Me Thinks

Thursday, March 02, 2006

Bush Swagatam

No hush hush, Bush is here. Some are protesting, some don't care and some like me are watching the communist party's reaction and having fun laughing at their hypocrisy. Most Indian jouranlists, columnists compare and contrast Bush's visit with Clinton's. But finally, found this piece by TPSreenivasan (courtest one of my friends) in Asian Wall Street Journal. It makes sense to me. Excerpts....


One capital in the world where you are sure to be welcomed with garlands is
New Delhi. Your predecessors, former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill
Clinton were extremely well-received here, even though they never offered
nearly as much promise for India-U.S. relations. Our parliamentarians
jostled each other to shake hands with Mr. Clinton, even after he chastised
us for our nuclear tests on the floor of our own Parliament in 2000.

As a democracy that has survived unscathed for nearly 60 years, we have a
romantic ideal of the American Democratic Party. But we also know that it is
the Republican presidents who have discovered our potential and acted
accordingly. Since former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower gave us the Atoms
for Peace initiative, where a number of Indian scientists were invited to
the U.S. for training in peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the only U.S.
president who has recognized our crying need for nuclear energy and shown
readiness to end our nuclear isolation is you, George W. Bush.


11 Comments:

Blogger I said...

What I've been saying for a long time. Bush has been consistently pro-Indian since he lifted the economic sanctions against India, that Clinton out in place after the nuclear test.

He pushed really hard for the nuclear deal. He sold India, Patriot Anti-Missile Capability 2.

11:36 AM  
Blogger Vee Cee said...

Is this Bush's way of courting the US-NRI vote bank!!!!!

12:12 PM  
Blogger APAM NAPAT said...

You shd use "Suswagatham" and not swagatham, I think.

12:50 PM  
Blogger I said...

VC, u are a real cynic. Indian Americans that vote can't impact the outcome of an election by much. Bush gives India the nuke deal so that India depends less on Iranian oil. In the long term, Iran is also a threat to India as u can't ignore the Pakistan connection. I think Bush's visit is as significant as Nixon's China visit. It's a turning point in Indo-US strategic relations.

2:03 PM  
Blogger D LordLabak said...

VC, I totally agree with Marathamizhan.
Rajesh, suswagatham is good welcome right? Swagatham is welcome.

4:13 PM  
Blogger Me said...

a pointer to the whole article would be great...

5:34 PM  
Blogger NaiKutti said...

full article please :-)...

but the deal does look more promising (pending US congress approval) than the speculations... i hope there are no "conditions apply" clause in a smaller font somewhere in the corner...

was this article written before or after the deal was agreed upon?

9:42 PM  
Blogger APAM NAPAT said...

svaagatam is actually not welcome, but it is an enquiry - su aagatam te? Imperative without te. It stays as a question. If yo prefix another su, it is interpreted as welcome although su is redundant.
It is like very good morning in English. The first su is an adverb which means the person who is being welcomed need not reply.

Please verify with experts though.

PS:- You cannot welcome Bush (in India) from US. :-)

10:44 PM  
Blogger I said...

Indhi akaramippu. Tamil dhrogam. It should have been 'nalavaravu Bush avargale'.

11:12 PM  
Blogger Vee Cee said...

About this 'nucular' deal, up until now, US has not had any kind of a hold on India, like it has on Pak. So far, all their imposing sanctions, lifting them blah, blah didn't seem to have any major impact! This deal gives them some leverage in the future.

4:55 PM  
Blogger Vee Cee said...

BTW, I don't wish to imply that this deal is bad for India or anything.

4:58 PM  

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