Robi's S. Asia Briefing: 2004-01-23

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. This Regional Briefing focuses on South Asia, courtesy of Robi Sen.

Hope for Peace?

• India and Pakistan stunned much of the world early this month with their surprise peace talks about Kashmir causing The Instapundit to wonder if it is the beginning of trend?

• While things do look promising and we all would prefer Pakistan and India to reach a peaceful agreement Sruju seems very skeptical.

• If somehow India and Pakistan can create a lasting peace, even with all their differences, Pakistan and India may serve as a example for peace and prosperity in the Middle East.

Other Topics Today Include: Pakistan’s Enemy Within; Rogue Scientists; More on the Indian-Israeli-U.S. alliance; Roundup of Islamic terrorism throughout SE Asia

Pakistan and India

• The Stratgeypage notes that India claimed that infiltrations into Kashmir from Pakistan are down this year with 93 such events. These events resulted in the killing of 300 of the infiltrators and the current cease fire is said to be responsible for the low death toll.

• As we have noted before Pakistan some times seems schizophrenic, on one hand talking peace and or helping in the War On Terror, on the other actively assisting insurgents and terrorists groups. In part, this lies in Pakistan’s history of using terrorist groups as cheap proxies against India, the former Soviet Union, the United States as well as other countries. Now though as Musharraff has tried to bring Pakistan into the modern world, make peace with India, condemn terrorism, and work with the United States those very same groups which Pakistan encouraged and help create have turned against them recently staging numerous assassination attempts against Musharraff himself as well as general terrorist actions in Pakistan. Like many Muslim countries that have supported radical Muslim extremists, such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan has found it much harder to stop the terrorists than it was to create them in the first place.

• The last few years we have heard much about the idea of Rogue Nations and Rogue States that might develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons headless of the rest of the world but what is as worrisome is the idea of Rogue Scientists who are willing to provide knowledge of how to develop these weapons to the most radical and freighting groups based on ideological and religious reasons. This seems to be the case with Paksitan’s Abdul Qadeer Khan who is suspected in assisting nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Libya acquire nuclear weapons technology and information.

• The American thinker notes India and Israel continue growing their relationship by signing a historic scientific and technology agreement this last Christmas.

• The United States has also agreed to provide India with nuclear and space related technologies ending decades of wariness on by the U.S. towards India. When you realize that many of the technologies have sophisticated military applications, that the U.S. has traditionally barred Israel from sharing these technologies with all but the closest of U.S. allies, it seems clear that the U.S. is encouraging the Indian-Israeli-U.S. alliance. As Suman Palit points out we are fighting the same enemy.

• Its important to note that this month Pakistan has seriously cracked down on terrorists in its own borders with a series of major raids. Dan Darling has a excellent post on the subject here noting the a whose who of terrorist groups and there members have been arrested in these raids.

South and South East Asia

• Apparently Hambali wanted to attack Australia but was unable to because of a lack of a local network of operatives.

• Sadly things don’t seem to ever get better in Sri Lanka and it seems the Tamil Tigers have started increasing the number children they are using as soliders.

• Rantburg notes Thailand’s Prime Ministers creative way to deal with young hoodlums.

Book Review

• Niraj posts an excellent and in depth review the book Pakistan: Eye of the Storm.