The first article below is a write-up by Mosharraf Zaidi,in Pakistan’s The News International · Daily Jang publication. The writer advises governments, donors and NGOs on public policy. The article following that, speaks about India and China conflicts and the burgeoning bilateral trade between the two neighbors. The similarities by way of envoy and conflict with both our bullying neighbors drew my attention. Pakistan is envious and is sulking because of an Obama snub and for his UNSC permanent seat endorsement. China on the other hand is playing a double game (no surprise there. The Chinese are the best at playing duplicitous games). It courts India for increasing trade while constantly bullying India on the border issues. It veto’s and objects to India’s proposals and requests in forums around the world and uses Pakistan as a proxy to bleed and keep India weak.Money speaks very loudly. Chinese realized that and are using it to get themselves heard. India must do the same and use its huge market (we have a bigger middle class than China) to influence world powers. The Americans and the Chinese know India’s potential and how much it can contribute to their bottom-line. That is why the US wants to engage us and the Chinese want to shackle us. When will India realize all this and work towards it, is the real question?
The moment India realizes this fact, it will be capable of negotiating form a position of strength and then Pakistan will become irrelevant and China manageable.
Why Obama is skipping Pakistan
There's something exceptionally problematic about the misplaced Pakistani pride that expects the United States to treat Pakistan in the same manner that it treats India. Pakistan is a net-consumer of American taxpayer benevolence. India is a net-contributor to the American taxpayers' bottom-line. What part of "more money" is so difficult for the Pakistani nationalist elite to understand? Perhaps some numbers will help populate the imagination.
So just to recap the numbers here, Pakistan is a country that the United States is paying $3.5 billion in total, because without this money Pakistan threatens to go Talibankrupt. That $3.5 billion is going to come from the American taxpayers' paycheck. Its money they're forced to pay because of the gullibility and guilt of centrist American politicians.
In contrast, India is a country that is going to spend more than $10 billion to buy American goods and services, and in that process, will help create 50,000 jobs, and the paychecks that go with them.
Now ask yourself which country is going to get special treatment? That melody in the distance is the sound American violins playing Vande Mataram.
The article can be read at: http://www.thenews.com.pk/09-11-2010/Opinion/14525.htm
No fundamental conflicts between China, India: Chinese ambassador
"Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yan on Friday said there were no "fundamental differences or conflicts" between India and his country and that the two nations needed to enhance "mutual trust" to carry forward their relation.
"Bilateral trade between India and China shot up to US $ 51.7 billion (Rs 2.3 lakh crore) in 2008 from just US $ 2.9 billion (Rs 13,500 crore) in 2000.
On the need to enhance "mutual trust", Yan said there could be no sustained and meaningful cooperation nor genuine relations without trust. He also said there was a need to upgrade the level of economic cooperation by expanding the scope of trade, improving trade configurations and reducing trade imbalance."
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