Manmohan wasn't the champion of N-deal: Rice

Yusuf

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New Delhi: Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's book 'No Higher Honor' may embarrass Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal issue when it releases later this month. The book is believed to present the first insider account of the negotiations leading to the India-US nuclear deal in 2005 and 2006.
Manmohan wasnt the champion of Ndeal Rice
 

utubekhiladi

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yusuf, i think this is all publicity stunt. what do you say? i wonder if this is also some kind of political game?

havn't we have seen this kind of stories before? where a author criticizes most honorable/respectable/VIP person just a day before release his book?
 

Yusuf

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Rice would not have to pick on MMS to sell her book unless off course she is targeting India in a big way to sell her story.
But yeah the amount o political capital put in by MMS makes you feel the nuke deal was his baby.
 

agentperry

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use usa to beat usa. usa worked hard to get India a clean waiver at nsg and its the last country to set up plant in India. till then India got into deal with as many as 11 countries and few more are expected and many has even started the work in India but usa still awaits the land allocation.

this has clearly irked the usa top brass whose work is not yielding anything good. and frustration is coming out thru this book.

* views are commentator's very own understanding and not a trigger for directionless debate*
 

Iamanidiot

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MMS was the one who was responsible for the passage of the deal
 

The Messiah

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what benefit has it got us ?

NSG is back to its old tricks.
 

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PM Singh was reluctant to sign nuclear deal with US: Condoleezza Rice

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was initially reluctant to give the go ahead to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal and even did not want to see the then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice because he did not want to say no to her.


But it was the persuasive skills of Rice that he agreed to it when almost everyone in the Bush administration had given up on the "deal of a lifetime."


The little-known, but critical insight, into how the nuclear deal was negotiated and inked is mentioned by Rice in her latest book No Higher Honor which is scheduled to hit the stands on November 1.


"I woke up at 4.30am and sat straight up in bed. I am not letting this go down, I thought," Rice writes in her book, recollecting the early hours of the day when Singh was to meet the then US President George W Bush at his Oval Office in the White House.


A day earlier, but for Rice, the entire Bush administration had given up on the nuclear deal, which the White House was desperately pushing for. In fact, contrary to perception, the then Foreign Minister Natwar Singh was in favour of the deal, but the Prime Minister was not as he was not sure if he can sell it in New Delhi.


"Natwar was adamant. He wanted the deal, but the Prime Minister wasn't sure he could sell it in New Delhi. We pushed as far as we could toward agreement. Finally, Natwar said that he would take the document to the Prime Minister and let me know," Rice writes in the 784-page book.


"The Foreign Minister tried, but the Prime Minister just can't sign on to the agreement," the then Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns is quoted as saying to Rice after Natwar Singh made a final pitch for the agreement with the Prime Minister.


"I called the President (Bush). 'It isn't going to work. Singh just can't make it happen,' I said. 'Too bad,' he answered and didn't press further. Later that night Nick called to tell me what I already knew, there wouldn't be a deal," Rice writes.


As Rice woke up early in morning of the Bush-Singh meeting, she was a bit tense but determined not to let this happen. She made a final effort to personally meet the Prime Minister and pitch for the deal.


"'I am not prepared to let this fail. Arrange for me to see the Prime Minister, I said. The meeting with the President was set for 10. 'How about breakfast at eight?' Nick called while I was exercising to say that the Prime Minister didn't want to meet. 'Get the Foreign Minister,' I answered.


Natwar picked up the phone. My heart was beating pretty fast, maybe from the exercise, may be from the sense of an important initiative slipping through my fingers. Natwar, why won't the PM see me?'" she wrote.


"'He doesn't want to tell you no', he (Natwar Singh) said. 'I've done my best'. I told him that the United States wants to take this thirty-year millstone from around your neck. You should do it. But he can't sell it in New Delhi.


"I wasn't ready to surrender. 'Ask him again,' I pleaded. A few minutes later, Natwar called to say that the Prime Minister would receive me at his hotel at 8am," Rice wrote.


Rice went to the Willard Hotel, where the Prime Minister was staying, to meet him. But before going there, she called Bush that she was going to meet Singh to make a final effort. Natwar Singh was the only other person in that room.


"'Mr Prime Minister, this is the deal of a lifetime. You and President Bush are about to put US-Indian relations on a fundamentally new footing. I know it's hard for you, but it's hard for the President too. I didn't come here to negotiate the language, only to ask you to tell your officials to get this done. And let's get it done before you see the President'.


"Prime Minister Singh, a mild-mannered man who speaks slowly and softly, pushed back (and) eventually gave his nod to his people to try again," Rice wrote.


A jubilant Rice drove directly to the White House from the Willard, a block away, to tell the President about the good news. "When the Indians arrived, our negotiators and theirs sat in the Roosevelt Room, trying to find agreement, while the President, Prime Minister Singh, Natwar and I sat nervously in the Oval pretending to focus on other matters.


"Finally, I got a note to join the negotiators. Natwar and I entered the room to the smiling Nick Burns and his counterpart. 'We've got it,' Nick said," Rice wrote.


Soon thereafter, Singh and Bush released the framework agreement to the press, "most of whom were already writing stories of failure," she wrote.

PM Singh was reluctant to sign nuclear deal with US: Condoleezza Rice - World - DNA
 

thakur_ritesh

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this is july '05 or july '06 being spoken about.

quite likely that MMS then wouldnt have wanted to risk such a deal when the commies were supporting the government, and he wasnt off course as well. who would want to risk a congress led government which had just been formed after nearly a decade

MMS of august '08 was a lot different, the general elections were nearing, even if the government would have fallen the blame would have squarely come on the commies, the stakes werent as high, early elections would have again been in UPA's favor, bush was to exit office soon.

yes, sure the initial appetite might not have been there on MMS's part, and looking at him, the way he is, quite likely, but he did indeed show resolve later on and for that latter effort it can also be said, had MMS not been there, may be the deal would have never happened.
 

Ray

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I thought MMS went hell for leather to be cute and cuddly with the US, to include the nuclear handshake!

But the way Rice puts it, it sounds it was so easy. She met and he nodded.

Is it how he does when he meets Sonia Gandhi?

Lambert, the sheepish Lion?

I don't think so!
 
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nrj

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ok, lady Rice spilling out some discomforting issues -

Brajesh Mishra turned to US on Pak tension: Condoleezza Rice

Faced with a near war-like situation with Pakistan after the Parliament attack in December 2001 and the Kaluchak massacre in May 2002, the then government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee turned to the US in a desperate move to prevent the outbreak of hostilities.

Vajpayee pushed the army right up to the border with Pakistan after the Parliament attack.

In Kaluchak, terrorists killed 31, including 18 family members of armymen and 10 civilians. Vajpayee called it a brutal and inhuman carnage and then foreign minister Jaswant Singh, in his book, said this incident almost brought upon a conflict. The drumbeat for a war to punish Pakistan was at its loudest.


Then US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice says in a new book — No Higher Honor — that she received a call from her Indian counterpart, Brajesh Mishra.


"I cannot contain the war lobby here without some help," Rice quotes Mishra as saying.

"Making it clear that he was acting on his own, he asked that the President (George W Bush) make a statement, which he (Mishra) could use internally to try to hold the line," writes Rice.


Rice said she took Mishra's request to then secretary of state Colin Powell and the President, "who readily agreed to make a statement calling on Musharraf to live up to the promises he had made in his earlier speech".

Bush was already upset with Musharraf, says Rice, "for conducting tests of a series of... missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads". The US had no problems accommodating Mishra.


"The President publicly expressed 'deep concern' with Pakistan and used strong language to urge Musharraf to rein in the militants." But the Pakistani President had continued to push the US, and then shortly got a phone call from Bush.


"Pakistan had made a choice after September 11 and needed to act or risk losing US support," Bush told Musharraf, according to Rice. And things cooled down in the region eventually "in large part due to the good work of Brajesh Mishra".


Brajesh Mishra turned to US on Pak tension: Condoleezza Rice - Hindustan Times
 

The Messiah

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"I cannot contain the war lobby here without some help," Rice quotes Mishra as saying.

"Making it clear that he was acting on his own, he asked that the President (George W Bush) make a statement, which he (Mishra) could use internally to try to hold the line," writes Rice.
Only treacherous congress is holding India back while mighty BJP would ransack entire pakistan if given power. This is the tone from bjp fanboys we hear constantly.

Yet the truth is nearly 180 degree away. Fact is congress and bjp are inept when it comes to taking it to the enemy.
 

Yusuf

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I thought Mishra was a hawk, why did he do that?
 

Ray

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Only treacherous congress is holding India back while mighty BJP would ransack entire pakistan if given power. This is the tone from bjp fanboys we hear constantly.

Yet the truth is nearly 180 degree away. Fact is congress and bjp are inept when it comes to taking it to the enemy.
It is easy to blame political parties for not being able to take it to the enemy.

One has to understand that Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears the Crown!

Take the issue of demilitarising the Siachen.

Or, the Kandahar hostage.

Or, the repeated terrorist attacks and apparent inaction..

The list goes on!

I thought Mishra was a hawk, why did he do that?
War has serious consequences on the economy, country's progress and is hampered by geopolitical and geostrategic issues.
 

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Post-26/11, Mukherjee's words rattled Pakistan: Rice

Tough talking by the then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, following the 26/11 attacks, rattled Pakistan so much that it pressed the panic button and called everyone from Chinese to the Americans saying that India has decided to go to war.
:rofl:


At one point, the then Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice also panicked temporarily after she could not get Mukherjee on line even after repeated attempts.

"The Pakistanis say the Indians have warned them that they've decided to go to war," a White House aide anxiously called Rice.

As a result of the wrong rumour coming out of Pakistan, the then US President George Bush asked her to travel to Islamabad and New Delhi to defuse the situation, Rice says in her latest book 'No High Honors' that is scheduled to hit the book stores next week.

"What?" Rice uttered after the White House aide told her about the message from Pakistan.

"That isn't what they're (India) telling me. In my many conversations with the Indians over the two days, they'd emphasised their desire to defuse the situation and their need for the Pakistanis to do something to show that they accepted responsibility for tracking down the terrorists," Rice wrote in her 766-page book.

Rice asked the operations centre to get Mukherjee on the phone, but they couldn't reach him.

Consequently she started getting nervous and she thought that Mukherjee was trying to avoid her as New Delhi was preparing for war.

"I called back again. No response. By now the international phone lines were buzzing with the news. The Pakistanis were calling everyone--the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Chinese. Finally Mukherjee called back. I told him what I'd heard," Rice wrote.

''What?' he said. 'I'm in my constituency. (The Indians were preparing for elections, and Mukherjee, who was a member of Parliament, was at home campaigning.) Would I be outside New Delhi if we were about to launch a war?'" Mukherjee asked.

Rice said Mukherjee explained that the Pakistani foreign minister ( Shah Mehmood Qureshi) had taken his stern words in their recent phone call the wrong way.

"'I said they were leaving us no choice but to go to war', he said," Rice recalled adding "This is getting dangerous, I thought."

On her emergency visit to New Delhi after the Mumbai attacks, Rice said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Foreign Minister both categorically told her that they were against war, despite increasing public pressure, but wanted Pakistan to do something.

And when she arrived in Islamabad, the Pakistani leadership were still denying what the world knew by then that the attackers were from Pakistan.

"The Pakistanis were at once terrified and in the same breath dismissive of the Indian claims. President Zardari emphasised his desire to avoid war but couldn't bring himself to acknowledge Pakistan's likely role in the attacks," Rice writes.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, in a long speech told her that terrorists who had launched the attack had nothing to do with Pakistan.

"Mr Prime Minister, I said, either you're lying to me or your people are lying to you. I then went on to tell him what we--the United States--knew about the origins of the attack," she wrote.

"I didn't accuse Pakistan's government of involvement; that wasn't the point. But rogues within the security services might have aided the terrorists. It was time to admit that and to investigate more seriously," she said.

"Finally, I went to meet the chief of staff, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani. Our military liked him and considered him honest and effective. He was the one person who, even if he couldn't admit responsibility, understood that Pakistan would have to give an accounting of what had happened. That was a start," she wrote.

In this separate chapter on Mumbai, Rice recollects receiving frantic calls from the American Ambassadors in New Delhi and Islamabad.

"Ambassador (David) Mulford's message was stark. 'There is war fever here. I don't know if the Prime Minister can hold out. Everyone knows that the terrorists came from Pakistan'.

"I then talked to Anne (Patterson). Her message was just as clear. 'They have their heads in the sand,' she said," Rice wrote in her book.

Post-26/11, Mukherjee's words rattled Pakistan: Condoleezza Rice - The Times of India
 

The Messiah

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Separate thread should be opened for misses rice.
 

Iamanidiot

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Kiyani wanted war with India at that time.So that he could defect the operation from Swat
 

ejazr

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I thought Mishra was a hawk, why did he do that?
Because if you observe Brajesh Mishra, IMO he is nothing but a chicken hawk. HE presided over some major corruption scandals over intelligence agencies and numerous terrorists attacks. Not to mention the NTRO scam as well as the faulty UAV deals with some Israeli companies which if I'm not mistaken eventually got blacklisted. All under his tenure as the NSA.

Just a quick video on this and people can do their own research

And now it seems he pretty much acted like a CIA mole by going behind the back of the elected govt.

Condi Rice was one of the most ineffectual diplomats America or even the world has ever seen. So being complimented by someone like her would be a red herring IMO.
 
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nrj

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Year after Rice praise, Wiki slammed Natwar

Little over a year from praising his pivotal role in the India-US nuclear cooperation, Americans were hitting out at the former foreign minister for "stoking" anti-Americanism, reveals the US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.

As reported by HT, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in her forthcoming book 'In No Higher Honor', talks of the key role Natwar Singh played in convincing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was not sure whether he could sell the pact in New Delhi.

In what is contrary to perception, Rice, a key insider of the Bush administration, narrates the role Natwar Singh played in convincing a reluctant Manmohan Singh for the July 18, 2005, India-US joint statement that envisaged the nuclear deal, for which the PM had even staked his United Progressive Alliance-1 government.


A confidential cable from the US embassy sent in August 2006 by US deputy chief of mission, Geoff Pyatt, descries how Natwar Singh and Jaswant Singh, "Two grumpy old men... Hijack national politics" and are "stoking anti-Americanism".


Natwar's offensive after the Volkar report and his support to the anti-nuclear deal lobby is the context in which the cable is sent.

"Both Natwar and Jaswant Singh epitomise high-caste pride and unwillingness to admit to error.


"These have led them to compound their problems by blaming the Congress, the UPA and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for their fall from grace and joining with UPA opponents to work against the government.


"Both men have allied themselves with an anti-US group in Parliament, which the press has called the 'nuclear club' because of its hostility to the US-India Civil Nuclear Accord," says the cable.


"The 'Nuclear Club' has fabricated a loose alliance that has worked jointly against the pact, and backed Natwar Singh's motion against the Prime Minister," states the cable.

Year after Rice praise, Wiki slammed Natwar - Hindustan Times


Who's talking truth? Rice? Wiki? Mr.Pytt?
 

The Messiah

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Wiki cables are mere "views" of the people in the embassy who observe things.

What rice is saying has more credibility because she was on the negotiating table.
 

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