1. Congress could not suppress the cacophony over the Augusta-Westland scam. Fearing another Bofors, they tried their best to get a modified report from the Italians to protect the powerful. This gave the Italians a weapon.
2. The Italians did a quid pro quo and asked for the marines back on some lame pretext. I don’t know if the Supreme Court was taken into confidence on this matter. I don’t know if Congress knew that the Italians would renege. In that way, they got fooled in a big way. Their gullibility was on display.
3. Scams and incompetence would normally not bother Congress. After all, the last nine years have been an unending saga one or the other or a combo of both. However, with a general election on the horizon which would probably be the last chance for Rahul Gandhi’s coronation, the Congress needed to remove this latest monkey of their backs.
4. Congress and other politicians are probably aware of the Indian economic might. However that power has been leveraged by the neta-babu-businessman nexus to get rich rather that benefit the nation. This is the first occasion when that might was used to do the right thing (even though it was ultimately for the benefit of Congress). Think about it. In a conversation between a costumer like India with a growing thirst for advanced machinery and a failing economy like Italy, who holds the aces? It must have been a simple phone call like the one Colin Powel made to Musharraf in the aftermath of 9/11 (are you with us or against us). No wonder the Italians capitulated.
5. However, knowing the Indians the Italians must have driven a hard bargain. I can almost predict that the marines will get housed at a better facility than they have in Italy. We will have a farcical trial. They will be punished to time already and will be sent back.
To those who are celebrating this as a major diplomatic coup, I have two words; Pakistan and Bangladesh. I am not even going to mention the Chinese who are too smart for us. We have tried to get so many criminals and terrorists back from Pakistan (who are not strategic assets like the Muslim terrorists) e.g. Dawood and his ilk or the Khalistanis. The pakis have thumbed their noses at all our requests. All the movies, ghazals, aman ki aasha, biryani, kabab and cricket have failed to make any headway. Bringing even one of those guys would be a real diplomatic coup. Forget Pakistanis. Even the Bangladeshis have harbored the ULFA terrorists and we have not been able to get them. So before Salman Khushid and his supports start to break out the champagne, please do not look at this one success and ignore all other failures.
Yes. Congress did succeed in bringing these marines back but they did so under pressure and for wrong reasons. Nothing to gloat or celebrate here.
The cartoon is from: http://www.niticentral.com/2013/03/23/kabootar-aa-aa-aa-58388.html
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