The Pentagon alternative

To nobody8217;s surprise, New Delhi rejected Ukraine8217;s offer to sell the same radars in favour of the goods from Raytheon 8212; even though, word has it, the Kiev version was many times cheaper.

Still, if the flag must follow arms trade, then New Delhi8217;s manifest interest in surface-to-air missiles and possibly, destroyers, couldn8217;t have come at a more opportune moment.

With India hungry to upgrade and diversify its mostly Soviet/Russian stock, its looking at a couple of key nations like the US and Israel, to fill in the blanks. Iraq or no Iraq, and whether or not the US organises a UN resolution which in turn could help New Delhi send troops to Baghdad, Ajay Prasad and Co. are likely to pop a couple of questions to Douglas Feith this week. By all accounts, it could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Bridges burnt, bridges built

There8217;s another word for 8216;Paradise8217; in the region and it8217;s not Kashmir, but Sri Lanka. The island8217;s tiny 18 million population has a high 89-per cent literacy and majority access to health care. It helps that New Delhi and Colombo are topping a billion dollars in bilateral trade after a Free Trade Treaty was signed in late 1998 and that both sides are now looking beyond FTA II by opening up investment and services.

And despite Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa8217;s outright rejection of the 8216;Hanuman8217; bridge proposed to link Talaimannar with Dhanushkhodi in Sri Lanka8217;s northern tip 8212; a bridge that would not only propel trade but also ease the travel of Sri Lankan Tamils, including thousands from upcountry plantations who continue to be stateless at home 8212; External Affairs minister Yashwant Sinha is making his third trip to Colombo since he moved to MEA last year, on August 17.

Still, the worm in paradise is now turning again. The LTTE, which had stalled talks with the Sri Lankan government since April, is now believed to be considering a next round of parleys in France, after behind-the-scenes negotiations by the Norwegians. Six rounds have already taken place in Bangkok, Oslo, Berlin and Tokyo and although India has refused to be directly involved, all the host nations as well as Colombo keep New Delhi closely in touch.

Laloo in Lahore?

Meanwhile, the South Asian Free Media Association SAFMA Track II jamboree to Pakistan seems to be getting more and more interesting, with more than 30 MPs on board the New Delhi-Lahore bus later this week. Mehbooba Mufti of the People8217;s Democratic Party is believed to have refused to attend, but in turn sponsored an MLA-MLC combine to do so on the PDP8217;s behalf. But turns out that the lone PDP member of the Rajya Sabha Harbans Singh will now represent his party, simply because he8217;s an MP and SAARC rules don8217;t require him to get a visa to cross Wagah.

Unfortunately, Laloo Prasad of the RJD could not make use of the same facility, even though he8217;s very much part of the Lok Sabha. Turns out that Laloo8217;s animal husbandry scam, for which he8217;s been accused by the CBI, is preventing him from travelling across the border. And so, while he8217;s shown his eagerness to be on the SAFMA team, he8217;s also petitioned the Patna High Court to grant him leave to hop across the border. The high court8217;s judgement is awaited on this score.

Himalayan blues

The action simply doesn8217;t stop in August, especially with Nepal. Later this week, the Maoists will return to their third round of talks with the Surya Bahadur Thapa Government in Kathmandu. By the middle of the month, Nepal8217;s Ambassador to New Delhi Bhekh Bahadur Thapa will say goodbye, after six long years in India. Bhekh Thapa, it is being widely rumoured, will return to 8216;8216;advise8217;8217; Kathmandu on foreign policy.

Clearly, the time8217;s just right. Bhekh Thapa must be made up of equal parts of tact, brilliance, warmth and shrewdness 8212; qualities that kept him and us in good humour in these six roller-coaster years. If he and the Indian bureaucracy often crossed swords 8212; which in the aftermath of the IC-814 hijacking insisted that Kathmandu was never doing enough, besides repeated accusations of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists being allowed to take over Nepal 8212; he didn8217;t let it show.

Instead, he persuaded Kathmandu to reexamine each issue, exhorting them to look at it from New Delhi8217;s point of view. The hijacking of IC-814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar, the Hrithik Roshan blame game in Nepal, so much wasted water down the Mahakali river, the parricide of the Birendra royals8230; clearly, its not been an easy six years. But Bhekh Thapa8217;s easy smile helped, as did the best momos that he served in town.