[Peace-discuss] Hard to be a satrap today...

[Robert Naiman]

The subtext of this, tho, is India's insistence that its policies in
Kashmir and vis-a-vis Pakistan are off the table for discussion. And
that's hardly something to celebrate.

On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 12:02 AM, C. G. Estabrook<galliher at illinois.edu> wrote:
> [The famous diplomat puts a foot (or more) wrong, and reveals what seems to
> be a typical US attitude.  The wonderful phrase "signals of hyphenation"
> should be saved for future use.  --CGE]
>
>        Govt to Holbrooke: Can't just walk in and out of India
>        Indrani Bagchi, TNN 14 August 2009, 04:10am IST
>
> NEW DELHI: Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy on Af-Pak, is finding the
> going very difficult when it comes to India. For the second time in a month,
> Holbrooke has had "scheduling" problems in India.
>
> The foreign office has told Holbrooke in very polite diplomatic terms that
> he cannot walk in and out of India at will. Holbrooke, senior officials
> said, had a habit of unilaterally deciding when he wanted to come to India
> and then demanding to see his top foreign policy interlocutors.
>
> The MEA found it offensive, to say the least. Consequently, Holbrooke has
> discovered that soon after he announces to the world about his India travel
> plans, the relevant officials are invariably unavailable.
>
> Holbrooke will be visiting Pakistan and Afghanistan starting on August 15,
> but will, once again, skip India. And this after having announced three
> weeks ago that he would be in India in mid-August.
>
> Senior government sources, speaking on background, said Holbrooke's mandate
> did not include India, so there was little need for him to visit India every
> time he was in the region. "It sends the wrong signals of hyphenation that
> we want to avoid," they said.
>
> Holbrooke, said sources, tried hard to come along with secretary of state
> Hillary Clinton during her maiden visit here last month but was discouraged.
> Sources said he tried hard to get Clinton to visit Pakistan, but between
> Clinton and Barack Obama, there was a decision to deal with India without
> the Pakistan baggage. So that did not happen either, much to Pakistan's
> chagrin.
>
> He had announced that he would visit India after Clinton's visit, but that
> did not happen. Answering questions at a press conference in Washington at
> the end of July, Holbrooke, however, denied any "complications" .  "There
> were no complications. I have three or four people in India who are my main
> policy interlocutors. All but one of them were going to be out of the
> country, so..."  Then he had said he would be in India in mid-August.
>
> On Wednesday, Holbrooke was once again telling an audience in Washington
> that his trip to the region involved only Pakistan and Afghanistan, not
> India. Describing India as a “dominant power† in South Asia, Holbrooke
> said the Obama administration was keeping New Delhi informed about its
> policies in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. "The Indians are a major factor
> in the region. They are a dominant power," he said.
>
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Govt-to-Holbrooke-Cant-just-walk-in-and-out-of-India/articleshow/4892246.cms
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-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org