Haven't become PM of India to redraw border: Manmohan Singh to Nawaz

Ray

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Re: Haven't become PM of India to redraw border: Manmohan Singh to N

The mystery called Manmohan Singh

Vinod Mehta


Politicians are quite transparent in their end-ambitions. LK Advani wants to be prime minister, AB Vajpayee (once he got the job) wanted to achieve a breakthrough with Pakistan, Sonia Gandhi wants the Nehru torch handed over to her son, Jayalalitha wants Karunanidhi's head garnished with rasam, on a platter (and vice-versa ) and Mulayam Singh wants to address the nation from the Red Fort. But, what does Manmohan Singh want? Does anyone know?

Having fluked it to 7, Race Course Road on the strength of his upright virtues — loyalty to the First Family, lowly beginnings, incorruptibility, humility and formidable excellence in the dismal science (economics) — one imagined Manmohan would bring these assets into play at least to a minor but recognizable degree. No politician in India of 2004 seemed easier to define and discern.

Instead, what the country got, especially after 2009, is a man who is a bundle of contradictions, his humility suspect, his dedication to the national cause unreliable , and his genius for passing the buck equal to Milkha Singh in a relay race. He has emerged in Churchill's phrase as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" .

De-constructing Manmohan Singh is a challenge Sigmund Freud would refuse. I always suspected behind the carefully constructed Manmohan persona there lurks a much more complex and canny personality. Sure, he speaks softly and carries a small stick. However, we must remember still waters run deep.

Why even his fabled integrity has come under a cloud as scam after scam implicating him lands on his table. His considered response? "I have nothing to hide." In the last 12 months, innumerable Manmohan admirers have asked me, "He is completely honest, isn't he?" It is both a statement of reassurance and an expression of doubt. For Manmohan Singh to have his probity disputed even marginally is a mighty fall.

Manmohan followers say he is a victim of the malign politics of Sonia Gandhi. "She makes him do all these dirty things and being the simpleton he is, he does them" , is the refrain. This belief which has some currency lets Manmohan off the hook while adding to his reputation as a loyalist. To be fair to the Prime Minister, the she-makes-him-do-dirty-things theory may have a grain of truth.

An instance of Manmohan the Loyalist visited us when the obnoxious Ordinance was sought to be pushed ostensibly with his backing. Post Rahul Gandhi's "nonsense" , Manmohan's mates put it about that their man would either cut short his foreign visit, or alternately rush to 10, Janpath, resignation letter in hand, as soon as his plane touched terra firma. He did neither. After seeking some routine clarifications and consulting with his cabinet, he made peace with the "nonsense" man going to the extent of declaring he would be happy to work under him in any future government. Today, I am afraid, he cuts a pathetic figure: a man who has lost his backbone.

The backbone was not always lost. When it suits him, like during the Indo-US nuclear deal, it surfaced with a vengeance. Since then it has been on holiday. The great HL Mencken once said, "In order to get anywhere near high office, a politician has to make so many compromises that he becomes indistinguishable from a streetwalker."

Journalists enjoy attacking politicians. It is what they are paid to do. Nevertheless, and this would be true of most of my tribe, attacking Manmohan Singh is no pleasure. I do it without relish. Alas, it has to be done. And I cannot avoid asking the question the entire nation is asking: why doesn't he chuck it in rather than take this relentless pounding day in and day out? Our Prime Minister may be many things, but he is not a masochist.

I can only guess. If you have walked on the lawns of the PM's Lutyen's bungalow, it is an experience worth selling your soul for. Peacocks strut around, exotic birds and butterflies fill the air, an occasional stag makes an appearance. Dr Manmohan Singh, let me reveal, is a walker.

Second, whatever they may call you at home, it is nice to go into the corridors of international power and be hailed as a savant and an elder statesman. From Obama to Merkel to Cameron, they all lionize our Prime Minister as a good and wise man our troubled planet badly needs. This kind of acclaim can easily go to your head. A newspaper discovered through an RTI application that this PM has chalked up the largest number of flying hours to foreign lands since independence. Are you surprised?

How will history judge Manmohan Singh? Churchill said history will judge him kindly because he intends to write it. Manmohan Singh may not have that luxury. So, the sympathetic historian might concisely conclude: "He liked his job."

The mystery called Manmohan Singh - The Times of India

***********************************************************

Vinod Mehta is a pro Congress journalist.

One wonder why this agony is tearing his heart!
 

Ray

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Re: Haven't become PM of India to redraw border: Manmohan Singh to N

Yes, but I feel Sharm al sheikh joint statement which mentions Balochistan was a drafting error and decision error about what should find a place in the joint statement and what should be left out and whether whatever is included in content and language in line with country's policy.
I don't think that it can be a drafting error.

All such statements are vetted at various levels and then cleared for release.

If India is not interfering in Balochistan, this reference would be sticking out like a sore thumb. Someone would have noticed, brought it to the notice, and then it would have been eliminated.

The claim that it was a drafting error was to defuse the anger and fury back home at this faux pas since it has no basis.
 

Neil

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Re: Haven't become PM of India to redraw border: Manmohan Singh to N

Yes, but I feel Sharm al sheikh joint statement which mentions Balochistan was a drafting error and decision error about what should find a place in the joint statement and what should be left out and whether whatever is included in content and language in line with country's policy.

This job is a responsibility at secretary level and to be vetted by NSA.(in my opinion) If that job becomes a personal responsibility of PM then, god save him.

Though there is no denying factor that responsibility lies with PM.

My piece is a consideration between responsibility and practicality.

If for example:

The statement on Balochistan in the joint statement was as follows



India, Pak issue joint statement on bilateral relations - Indian Express

Were to be added with another statement that

India denied any role in destabilizing Balochistan or that no constructive evidence has been provided.

So, though it was a fiasco but, the allegations that later came out of Pakistan with mis-information that India has accepted meddling in Balochistan ( which as not as mentioning during summit meeting is not acceptance) was not effectively countered which was the real debacle.
I don't think that it can be a drafting error.

All such statements are vetted at various levels and then cleared for release.

If India is not interfering in Balochistan, this reference would be sticking out like a sore thumb. Someone would have noticed, brought it to the notice, and then it would have been eliminated.

The claim that it was a drafting error was to defuse the anger and fury back home at this faux pas since it has no basis.
just to add to what @ Ray sir already clarified... it was a very significant error if it was drafting error and heads should have rolled due to incompetence , sheer negligence and weakening of India position ... and the fact that nothing happened shows it had backing of political class ...

NSA does cannot go ahead with issuing the joint statement unless it has been given a green signal by the political class- at S-a-S the PM ...

also to what u said about mis information by pakis... it was obviously gonna happen... they were in lot of pressure around the world after the Mumbai attacks and PM gave them ample ammunition to point fingers at us instead..
 
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Compersion

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Re: Haven't become PM of India to redraw border: Manmohan Singh to N

Redraw border:

Is he implying there is risk of redrawing border detrimental to india because of the track of talks and direction that nawaz wants to make (this is with no war in sight). If yes what he said is weak.

Is he implying india will not redraw Border detrimental to Pakistan (this is with no war in sight). If yes what he said is weak.

If this was a churchillian moment ... Where india is under attack ... He saying we won't redraw our borders and Pakistan better be careful with its borders. If yes what he said was strong. (But why not say it more directly).

Is he saying the current loc needs to become border. If yes there is a better way to say it.

I am assuming the message is churchillian and india is under attack from a external threat led by a unwise and crazy leader.

If Baluchistan is a internal matter for Pakistan and now a "third party" with a precedent to get involved under humanitarian and genocide grounds to help oppressed people is taken in on a bilateral discussion it means there is a voice for the people of Baluchistan. It's different compared to Kashmir because india is not Pakistan. And india has Bangladesh for a precedent. And there is no shimla agreement on Baluchistan. Iran and Afghanistan can assist.
 

happy

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Re: Haven't become PM of India to redraw border: Manmohan Singh to N

The mystery called Manmohan Singh

Vinod Mehta


blah blah blah

***********************************************************

Vinod Mehta is a pro Congress journalist.

One wonder why this agony is tearing his heart!
Nothing much Sir......Already Raul ji has made MMS into nonsense now the congress lackies are just lapping it up to try and cement the great and mighty Raul ji as next PM
 

Ray

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Re: Haven't become PM of India to redraw border: Manmohan Singh to N

Nothing much Sir......Already Raul ji has made MMS into nonsense now the congress lackies are just lapping it up to try and cement the great and mighty Raul ji as next PM
No. I felt sorry for MMS, because even such strong supporters like Vinod Mehta are deserting him.

A friend in need, is a friend indeed.

Vinod Mehta does not seem to remember this.

The way Rahul Gandhi is going, it is a moot question.
 

happy

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Re: Haven't become PM of India to redraw border: Manmohan Singh to N

No. I felt sorry for MMS, because even such strong supporters like Vinod Mehta are deserting him.

A friend in need, is a friend indeed.

Vinod Mehta does not seem to remember this.

The way Rahul Gandhi is going, it is a moot question.
Sir, with all due respect, you must be well aware that there is no permanent friend in politics.

I bet you have already seen this article but still I am posting it here once again by Vinod Mehta regarding MMS.

Yours, Disappointed

As a human being, Dr Manmohan Singh has many fine qualities. He is soft-spoken, erudite, extremely civil and apparently he has no ego. It is difficult not to like him. My own cursory relationship with him has been both pleasant and rocky. Unfortunately, I discovered that for all his famous humility, he is ultra-sensitive to personal criticism. For a politician, he has a thin skin. I began well with the odd invitation to tea at his office and residence. The trouble started with one piece by Arundhati Roy in Outlook where she went for him in true Arundhati style. Moreover, his courtiers—and there were quite a few—told him that in the Sonia vs PM, or to be more precise, Party vs PM matter, I was firmly on the side of the Party. When rumours started floating that Manmohan may resign if he did not get his way over the 2008 nuclear deal, I wrote an editorial saying the nuclear deal was not worth sacrificing the government for. Incidentally, the magic deal was not even an election issue in 2009. And today lies forgotten.

Coalgate has exposed Manmohan Singh badly. The emperor seems to have no clothes. The scam and the way it has been handled is not just a monumental cock-up but it asks questions of Manmohan the nation has never asked before. I do not wish to dwell on Ashwani Kumar because he is not worth dwelling on. For all of us who know him, he is a crude self-promoter besides being a chump. Anyone who could have called a most indiscreet meeting at his office summoning all and sundry to discuss the confidential status report requires to have his head examined. How does such a man become the prime minister's favourite? Sycophants do not need to be put in the cabinet. When it comes to picking people, Manmohan Singh has the skill of Julius Caesar.

Alas, there are more serious questions than the hapless white-haired gentleman. Questions which for the first time cast a shadow on the PM's probity. It is a bit difficult for an independent observer to swallow that the PM was unaware of what Ashwani was up to since the law minister's shenanigans were specifically designed to save his boss from acute public embarrassment. Furthermore, how is it possible for the officers from the coal ministry and the PMO, who attended the dubious meeting, to have done so without seeking the PM's permission? If Mr Kumar organised the cover-up attempt suo motu, we should be told!

Dr Singh has been damaged before by previous allegations which hint at misgivings about his integrity. And invariably he has received the ben-efit of the doubt. This time it's different since no "coalition compulsions" are involved.

For me, it is no pleasure to attack Dr Manmohan Singh. Alas, things have come to such a pass that probing questions have now become unavoidable. The worst—and I hope untrue—conclusion to draw from Coalgate, 2G, etc is that the man is in love with being prime minister. And will do anything to stay put.

Delhi Diary | Vinod Mehta
 

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