In addition, the Navy will have to procure about 30 warships to replace
aging Soviet-built vessels to be decommissioned in the next five to seven
years — most of them bought in the 1960s and ’70s.
The Navy also is to build two homegrown nuclear submarines for around $1
billion each and procure six more, as well as purchase maritime
reconnaissance aircraft. The service has only three Il-38 aircraft
following the crash of two in 2002, and its aging Tu-142 Russian aircraft
are overdue for replacement.
Replacing all of the military’s aging Soviet-built weapons would cost
about
$12 billion to $15 billion, an Indian Defence Ministry official said.
Neighboring Pakistan spends 4 percent of its GDP on defense, and China
spends 6 percent, an Indian Army official said.
French naval export company Armaris on Aug. 28 made a formal offer of
three
Marlin diesel-electric patrol submarines to Pakistan, a deal that would
include MBDA Exocet SM39 missiles, a Pakistani official said Sept. 8.
The French government granted approval for Armaris to offer the Marlin
SSK
in May, after long hesitation for fear of upsetting India, which
recently
bought six French Scorpene submarines, also armed with Exocet anti-ship
weapons.
MBDA declined comment. Armaris officials were not immediately available.
Complicating the sale for France is the Pakistan Navy's preference for
the
Boeing Harpoon missile. The U.S. government has authorized the sale of
30
submarine-launched versions of the Harpoon to Islamabad.
Acquisition of the Harpoon would be a first for Pakistan, as its forces
have
only operated the air-launched and surface ship versions so far. The
Pakistan Navy operates the French DCN-designed Agosta 90B Khalid boat,
armed
with Exocets.
French business daily La Tribune reported Sept. 8 that Spanish and
Germany
industry were working on their offers to Pakistan.
The Marlin would be an updated, all-French version of the Franco-Spanish
Scorpene boat and include air-independent propulsion. The sub deal is
likely to be worth $1 billion to $1.2 billion.
Armaris is a DCN-Thales joint venture.
Paving the way for bilateral strategic and security cooperation, India and Germany have signed their first-ever defence pact encompassing joint training, technology transfers and co-production of hi-tech military hardware.
The Indo-German Defence Cooperation agreement, which would likely to help New Delhi to broadbase its military equipment suppliers to make arms purchases more competitive, has been signed on Wednesday night in Berlin by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and his German Counterpart Franz Josef Jung.
Though both the leaders refused to elaborate what areas of defence the agreement was aimed at, Jung said it would mostly cover exchange of cooperation in the field of Navy and in electronic and sureviellance systems, in which Germany recently had made big breakthroughs.
Talking to the reporter after signing the pact, Mukherjee said the agreement, which comes into force immediately, provides for setting up of a high defence committee that would work out the areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The two countries agreed to institute a strategic dialogue at the level of the Indian Defence Secretary and German Secretary of State and form sub committees focusing on strategic defence cooperation, technical cooperation and military-to-military cooperation.
Prior to the signing of the agreement, Mukherjee held almost a marathon 80-minute one-to-one meeting with Jung during which, sources said, fast unfolding events in Lebanon, situation in south Asia as well as developing an exchange of information on global terrorism came up.
Under the agreement, top level defence officials from the two countries would meet once a year alternatively in Germany and India.
It also envisages the setting up of a bilateral strategic defence cooperation group headed by the joint secretary in the ministry of defence in India and deputy chief of staff, politico-military affairs, German federal Ministry of defence.
The subjects covered by the group would include security and defence policy, diasater relief and other mutually agreed areas.
Another bilateral group would deal with defence technology cooperation and defence business cooperation and would be headed by joint secretary in the acquisition wing of the defence ministry and an armament director on the German side.
The agreement also provides for enhancing exchange of armed forces personnel in each other's military training institutions and making exchanges of visit by senior services personnel.
India and Germany signed a landmark agreement last night to change the contour of relationship from a ‘buyer-seller’ to that of partners. Shortly after signing the agreement with his German Counterpart Dr. Franz Josef Jung in Berlin, the Defence Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee expressed confidence that “the relationship will graduate from the level of buyer-seller relationship to that of co-production, joint development of products and transfer of technology.”
The Agreement aims to establish a strategic dialogue for the benefit of he Armed Forces at the level of Defence Secretaries. Conscious of ‘the significance of international military cooperation as an important element of security’, this group called the India- Germany High Defence Committee (HDC), will meet once a year, alternately, in India and Germany. Under the Under the HDC, the two countries will form three sub- groups to focus on Strategic Defence Cooperation, Defence Technical cooperation and Military to Military Cooperation.
The Strategic Defence Cooperation subgroup will be headed by Joint Secretary level officials of the two countries and will deal with subject areas e.g., security and defence policy, leadership concepts, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.
The Defence Technical cooperation sub-group will look at issues such as defence technology cooperation, defence business cooperation, exhange of information on armament procurement projects, including project related development and exchange of information on defence technological research and technology in both countries.
The Military-to-military cooperation sub-group will deal with issues such as standard and advanced training of military and civilian members of the armed forces, organizational structure of the armed forces, maintenance of armed forces in peace time, military medicine, military geo-information affairs, environmental protection in the armed forces, deployment of the armed forces within the UN Framework, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. The co-chairs of the three sub-groups will report to the HDC on their deliberations and bilateral work programme for approval.
Shri Mukherjee said that “with the signing of the MoU and establishment of High Defence Committee, a regular institutional mechanism is established”. Describing Germany as a “trusted and valued friend of India”, the Defence Minister said that the already existing high degree of economic and commercial cooperation with Berlin has now been extended to the areas of defence and security. Earlier in the day, Shri Mukherjee took a walk through the German Parliament building, the Reichstag and watched the proceedings of the Bundestag which was incidentally discussing the defence budget for the year.
The German term Reichstag refers to the building, while the term Bundestag refers to the institution. The Reichstag building in Berlin was constructed to house the Reichstag, the original parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933. The Reichstag as a parliament dates back to the Holy Roman Empire and ceased to act as a true parliament in the years of Nazi Germany (1933-1945). It again became the seat of the German parliament in 1999 after a reconstruction led by internationally renowned architect Norman Foster.
Shri Mukherjee watched the proceedings of the House for about half an hour. When the Speaker of the House announced the presence of the Defence Minister in the visitors’ gallery, there was thunderous applause from the members.
PARIS: India and France are keen on jointly developing cruise missiles, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told presspersons after talks with his French counterpart, Michele Alliot-Marie, here on Monday.
The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has been talking to MBDA, the French-European missile manufacturer, and is close to reaching a technical arrangement for joint development.
During the talks at the Defence Ministry, India expressed interest in French participation in the co-production of state-of-the-art weapons, sensors, communications and surveillance systems.
Mr. Mukherjee linked the Indo-French strategic partnership with that of arms sales by Paris to Pakistan and China. New Delhi, he said, would like a French response to a strategic partnership with India to be reflected in its arms sales policies to China and Pakistan and investment in India's defence industry.
New Delhi is using this clout to restrict French arms sales not just to Pakistan, but China as well. According to Indian officials, if the French sell, for instance, submarines to both New Delhi and Islamabad, it creates a major issue.
Mr. Mukherjee raised with Ms. Alliot-Marie the issue of export clearances for the transfer of technology relating to "ring laser gyro," a component used in high-tech navigation systems. He also referred to "proposals" relating to the Air Force, and pointed out that certain technologies had either not been provided or were withdrawn by the French side. On the Scorpene submarine deal, the French agreed to set up a "task force" to enable the implementation of the contract signed last year.
India said it had no intention of withdrawing its contingent from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. The French not only command the UNIFIL but have also taken the lead in sending additional troops to beef up the force.
India's defense minister flies to Europe Sept. 3 seeking closer ties with
Germany and the backing of France to remove remaining Western sanctions on
its military nuclear program, officials said.
Pranab Mukherjee first holds talks in Paris on Sept. 4 with his French
counterpart Michele Alliot-Marie, the defense ministry said.
"The visit assumes significance, in the context of the current global
security scenario and the desire of India to broad-base its defense
cooperation with various countries," ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar
said.
Kar said Mukherjee will also take part in a roundtable with CEO's of
leading French armament firms which are vying for plum military contracts
in India, the world's largest defense hardware purchaser.
Government sources noted that Mukehrjee's three-day stay in Paris follows
French President Jacques Chirac's state visit to India in February when
the
two sides signed nine agreements.
"Mukherjee and his counterpart will review the progress of the Indo-France
agreement on defense as well as the declaration on peaceful use of nuclear
energy signed during president Chirac's trip," a senior defense ministry
official told AFP.
The agreement expanded existing ties in defense industries, research,
joint
exercises, exchanges and training.
Indian officials said Mukherjee will also seek French support for New
Delhi's campaign for the lifting of the last U.S.-led nuclear sanctions.
"That's one of the important items on the agenda," the official said, on
condition of anonymity.
Western nations, barring France, imposed a range of sanctions after India
conducted nuclear weapons tests in 1998 and although most of the
restrictions have been removed, New Delhi insists all must go.
French state shipbuilder DCN last year won a contract to sell six
Franco-Spanish submarines worth 2.4 billion euros ($3 billion) to the
Indian navy.
European diplomatic sources said while in Germany Mukherjee is likely to
sign an agreement on bilateral military cooperation to signal the end to
Indian restrictions on military trade which were imposed almost a decade
ago.
The restrictions were gradually removed after Germany sought closer
defense
ties with India in August 2005 and following Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan
Singh's visit to Hannover earlier this year.
Mukherjee's trip to Bonn coincides with talks in New Delhi with German
armament firm, Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmBH Armin, on the possible
supply of latest artillery ammunition, tanks and electronic systems.
The defense minister's visit to Bonn, however, will be clouded by the
embarrassing recent recall of Indian military attache in Bonn, P. C.
Panjikar, for his alleged involvement with German armaments firms.
index | HOME Landelijke India Werkgroep | pagina KRUITVAT INDIA-PAKISTAN |