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.