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Sibal: A diplomat who calls a spade a spade: Hindustan Times
Washington, Feb 09: If anyone had any doubts that India`s Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal does not lay great store by diplomatic niceties, he dispelled that during his just-concluded US visit. He used the prestigious platform of Carnegie Endowment to deliver his barbs.
Washington, Feb 09: If anyone had any doubts that India's Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal does not lay great store by diplomatic niceties, he dispelled that during his just-concluded US visit. He used the prestigious platform of Carnegie Endowment to deliver his barbs.
These were primarily reserved for Pakistan. But then he did not miss the opportunity to take pot shots at the West for its double standards on terrorism. Present in the audience were several former State Department bigwigs, scholars and South Asia specialists.
"While the wounds inflicted by terrorism on India did not stir the world, the world got stirred by September 11," said Sibal. He spoke of the distinctions sought to be made between the terrorism directed against the West and the one that is directed against others.
Terrorism against the West is "untarnished evil", while terrorism against others requires "resolution of its root causes". Interestingly, Sibal made the speech after two days of meetings with top US officials.
The question he sought to pose to the US was how could President Pervez Musharraf be a reliable partner in its war against terrorism. Musharraf happens to be a leader "whose right hand commits terrorist acts against India and the left hand cooperates against the Taliban and the Al Qaeda". How can one water poisonous weeds with one hand and spray weed-killers with the other, he asked.
Bureau Report
These were primarily reserved for Pakistan. But then he did not miss the opportunity to take pot shots at the West for its double standards on terrorism. Present in the audience were several former State Department bigwigs, scholars and South Asia specialists.
"While the wounds inflicted by terrorism on India did not stir the world, the world got stirred by September 11," said Sibal. He spoke of the distinctions sought to be made between the terrorism directed against the West and the one that is directed against others.
Terrorism against the West is "untarnished evil", while terrorism against others requires "resolution of its root causes". Interestingly, Sibal made the speech after two days of meetings with top US officials.
The question he sought to pose to the US was how could President Pervez Musharraf be a reliable partner in its war against terrorism. Musharraf happens to be a leader "whose right hand commits terrorist acts against India and the left hand cooperates against the Taliban and the Al Qaeda". How can one water poisonous weeds with one hand and spray weed-killers with the other, he asked.
Bureau Report