Day after, India gives it back to Boucher

As the US returned to a glaring hyphenation of the sub-continent, calling on India and Pakistan to exercise nuclear and missile restraint an...

As the US returned to a glaring hyphenation of the sub-continent, calling on India and Pakistan to exercise nuclear and missile restraint and return to dialogue, the Foreign Office responded today by lashing out at the gratuitous ‘‘clutter’’ of US State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher’s remarks with ‘‘unwarranted references’’ to New Delhi.

Asked about Pakistan’s decision to test a series of ballistic missiles, Boucher on Tuesday voluntarily went on to offer advice to India and Pakistan to begin a dialogue on confidence-building measures which, he said, ‘‘could be part of a broader engagement to reduce tensions’’.

Shun supporters of teror:
Advani doesn’t miss Pakistan

NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 15
Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani today said that countries that supported terrorism should be ostracised. ‘‘We have to isolate nations which practise terrorism as an instrument of state policy. Beyond isolation, I would say we have to ostracise such nations,’’ he said at the Interpol’s 3rd International Conference on Fugitives. Without naming Pakistan, Advani pointed out that India had provided a list of 20 fugitives to its neighbour but had received no response. The response to this list would show the ‘‘touchstone of sincerity,’’ he said, adding that . if the 20 fugitives were handed over, a ‘‘new chapter’’ would begin between the two countries. ‘‘If that happens, I see an absolutely new chapter beginning in this region,’’ Advani said, and added that PM A.B. Vajpayee’s peace initiatives had not received the adequate response. He said the masterminds behind the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993, the attack on Parliament and many other terrorist crimes have been harboured by India’s neighbouring countries. Advani felt there was an urgent need for a rethink on extradition laws. The Pakistani delegation, which had confirmed its participation, was absent at the inaugural session. About 120 delegates from 43 countries, including the US, UK, France, Germany, UAE, Portugal, Sri Lanka, China and Oman are participating in the three-day conference. Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble said in 2003, Interpol helped police across the world to arrest 2,000 international fugitives through the National Central Bureaus worldwide.(ENS)

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Though Boucher did not directly name India, his inference was more than obvious. ‘‘We urge Pakistan and other countries in the region to take steps to restrain their nuclear weapons and missile programme, including the operational deployment of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles,’’ he said.

By evening, Foreign Office spokesperson Navtej Sarna had his response ready: ‘‘We are surprised at the manner in which the US State Department spokesman has chosen to respond to a question on the Pakistani missile test. He ought to have confined himself to reacting to the Pakistani missile test rather than cluttering up what he had to say by thinly disguised unwarranted references to India,’’ he said.

Analysts here argued that the US spokesman’s language reflected the ‘‘continuing strength of the non-proliferation lobby’’ in the establishment which sought to spread concern that the sub-continent was permanently teetering on the edge of a ‘‘nuclear flashpoint’’. What seems to have really angered New Delhi was Boucher’s insistence on dragging India, again and again, into the Pakistani hyphen. Even when the journalist asking the question (‘‘excuse me, I’m asking about Pakistan’’) wanted a direct response on the Pakistani missile test, Boucher wouldn’t relent. ‘‘As you know both sides have tested missiles,’’ he said, repeating himself.

CID to probe Zubeen Garg’s death after complaint names his manager, festival organiser

India2 hr ago

As Assam awaits the return of its superstar icon Zubeen Garg’s body after he died in Singapore, where he was for the North East India Festival, on Friday, the state government has decided to transfer the investigation to the CID following complaints against festival organiser Shyamkanu Mahanta and his manager Siddharth Sharma.

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