Month: May 2016

Chabahar has become a historical initiative of combining peace with development opportunities!

Chabahar is a port located on the mouth of Gulf of Aman and is strategically important. The deal which was inked on May 23rd 2016 was actually conceptualized in 2003, but could not take off because of international sanctions imposed on Iran. India has committed $ 500 million for the port project. Chemicals, petrochemicals, steel, fertilizer and railways are the major sectors with investment potential.

The statement of Prime Minister of India-“Today, we are all witnessing creation of history, not just for the people of our three countries, but for the entire region. To build bonds of connectivity is the most basic of human urges.”

The strategic importance of Chabahar can be understood by the fact that it is just 120 km west of China’s Gwadar port in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

 

The trilateral agreement signed in presence of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister of India signals a new era in neighbourhood cooperation.

The world must be thankful to President Obama for having led the peace process in world politics and opened dialogues with the countries, which earlier saw hostilities between US and those countries. His diplomatic peace initiatives loosened the grip of distrust and removed the index finger from the ‘hold’ button on normalization of relations between US and those countries as well as amongst neighbouring countries, those had been affecting world peace at large.

The concept of “Dosti” (friendship), which has been so celebrated in Persian and Urdu shayari in our countries of Iran, Afghanistan and India, truly felt and kept, can only bring the goodness of heart to realize the goodness of action!

“Dosti nibhana gar itna asaan hota

Aastin mein meri sanp na chhipa hota

(Had it been so easy to keep the bond of friendship

A snake could not have been hiding up my sleeve)

Sirf haath milaney se kuchh nahin hoga

Dil se nibhaana to waada-e-wafaa hoga”

(Nothing shall be achieved by mere shaking of hands

Keep the promise with your heart, then only faith will come)

– Sandeep Silas ‘deep’

 

 

South China Sea has not been a peaceful sea for many decades because of its strategic location.

China has been eyeing the islands in the South China Sea and so has been Vietnam, who continue to accuse each other. Taiwan’s claim to Taiping Island, which island Philippines downgraded from “island” to “rock”in Arbitration proceedings, further complicates the issue.

China has reclaimed 3000 acres of new land on the features it controls in the Spratly Islands. Vietnam is accused of the same in Southwest Cay, Sin Cowe Island and West Reef. Both refuse to heed any international call to island building.

The Asia-Pacific is important to India’s security concerns and maritime security. A welcome dialogue was recently held in New Delhi with participation of experts from US, India, National Institute for South China Sea Studies, Institute of Africa-Pacific Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Naval Research Institute of Chinese PLA Navy.

Maritime challenges, naval cooperation and multi-lateral engagement were discussed. India is a proponent of free navigation in the South China Sea.

South China Sea is classified as a marginal sea, part of Pacific Ocean, between Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan, around 3.5 million sq km. The major islands are Fiery Cross reef, Scarborough Shoal, and Taiping Islands. There are hundreds of islands, collectively archipelago here. Its importance lies in the fact that 1/3rd of world’s shipping sails through the waters and huge oil and gas reserves lie embedded beneath its sea-bed. It is the second most used sea lane in the world, and over 50% of world’s merchandise passes through the Straits of Malacca, Sunda and Lombok.

The Europeans used it as a sea route from Europe to South Asia to trading opportunities in China. Early chronicles of Western Zhow dynasty (1046-771 BCE) call it Nangfang Hai, and in South-east Asia it was called the Champa Sea after the Kingdom of Champa before 16th Century.

Disputes

• Indonesia, China and Taiwan over waters of NE of Natuna Islands
• Vietnam, China and Taiwan over waters west of the Spratly Islands
• Paracel Islands disputed between China, Vietnam, and Taiwan
• Areas of Gulf of Thailand between Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam
• Strait of Johore and Strait of Singapore between Singapore and Malayasia

UN Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines ‘the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.’ (Wikipedia).

The Indian initiative to have the issue settled as per international laws is a welcome one!

As the South Korean President Park Geun-hye visited Iran (May 1-3), a welcome peace statement was made by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani- “Our demand is world free of weapons of mass destruction especially freeing the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East from destructive weapons.”

It is important to note that a previous UN Security Council Resolution is already existing, which calls for disarmament of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has been under a belligerent dictatorial regime and the recent under water test-fire of strategic submarine ballistic missile in April 2016, authorized by Kim Jong Un, the President of North Korea has alarmed the world as the region again gets heated up with possibilities of aggression.

North Korea has been aggressively pursuing missile tests as the following list indicates:

• 1993 North Korean missile test – (May 29/30, 1993) – Nodong
• 2006 North Korean missile test – (July 5, 2006) – Taepodong-2 failed
• 2009 North Korean missile test (July 4, 2009)
• Successful launch of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 Unit 2 satellite (December 12, 2012)
• 2013 North Korean missile tests (May 18-20, 2013 – part of 2013 Korean crisis)
• 2014 North Korean missile tests (March 2014) including Nodong, success^[5]
• North Korea claims to launch a missile from a submarine (May 2015)
• Successful launch of the Kwangmyŏngsŏng-4 satellite (Feb. 7, 2016)
• Test of engine designed for an intercontinental ballistic missile (April, 2016)^{[6] (Source Wikipedia)}

The world is more in need of peace whistles than war missiles!

History of sorts was created when after 40 years, the first US Cruise, the 704-passenger laden Adonia crossed the Florida Straits in a 17-hour journey from Miami to Havana on Monday the 2nd of May 2016.

Though travel restrictions were virtually eliminated under the Carter Presidency, they were back once he demitted office. Only after President Barack Obama and Raul Castro declared detente on December 17th 2014, they were restored.

Before the 1959 Cuban Revolution, cruise ships regularly travelled from US to Cuba. The Straits were blocked by the US during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 that once brought the World to the brink of a nuclear war. The Crisis was the flash point of Cold War conditions between the US and the then Soviet Union. Soviet Union had deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba, which was Soviet aligned then, and for 13 days there was a political and military stand-off between US and Soviet Union, as the missiles were just 90 miles from US.

The situation was defused when Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove them and US in turn agreed not to invade Cuba. President Kennedy also agreed to remove secret US missiles from Turkey, which Soviet Union perceived as a threat to itself. The world was saved from a nuclear catastrophe and this crisis is captured in a movie “Thirteen Days”, starring Kevin Costner. The movie’s tagline is “You’ll never believe how close we came.”

Adonia, the ship, brings in its journey an olive branch and the promise of tourism. People to people interaction by way of tourism is definitely going to help restore peaceful conditions in the Straits.

I would like to give a peace tagline today on this peace move: “You’ll never believe how close we can be!”

 

 

Molenbeek is a Muslim dominated locality in the Belgian capital of Brussels. It has acquired notoriety because Salah Abdeslam, the only surviving direct participant in the Paris attacks hid there before being arrested. The suspected chief planner of the Paris attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud lived in Molenbeek. Abrini, who grew up in Molenbeek, has also been associated with the attacks and was arrested early April.

In all 32 persons were killed in the ghastly and brutal attacks at the airport and Brussels’s subway.

How is it that a particular locality  becomes a breeding ground for terrorists in a European capital, which is a hub and an important cultural destination? How was it that such suspects continued to live there without being observed by Intelligence Agencies? How could  their suspicious activities fail to be noticed by other residents?

I think in such locales the involved families live with a ghetto mentality and the larger section of Brussels society does not either visit or mix with the locals, mostly immigrants. While the families living their honourably have every right to feel upset at the locality being stigmatized,  but they have in a way contributed to the predominance of ghetto mentality at Molenbeek.

We have always seen that a city gets divided into at least two sections, one of which is avoided by the other as a part of the town that should be avoided. We have seen that in the ‘avoided’ part of the city thrives crime and sometimes incidents of shoot out are reported. Still, this part of the city is always left isolated from the mainstream.

If we have to root out terrorism from within the divided hearts, we have to adopt inclusive policies and try to give equal opportunity and an equitable distribution of wealth to all citizens.

Integration is the key ! In the happiness of every individual lies the happiness of all !

Palymra, located north-east of Damascus suffered extensive damage since the Syrian conflict started. Once a great hub of trade and culture it was a key tourist destination. It was held by the Islamic State group for almost an year before it was captured by Syrian forces.

A UNESCO statement says that the experts who inspected the archaeological site, “… found that most of those statues and sarcophagi that were too large to be removed for safekeeping were defaced, smashed, their heads severed, their fragments left lying on the ground. They observed the destruction of the Triumphal Arch and Temple of Baal Shamin, which was smashed to smithereens.”

Yet the hope that remains is, “The mission considered that despite the destruction of several iconic edifices, site of Palymra retains a large part of its integrity and authenticity.”

Now, this can be a saving grace but we know what happened to the Bamiyan Buddhas during the Afghanistan take over by Taliban. We can still say that Bamiyan Buddhas retain their authenticity, but really in what shape?

The world has thousands of precious archaeological sites and monuments that could become the target of attack of one senseless terrorist group or the other at any given point of time. What we urgently need is to make a “Global Register of War Ruins & Sites”, so we at least know the precious cultural heritage existing in the world. This has to be guarded at any cost and saved from demolition under a protocol signed by all nations. Further, all nations must agree to free the capture of any such site by any armed group whosoever.

The cultural heritage of the world is common to us and we must preserve it for posterity!

Garland of Peace idea and concept has been up on the internet for some years now. It calls to “Declare War Ruins as Peace Heritage Sites”, on a single platform, all over the world. Only the UN can do it. The more we delay taking a decision for peace, the more we push the world to the brink of war situations. To explain simply, this idea attempts to place Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor on the same platform as monuments crying out for peace in the world! The underlying belief is that all individuals, all nations are peaceful at the core, only circumstances and ideologies convert them to warring situations.

I start this Peace Blog with the hope that it will help create a powerful lobby for peace making in the world at every level in every country and generate an interest in peace building in like-minded individuals. Feel free to express freely, because each voice raised for peace counts and is supremely blessed. The more peaceful souls we have in the world, the happier our world is!

Come let us join hands for making our beautiful world a peaceful world!