While the Western leaders and media is piling up glowing obituaries on US diplomat Richard Holbrooke, a contrary opinion hit the Page:19 Times of India story by its Washington correspondent Chitanand Rajghatta.
All things said, it is surprising that if Indian circles hold that the overarching motivation for US diplomat is/was to make it to Nobel Peace Prize list, why should Indian authorities succumb to arm-twisting by the West to vote for Chinese dissident Linbao, when it was clear the nomination was political and meant to humiliate China. India should have taken this singular opportunity to send out a signal to the West that it has its own opinion as to the Western herd mentality to view all the world in its own strategic colored glass and ready to raise world media campaigns like Nobel prizes, to push its agenda on world's silent majority. *Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai <[email protected]>* ----------------------------------- http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=19&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=TOIM&mydateHid=15-12-2010&pubname=&edname=&publabel=TOI *When the Raging Bull met the Indian wall * Delhi Nixed Holbrooke Plan To Link Kashmir,Af-Pak *Chidanand Rajghatta TNN * The man who died of a ruptured aorta was famously credited with bursting blood vessels of many a player in the world diplomatic community.Richard Holbrooke,who passed away on Monday in Washington DC at the age of 69 from complications following a heart surgery,was variously described as feisty, abrasive,and high-octane by admirers and critics alike. His in-your-face style earned him the nickname Raging Bull. Henry Kissinger,his forbear in the world of aggressive diplomacy,once advised someone, "If Richard calls you and asks you for something,just say yes.If you say no,you'll eventually get to yes,but the journey will be very painful." But in the stolid Indian government, Holbrooke, the irresistible force, met the immovable object. New Delhi must have caused the ruptured aorta, was the feeble joke in the Indian analysts community, as news of the death of this much admired man trickled.Some mandarins compared him to J N Dixit, Indias former foreign secretary,who died less than a year into his role as the National Security Advisor,before he could leave his imprint on Indias foreign policy,born from a capacious intellect and ceaseless learning. Like Mani Dixit in South Block,Holbrooke too fell just short of the policy making pinnacle in Foggy Bottom.A lifelong Democrat,friend and acolyte of the Clintons, he was tipped to be Secretary of State if Hillary reached the White House in 2008.In a sparkling career that lasted nearly half century,Holbrooke held almost every important job in Washington's diplomatic world, from serving as the US permanent representative to UN to ambassador to Germany to two stints as assistant secretary. His expansive interests covered the globe,except for a small patch of geography that involved the sub-continent,although Indian mandarins had a few run-ins with him in Turtle Bay. President Obama plugged that gap when he appointed Holbrooke a special envoy to the Af-Pak region.The scuttlebutt in Washington was that Holbrooke wanted India,including the vexing Kashmir issue,in his brief. The Raging Bull aka Bulldozer was famously credited with hammering together the Dayton peace accord (which his admirers felt should have earned him the Nobel Peace Prize).He believed resolving the Afghan situation was linked to ending the tensions Pakistan had with India,and at the end of that rainbow (according to his fan club),lay a Nobel Prize. But New Delhi,questioning the linking Af-Pak to Kashmir,balked.The Obama administration was persuaded to keep Holbrooke's mandate restricted to Af-Pak.For months thereafter,Holbrooke tried to visit New Delhi,but there was always scheduling problems and the two sides struggled to find mutually acceptable dates diplospeak for you are not welcome just now. When Delhi finally consented to receive him in January this year,it was not the lion it expected,but a lamb. As ambassador Timothy Roemer reported in his cable to Washington DC (disclosed by Wikileaks),Holbrooke,in his meeting with foreign secretary Nirupama Rao,noted that he comes with a clear vision of the centrality of India to the strategic landscape in the region. He reiterated that his portfolio explicitly excludes India. Holbrooke assured Rao that he is not influenced by what he hears in Islamabad. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "humanrights movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/humanrights-movement?hl=en.
