With the elections to the Indian states and the federal parliament looming in the horizon, the Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh has taken a major gamble by inviting the chief of the Pakistan’s controversial spy agency ISI to assist in solving the mystery behind Mumbai terror attacks.
(AP file photo above shows: From left, US Adm. Mike Mullen, Rear Adm. Scott Van Buskirk, Pakistan’s army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the ISI chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha.)
The Guardian newspaper reports: “The high-level agreement, a significant political gesture at a time of escalating political suspicions, came amid a barrage of accusations and denials.
“As further evidence emerged suggesting the terrorist onslaught in Mumbai originated in Karachi, Pakistan confirmed it would cooperate with Indian requests for Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, the chief of its controversial Inter-Services Intelligence, to fly to New Delhi.
“An Indian state minister has confirmed that one of the arrested gunmen is a Pakistani national. India’s prime minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have told his Pakistani counterpart that ‘preliminary reports on the attacks ‘point to Karachi’.
“Karachi is Pakistan’s main port and financial hub, where a host of Islamic militant groups have a presence. Pakistan’s premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, swiftly agreed to Singh’s request for the head of ISI to travel to India to share information.” More here…
In August, ISI chief General Pasha accompanied army chief General Kayani to a secret, highly unusual meeting between top Pakistani military leaders and American commanders, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. (Photo above) Read here…
Here is Ed Morrissey’s take on the ISI chief’s visit in Hot Air…
And Larry Johnson’s views in No Quarter…
The Telegraph has updated an old report about how Britons are trained in Pakistan…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.