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Journalism of Courage
While Indians gloomily point out that the United States, with its other preoccupations, has forgotten all about them, a group of scientists is having an intense discussion in an arid part of New Mexico, a US state.
The subjects being debated would make any New Delhi thinktank sit up and take note: Sir Creek and Siachen, India and Pakistan.
This is not a Think India day at Sandia National Laboratories. This is routine.
With 8,000 personnel in its ranks, Sandia is a key link in the United States nuclear establishment, designing and testing components for it. But of more immediate interest to India would be the Cooperative Monitoring Centre (CMC), one of Sandia’s wings that tries to develop trust in areas of potential conflict. ‘‘Our aim is to reduce tensions that could escalate into proliferation through technical collaborations,’’ says Kent Biringer of the CMC.
They take their job seriously, convinced that they are bringing about real change and not behaving like academics whose disputes lead nowhere.
David Betsill has returned from a Colombo workshop where a maritime boundary in the Sir Creek area was worked out—the only sticking point being a 42 square km patch. ‘‘Why not have a maritime peace park in that portion like the one we conceived between Israel and Jordan,’’ suggests Betsill. Supported by maritime legal experts from the University of Dalhousie, Canada, Betsill—along with ex-Navy officials from India and Pakistan—has come up with this proposal, which will now be passed on to US authorities for further action.
