The Hindu : 'Govt. surrendering sovereignty to U.S.'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 31, 2002

Front Page

Front Page

'Govt. surrendering sovereignty to U.S.'

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 30. Upset at not being taken into confidence over what transpired during the recent visit of the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and his statements on Kashmir, the Opposition today took the Government to task in the Lok Sabha for its "submissive'' attitude towards Washington.

Initiated by the Congress member, Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, the hour-long impromptu discussion saw the Opposition accuse the Government of "surrendering" the country's sovereignty to the U.S. And the BJP members objected to Gen. Powell's reported suggestion that international observers monitor the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, and his statement that Kashmir was on the "international agenda."

The Opposition said that the Government was duty-bound to inform Parliament about what transpired during the Powell visit, and demanded an immediate comprehensive statement and a detailed discussion at a later date on the issue. As the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, was away, the task of addressing the Opposition demand was left to the Minister of State, Digvijay Singh.

India was polite in words and firm in action, Mr. Singh said, and allayed the apprehension of any change in stance vis-a-vis Kashmir saying "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.'' As for international observers for the Kashmir polls, he quoted Gen. Powell's statements in Islamabad and en route to Brunei as proof that the U.S. was not in favour of any outside monitoring of the electoral process in the State.

For the most part, the Congress trained its guns on the Government for being "weak in resolve" and said that the country's foreign policy had never been as weak as it was now. The CPI (M), on the other hand, was critical of both the Government and the U.S., with Somnath Chatterjee saying that the American behaviour towards India was not that of a friendly Government, but was one of an imperialist power.

He was particularly critical of the manner in which the U.S. had made the subcontinent its "theatre of advice.'' He said the foreign policy that the country had been following since Independence had been jettisoned by the National Democratic Alliance.

The IUML leader, G. M. Banatwala, said: "Powell's remarks reveal the utter failure of the Government's foreign policy and diplomacy.''

Even as the discussion saw the political parties join ranks to criticise the American bid to dictate the foreign policy, the NDA constituents were careful in training their guns solely on Gen. Powell's statements while the Opposition used his remarks to attack the Government for abjectly "accepting the diktats of the U.S."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page

Stories in this Section

Creation of new railway zones not retrograde: Nitish

PMO hijacked, Vajpayee isolated: Mamata

'Govt. surrendering sovereignty to U.S.'

Musharraf regrets 1971 excesses

Advani to head task force on drought

'Fernandes has every right to meet Vaiko'

2 Amarnath pilgrims killed

Bailout package for UTI

Sensex dips

I-T date extended