Govt embraces Myanmar junta in `national interest'
From Indian Express newspaper
SONIA TRIKHA (SHUKLA)
NOV 17, 2000: India today rolled out the red carpet for General Maung Aye, the second most powerful man in Myanmar's military regime, dismissing criticism from some quarters by citing ``national interests''. As if in response, Yangon told New Delhi it has stepped up operations against Naga insurgents and destroyed five of their camps in Myanmar.
Reflecting a new bonhomie in relations, Maung Aye, Vice Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, was received warmly by Vice President Krishan Kant and Home Minister L.K.Advani at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Also present were Kant's wife, Suman, Minister of State for External Affairs Ajit Kumar Panja and Lt Governor of Delhi Vijai Kapoor.
``Five camps belonging to the Khaplang faction of the Naga insurgents were destroyed by the Myanmar army this year despite the army suffering casualties,'' said Advani after the ceremonial reception. ``There are some more camps and they will pursue them,'' he added.
The talks are taking place amidst protests by pro-democracy activists against having any dealings with the junta which, they say, is desperately seeking legitimacy. Asked how the Indian Government, with its stout advocacy of democracy, was engaging with the military regime, Advani said: ``We weighed all the pros and cons, but in international relations, we have to take into account our national interests.''
Later in the day, Advani called on Maung Aye at Maurya Sheraton where he is staying. The Myanmarese leader also received former Army chief V.P.Malik at the hotel.
Despite the apparent thrust on cooperation to combat insurgency in the North-East, the Indian Government is selling the Myanmar delegation's visit as an economic effort. In India since November 14, Maung Aye has already travelled to Bodh Gaya and visited the Infosys complex in Bangalore.
India is Myanmar's largest export market which accounts for 25 per cent of its total exports. Myanmar with its newly-acquired status of an ASEAN member has also been pitched as India's gateway to the South Asian economic bloc. The delegation's meeting at the CII went some way in reinforcing that view.
A strong and mostly silent Maung Aye did not take any questions. In his brief speech, he said he had ``come to promote good relations between the two countries'' and for ``opportunities to invite investment''.
His foreign minister, Win Aung, answered most of the questions. On being asked what China's sustained efforts for forging closer links with Yangon in recent months meant for ties with India, he said ``we want to be friends with everybody''. On the issue of restoring democracy to Myanmar, the foreign minister said: ``We have a plan but first we must solve our fundamental problems, and we must have development first.'' He refused to explain how restoring democracy would preclude development. His response: ``Development must come first.''
Earlier, Vice-Chairman Maung Aye said ``the two countries have traditionally had good relations and this visit would further strengthen them.'' He too did not mention China.
In the evening, the Vice-President hosted a banquet in honour of the visiting delegation. Invoking historical links between the border nations, Kant stressed the need for cooperation to combat ``international terrorism with its close links to drug trafficking, religious extremism and fundamentalism and trade in illicit arms''.
Maung Aye, on a week-long visit to India, will call on President K. R. Narayanan and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and have meetings with External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and other leaders.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Kashmir
Budget shows how cost of Kashmir has finally caught up with Pakistan
Author: Sonia Trikha (Shukla)
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 16, 2001
Economic sovereignty virtually pledged to IMF
Pakistan, it turns out, has done more than mortagage its security with a historic Rs 2 billion-cut in its defence outlay ahead of the July 14 summit. In a document signed by the Pakistan Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Ishrat Husain, it has virtually pledged the country's economic sovereignty to the International Monetary Fund. The cost of Kashmir is finally catching up with Pakistan.
Aziz, who announced yesterday that his country's ''sovereignty and credible deterrence will never be compromised'', along with Husain has signed a Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) to the IMF for approving a stand-by arrangement of SDR 465 million. Aziz writes that ''in support'' of the policies set out in MEFP, Pakistan ''requests'' IMF's executive board to approve the arrangement.
The Aziz-Husain signed document is addressed to Horst Kohler, IMF'S Managing Director. It lays outs out in micro and macro detail each move of the Pakistan economy for the next several years as designed to please the Fund's dictates. The fine print apart, it is the abject language which evokes a nation caught in the throes of financial crises and under pressure from the international lending agency to clean up its act.
How far a country is willing to commit itself is a measure of its desperation and Pakistan appears willing to make sweeping promises. In the manner of a student writing imposition in class, the document pledges ''it (Pakistan) stands ready to take any additional steps that may be necessary and will consult with the Fund on this matter in accordance with the Fund policies on such consultations'' for this purpose of loan approval.
Aziz made a virtue out of a necessity when he announced the defence cut but IMF had already dictated that. In the MEFP, Aziz records that ''adequate expoenditure control mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that the defence budget stays in place''. Aziz has also promised that the Pakistan Ministry of Defence's progressive monthly expenditures will be monitored ''closely'' and its results will be reported quarterly the Fiscal Monitoring Committee of the Ministry of Finance. There's more. Any transfers of allocations will not be permiited without Aziz's Ministry approving it.
Pakistan has raised its development spending by 0.4 per cent. It is already listed in the MEFP as doing so. According to analysts, this surrender of sovereignty is the price Pakistan is paying for not only Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif's past political corruption scandals but also for General Pervez Musharaf's current ambition of keeping the military dictatorship in power. But it is not clearly not paying off. In November last year, when this document was signed Aziz had guaranteed a GDP growth objective of 4.5 per cent. According to the Economic Survey for 2000-2001 growth was a little more than half that, 2.6 per cent.
Pakistan's foreign service debt obligations are more than $37 billion with reserves of only $1 billion. The ride will only get rougher as the IMF cracks down on Pakistan to meet its fiscal targets for securing a subsequent three-year loan. Fiscal discipline as set out in the MEFP demands a 1.3 per cent cut in budget deficit.
Author: Sonia Trikha (Shukla)
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 16, 2001
Economic sovereignty virtually pledged to IMF
Pakistan, it turns out, has done more than mortagage its security with a historic Rs 2 billion-cut in its defence outlay ahead of the July 14 summit. In a document signed by the Pakistan Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Ishrat Husain, it has virtually pledged the country's economic sovereignty to the International Monetary Fund. The cost of Kashmir is finally catching up with Pakistan.
Aziz, who announced yesterday that his country's ''sovereignty and credible deterrence will never be compromised'', along with Husain has signed a Memorandum on Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) to the IMF for approving a stand-by arrangement of SDR 465 million. Aziz writes that ''in support'' of the policies set out in MEFP, Pakistan ''requests'' IMF's executive board to approve the arrangement.
The Aziz-Husain signed document is addressed to Horst Kohler, IMF'S Managing Director. It lays outs out in micro and macro detail each move of the Pakistan economy for the next several years as designed to please the Fund's dictates. The fine print apart, it is the abject language which evokes a nation caught in the throes of financial crises and under pressure from the international lending agency to clean up its act.
How far a country is willing to commit itself is a measure of its desperation and Pakistan appears willing to make sweeping promises. In the manner of a student writing imposition in class, the document pledges ''it (Pakistan) stands ready to take any additional steps that may be necessary and will consult with the Fund on this matter in accordance with the Fund policies on such consultations'' for this purpose of loan approval.
Aziz made a virtue out of a necessity when he announced the defence cut but IMF had already dictated that. In the MEFP, Aziz records that ''adequate expoenditure control mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that the defence budget stays in place''. Aziz has also promised that the Pakistan Ministry of Defence's progressive monthly expenditures will be monitored ''closely'' and its results will be reported quarterly the Fiscal Monitoring Committee of the Ministry of Finance. There's more. Any transfers of allocations will not be permiited without Aziz's Ministry approving it.
Pakistan has raised its development spending by 0.4 per cent. It is already listed in the MEFP as doing so. According to analysts, this surrender of sovereignty is the price Pakistan is paying for not only Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif's past political corruption scandals but also for General Pervez Musharaf's current ambition of keeping the military dictatorship in power. But it is not clearly not paying off. In November last year, when this document was signed Aziz had guaranteed a GDP growth objective of 4.5 per cent. According to the Economic Survey for 2000-2001 growth was a little more than half that, 2.6 per cent.
Pakistan's foreign service debt obligations are more than $37 billion with reserves of only $1 billion. The ride will only get rougher as the IMF cracks down on Pakistan to meet its fiscal targets for securing a subsequent three-year loan. Fiscal discipline as set out in the MEFP demands a 1.3 per cent cut in budget deficit.
Bollywood
Focus: Indian Cinema: Why Bollywood is coming to Britain
Independent, The (London), Apr 30, 2000 by SONIA TRIKHA
He was just an ordinary guy, helping to run a theme park outside Paris. And then he got the phone call, the call that would change his life. It was the stuff of dreams - to take command of one of Britain's newest and most notorious tourist attractions. And now, just two months later, he cannot believe his luck. Not only does he get the job, he gets the girl. He is to meet Miss World, the most beautiful woman in the world.
It's a rags to riches story worthy of Bollywood, the Indian film industry, and it is, of course, the story of Pierre-Yves Gerbeau, the French boss of the Millennium Dome, who quit Disneyland in Paris to take over in Greenwich after its original chief executive, Jennie Page, was ousted in February.
Since then Gerbeau has been struggling to boost attendance figures. Even Easter visitor numbers have proven disappointing. But now he has come up with a publicity wheeze to wow the crowds: to bring Bollywood's Oscars to the Dome, and have Miss World, the Indian beauty queen Yukta Mookhey, host the ceremony. It brought him headlines last week, but is there any more to it than that?
For Bollywood film moguls it is a chance to enhance their profiles in a country that, outside of India, has one of their biggest target audiences. With that in mind, Britain has also become a favourite location for Indian films, particularly for song and dance routines.
There are certainly plenty of Bollywood film fans here in Britain, which, along with the United States, forms a sizeable chunk of the 25 million Indian diaspora. These are the people for whom "masala films", as the Hindi song and dance extravaganzas are popularly known, spin their fantasies. This is where 55 per cent of the Hindi movie ticket sales abroad are coming from. No wonder, then, that the Indian film industry, which produces almost 800 films a year, is willing to travel to collect the awards.
Gerbeau can rely on the Indian movie business to provide the Dome with a much needed injection of glamour. Bollywood does glamour as Hollywood did it in the Thirties. The stars are worshipped, and they behave in a manner befitting demigods. On screen the women are all plunging necklines and heaving bosoms, but there is most definitely no kissing and - heaven forbid! - no sex. Innuendo reigns, with fountains gushing forth. Mustachioed villains divide families, but fate intervenes to enable them to live happily ever after. Young love transports the hero and his blushing beloved to idyllic countryside, while music and song blast out.
The formula is so successful that the Indian film industry is now valued at pounds 5.5bn globally. Indian film exports that were about $10m in 1989- 90 climbed up to $100m in 1999. They may be somewhat optimistic, but industry projections for 2000 are targeting $250m. Film-maker Subhash Ghai is calling Indian films the "biggest cultural export after Hollywood". (His own love-triangle musical, Taal - which means rhythm - starred another former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai, and broke into the British Top 10 last year.) And the Indian government recognised Bollywood's cultural importance when it made foreign entertainment earnings tax free last year.
According to Komal Nahata, editor of an Indian cinema-industry guide, movie makers want to create the right mix of "Indian themes and western look" to sell films abroad. In essence, this is often feel-good family dramas, which reflect the relative affluence and cultural activism of its overseas audiences.
The ball was set rolling by Aditya Chopra, whose 1995 Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (The Brave get the Bride) starred superstar Shah Rukh Khan and the doe-eyed beauty Kajol as two expatriate Indians. The film broke box-office records in India and drew in overseas audiences in droves. Ghai's next enterprise was Pardes which was set in the United States and dealt with the cultural dilemmas of non- resident Indians.
Unfailingly, an Indian film has its song sequences shot abroad, mostly in Britain and Europe. The super-successful young Turk Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Something Happened in my Heart) was shot largely in Scotland. He made the decision, he says, because he has "always loved the landscape there". British Asian audiences identified with the look of the film enough to drive out to view it in hordes. Johar's films nearly always star Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Kajol dressed in household- name brands such as Ralph Lauren and DKNY.
Yash Chopra is another film-maker who has opted to film in Europe as part of an attempt to attract bigger international audiences. His new film, Mohbbatein (Love Stories), starring the inevitable Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and also India's most popular star ever, Amitabh Bachchan, is currently being shot at Longleat, the Wiltshire residence of the Marquess of Bath. Chopra also favours foreign locations for their beauty and because "they give you more freedom in shooting away from the crowds of Indian fans back home". Little wonder the British Tourism Authority gave him an award in 1998.
Independent, The (London), Apr 30, 2000 by SONIA TRIKHA
He was just an ordinary guy, helping to run a theme park outside Paris. And then he got the phone call, the call that would change his life. It was the stuff of dreams - to take command of one of Britain's newest and most notorious tourist attractions. And now, just two months later, he cannot believe his luck. Not only does he get the job, he gets the girl. He is to meet Miss World, the most beautiful woman in the world.
It's a rags to riches story worthy of Bollywood, the Indian film industry, and it is, of course, the story of Pierre-Yves Gerbeau, the French boss of the Millennium Dome, who quit Disneyland in Paris to take over in Greenwich after its original chief executive, Jennie Page, was ousted in February.
Since then Gerbeau has been struggling to boost attendance figures. Even Easter visitor numbers have proven disappointing. But now he has come up with a publicity wheeze to wow the crowds: to bring Bollywood's Oscars to the Dome, and have Miss World, the Indian beauty queen Yukta Mookhey, host the ceremony. It brought him headlines last week, but is there any more to it than that?
For Bollywood film moguls it is a chance to enhance their profiles in a country that, outside of India, has one of their biggest target audiences. With that in mind, Britain has also become a favourite location for Indian films, particularly for song and dance routines.
There are certainly plenty of Bollywood film fans here in Britain, which, along with the United States, forms a sizeable chunk of the 25 million Indian diaspora. These are the people for whom "masala films", as the Hindi song and dance extravaganzas are popularly known, spin their fantasies. This is where 55 per cent of the Hindi movie ticket sales abroad are coming from. No wonder, then, that the Indian film industry, which produces almost 800 films a year, is willing to travel to collect the awards.
Gerbeau can rely on the Indian movie business to provide the Dome with a much needed injection of glamour. Bollywood does glamour as Hollywood did it in the Thirties. The stars are worshipped, and they behave in a manner befitting demigods. On screen the women are all plunging necklines and heaving bosoms, but there is most definitely no kissing and - heaven forbid! - no sex. Innuendo reigns, with fountains gushing forth. Mustachioed villains divide families, but fate intervenes to enable them to live happily ever after. Young love transports the hero and his blushing beloved to idyllic countryside, while music and song blast out.
The formula is so successful that the Indian film industry is now valued at pounds 5.5bn globally. Indian film exports that were about $10m in 1989- 90 climbed up to $100m in 1999. They may be somewhat optimistic, but industry projections for 2000 are targeting $250m. Film-maker Subhash Ghai is calling Indian films the "biggest cultural export after Hollywood". (His own love-triangle musical, Taal - which means rhythm - starred another former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai, and broke into the British Top 10 last year.) And the Indian government recognised Bollywood's cultural importance when it made foreign entertainment earnings tax free last year.
According to Komal Nahata, editor of an Indian cinema-industry guide, movie makers want to create the right mix of "Indian themes and western look" to sell films abroad. In essence, this is often feel-good family dramas, which reflect the relative affluence and cultural activism of its overseas audiences.
The ball was set rolling by Aditya Chopra, whose 1995 Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (The Brave get the Bride) starred superstar Shah Rukh Khan and the doe-eyed beauty Kajol as two expatriate Indians. The film broke box-office records in India and drew in overseas audiences in droves. Ghai's next enterprise was Pardes which was set in the United States and dealt with the cultural dilemmas of non- resident Indians.
Unfailingly, an Indian film has its song sequences shot abroad, mostly in Britain and Europe. The super-successful young Turk Karan Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (Something Happened in my Heart) was shot largely in Scotland. He made the decision, he says, because he has "always loved the landscape there". British Asian audiences identified with the look of the film enough to drive out to view it in hordes. Johar's films nearly always star Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Kajol dressed in household- name brands such as Ralph Lauren and DKNY.
Yash Chopra is another film-maker who has opted to film in Europe as part of an attempt to attract bigger international audiences. His new film, Mohbbatein (Love Stories), starring the inevitable Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and also India's most popular star ever, Amitabh Bachchan, is currently being shot at Longleat, the Wiltshire residence of the Marquess of Bath. Chopra also favours foreign locations for their beauty and because "they give you more freedom in shooting away from the crowds of Indian fans back home". Little wonder the British Tourism Authority gave him an award in 1998.
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