08/11/2010
New Delhi: With Rajiv Pratap Rudy having jumped the gun in criticising US President Barack Obama for not mentioning Pakistan in his address at the Taj hotel, the BJP on Sunday went into a course correction mode and issued a gag order of sorts. However, what lay bare was the seemingly divergent views within its fold.
Some top leaders of the party hold conflicting views on the import of the Obama visit. And while a few downplayed Rajiv Pratap Rudy's ill-timed controvesy as "storm in a tea cup", the party seems to be facing a dilemma akin to the one it faced when it battled hard to take a comprehensive position on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
While a meeting of the party was scheduled even prior to the Rudy fiasco, it cast a shadow over the BJP top leadership's huddle at L K Advani's residence on Sunday, with Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Ananth Kumar attending.
Sources said BJP hawks want the party to aggressively flag off issues like outsourcing and terror emanating from Pakistan -- a glimpse of it being Rudy's feeble attempt on Saturday.
However, since the party favours "friendly and cordial" relations with Washington, the general mood is that the response should be nuanced and any criticism kept for after the visit.
During her courtesy meeting with Obama on Monday, Sushma may raise both outsourcing and terror. "I would like to see the joint statmement and his address to Parliament before firming up a view," senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi told The Indian Express.
Among those questioning the "hype" around Obama's visit are leaders like Yashwant Sinha, a former external affairs minister.
"It is being projected as if it is the second most important visit after 1912 when King George V visited India. There is so much obsession... Compare it with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trip to the US. There must be some parity," he told The Indian Express.
Sinha argued that he had nothing against Obama's visit, but insisted that India-US relations should be "a two-way street".
Sources said the debate within the party was to some extent on these lines.
Given the controversy over outsourcing and Washington's recalcitrance on pushing Pakistan hard on dismantling the terror network, the question is whether the party should whole-heartedly back efforts to cement and strengthen ties with the US in line with its policy, or raise India's interests and concerns which strike a chord with the masses.
"The US has an elaborate social security system. But we don't have such a system. If because of protectionist measures, an Indian loses his job, a big family would be pushed to starvation. That is not the situation in the US," Sinha argued. "...The US has not said we will not do anything that will affect Indian jobs."
Source: The Indian Express
K.Venugopal
#1
Monday, 08 November 2010 11:25:06
It is rather unfair to consider Rudy's statement as a fiasco. It was balanced and sought to bring to centre-stage the point that Obama was evading - Pakistan's hand in the Mumbai attacks. Instead Obama sought to present it as if it happened in spite of Pakistan's good intentions! Furthermore, Rudy’s position is reflected in what is on the minds of today's youth because they put the same question before Obama. So Rudy must be congratulated for being prescient. Obama's position indeed disappointed Indians at large.
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4549909&page=0
New Delhi: With Rajiv Pratap Rudy having jumped the gun in criticising US President Barack Obama for not mentioning Pakistan in his address at the Taj hotel, the BJP on Sunday went into a course correction mode and issued a gag order of sorts. However, what lay bare was the seemingly divergent views within its fold.
Some top leaders of the party hold conflicting views on the import of the Obama visit. And while a few downplayed Rajiv Pratap Rudy's ill-timed controvesy as "storm in a tea cup", the party seems to be facing a dilemma akin to the one it faced when it battled hard to take a comprehensive position on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
While a meeting of the party was scheduled even prior to the Rudy fiasco, it cast a shadow over the BJP top leadership's huddle at L K Advani's residence on Sunday, with Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Murli Manohar Joshi, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Ananth Kumar attending.
Sources said BJP hawks want the party to aggressively flag off issues like outsourcing and terror emanating from Pakistan -- a glimpse of it being Rudy's feeble attempt on Saturday.
However, since the party favours "friendly and cordial" relations with Washington, the general mood is that the response should be nuanced and any criticism kept for after the visit.
During her courtesy meeting with Obama on Monday, Sushma may raise both outsourcing and terror. "I would like to see the joint statmement and his address to Parliament before firming up a view," senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi told The Indian Express.
Among those questioning the "hype" around Obama's visit are leaders like Yashwant Sinha, a former external affairs minister.
"It is being projected as if it is the second most important visit after 1912 when King George V visited India. There is so much obsession... Compare it with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's trip to the US. There must be some parity," he told The Indian Express.
Sinha argued that he had nothing against Obama's visit, but insisted that India-US relations should be "a two-way street".
Sources said the debate within the party was to some extent on these lines.
Given the controversy over outsourcing and Washington's recalcitrance on pushing Pakistan hard on dismantling the terror network, the question is whether the party should whole-heartedly back efforts to cement and strengthen ties with the US in line with its policy, or raise India's interests and concerns which strike a chord with the masses.
"The US has an elaborate social security system. But we don't have such a system. If because of protectionist measures, an Indian loses his job, a big family would be pushed to starvation. That is not the situation in the US," Sinha argued. "...The US has not said we will not do anything that will affect Indian jobs."
Source: The Indian Express
K.Venugopal
#1
Monday, 08 November 2010 11:25:06
It is rather unfair to consider Rudy's statement as a fiasco. It was balanced and sought to bring to centre-stage the point that Obama was evading - Pakistan's hand in the Mumbai attacks. Instead Obama sought to present it as if it happened in spite of Pakistan's good intentions! Furthermore, Rudy’s position is reflected in what is on the minds of today's youth because they put the same question before Obama. So Rudy must be congratulated for being prescient. Obama's position indeed disappointed Indians at large.
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4549909&page=0
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