Tuesday, August 08, 2017

India has no enemies, MEA reveals in RTI reply

Times of India: Nagpur: Tuesday, August 08, 2017.
Which countries are India's enemies, or who are hostile to us? The obvious and unanimous reply would be Pakistan and China. However, the union Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), under minister Sushma Swaraj, seems to have no clue about nation's enemies. At least that's what is reflected from the reply to an RTI query where the MEA informed that it hasn't declared any of the country as "enemy" or "hostile" till date, not even neighbours Pakistan and China.
The response from MEA's various sections came as big surprise, particularly after recent standoff with both its 'enemies' with whom, the country has fought three bitter wars Two with Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, and one with China in 1962.
In reply, the MEA only named the United States and Canada with whom it has 'good and full diplomatic relations'. Among gulf states, it hasn't declared anyone hostile or friend.
Interestingly, the country has 'Enemy Property Act, 1968', which provides for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the custody. The BJP-led NDA government even amended it in March and renamed it as 'Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016'. There are many movable properties categorized as enemy properties.
While India is at loggerheads with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and also conducted a surgical strike recently for eliminating the terrorists and the bases, it was engaged in a bitter face-off with the dragon over Doklam issue since last month. In fact, the Chinese media is daily threatening the country to withdraw its forces from Bhutan's territory and also stated that India's defence forces can't stand against might of People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Kolarkar accused the authorities of acting in negligent manner and making a mockery of the RTI act by not providing proper information.
In reply, Shubham Singh, undersecretary at Pakistan High Commission, replied that there was no information regarding the information by Kolarkar. Turning a blind eye towards Doklam dispute, Prasanna Shrivastava, divisional secretary (China and Korea) and Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), answered that the information regarding People's Republic of China and Republic of Korea is not available.