news details |
|
|
| Advani gets trapped in web created by his website | | |
ABID SHAH
EARLY TIMES REPORT
NEW DELHI, Mar 3: The Bharatiya Janata Party leader LK Advani has, indeed, been let down because of his own website. His today's move in the Lok Sabha to pin down the Government on US angle to Indo-Pak talks was already known because of his aggressive blogging through his website. And, thus, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could easily take on his BJP rival today in the House.
It was Advani who had earlier written on his website that the February 25 Foreign Secretaries level talks between India and Pakistan took place because of the "US nudge". He had reflected more on this in his website www.lkadvani.in and this was soon picked up by media. So no anticipation was needed about as to what the BJP leader was going to say in Parliament about last week's Indo-Pak talks.
Stakes too were heightened since Advani brought America into picture. Thus, Manmohan Singh and treasury benches were fully prepared when Advani broached the subject that within hours became a famous face off between Manmohan Singh and Advani.
Though media, including TV channels, have been crediting Advani of provoking an otherwise mild mannered and soft spoken Manmohan Singh by touching his some "raw nerve", the reality that even some of the channels acknowledge is that Advani was soon put on the back foot by Prime Minister and desk thumping Congress and UPA members.
And through such a face off the real issue whether America coaxed Delhi and Islamabad into talking or not was not only easily and stoutly denied by Manmohan Singh but also got deflected.
This is despite the fact that the visiting Foreign Secretary from Islamabad Salman Bashir did mention in his Press conference held the same (last Thursday) evening at the Pakistan High Commission here that "nuclear tipped missiles" were held by both India and Pakistan. The visiting diplomat said this to underscore the need for the two countries to talk.
Yet it is a known fact that Washington as a matter of its policy makes diplomatic moves vis-à-vis countries with nuclear arms and given the keen US interest in South Asia or this subcontinent the possibility of their "nudging" Delhi and Islamabad as pointed out by Advani may not be quite off the mark as it was made out to be in Parliament today.
Manmohan Singh also denied in the House that there was any secret agreement on Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan as suspected by Advani.
By saying so the Prime Minister is trying to clear the decks for this month's visit of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to Rawalpindi to attend the conference of Home Ministers of SAARC member countries and also a possible meeting between Manmohan Singh and his Pakistan counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani on the sidelines of SAARC summit expected to be held in Bhutan's Capital Thimpu towards the end of next month besides the likely meetings of the two leaders in future at other international forums.
On all such occasions Pakistan is likely to raise the issue of Kashmir. And, thus, Advani is here again not as off the mark as made out in Parliament today since Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that Indo-Pak relations have a direct bearing on Jammu and Kashmir.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
