India answers America's arrogance
All countries form foreign policies according to their interests and convenience. Independent India under the leadership of Nehru credit this path with great care. India emerged as the leader of the third world countries when the cold war between America and Russia was at its peak. India took a soft stance on Russia when Pakistan hurriedly rest into the arms of America. Nehru understood that India had to side with Russia though America the strongest nation then could have been of great help with its capitalist power. It never declared his inclination towards Russia. He has maintained an arm's length distance from Russia. This continued till the Soviet Union collapsed.
India's baseline progress as a lot to Nehru's foresightedness. India's foreign policy turned week after the 90s.With America attacking Iran, India grew a lot confused about its preferential ally. By then, India had begun to long for America's friendship owing to growing unrest with Pakistan. It would change its stance on many issues relating to Middle East conflicts.Finally after entering into nuclear agreement with America, India dashed hopes of all third world countries. Just around the time the relationship between US and Pak hit a roadblock, India began to long for America's hand of friendship, even at the cost of putting its own internal policies at stake.
Pakistan was cozying up with China when America took a soft stance towards India. Not just that, even today, Pakistan has not been able to grow beyond the tentacles of America. The US has attacked Pakistani sovereignty many a times and treated it like it's own subordinate colony. The world is watching how the Saudi nations are being g handed out raw deals owing to their undue friendship with America, whose president recently said Saudi nations won't last even two weeks without their help. Saudi could not even respond with basic courage. Saudi and Pakistan are fine examples of what would happen to nations that submit their internal matters before another nation. India probably knows and has got adequate indications that it will be facing the same fate in the coming days.
The 8 defence agreements that have been made between India and Russia of high importance. They are back in the discussion because America has expressed clear objection to these. America has said any defence agreement between India and Russia will not be tolerated. India is an independent country and has the freedom to enter into agreements between any of the nations it chooses to go with. India had its own foreign policy all the time. It was seen as a developing nation even without any assistance or help from America. The fact that America can dictate terms to India shows the clear latter's failure of foreign policy. This is the result of being at America's beck and call, paying heed to every instruction issued by the US. America's enemies have turned into India's enemies too by default and unnecessarily so.
Today, the rupee is losing value before the dollar at a fast pace. Oil prices are increasing rapidly. If India had shown some wisdom against the sanctions America imposed on Iran, the rates wouldn't have probably increased in this manner. The wrong assumption of Indian corporate sector that India can access oils through America from Iran has landed us here. Iran and Iraq were friends of India. India stood against Iraq for the sake of America. Now friendship with Iran is in a precarious situation. India has to clearly indicate to America that it will choose its allies and partners by its own preference. Though the relationship between Russia and India has indicated this to the US, the problem doesn't end here.
Though albeit late, India now knows the danger of being friends with America. The country is also looking ways of salvaging relationship with Iran. America is not too blind to these attempts of India. The US may bring more pressure on India in the coming days and India has to prepare for this challenge. India has to prefer peace over all other choices. Unless we improve our relationships with our neighbours, India or Pakistan cannot free themselves from the tentacles of America.
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Maharashtra Dy CM Ajit Pawar, four others killed in plane crash
Baramati (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four other persons on board an aircraft were killed after it crashed near the Baramati airport in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday.
The 66-year-old leader’s death has not only left a vacuum in the BJP-led state coalition government, but also cast a shadow on the future of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which he headed.
His uncle and NCP founder Sharad Pawar said the plane crash was an accident which shouldn't be politicised.
The "black box" (comprising the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder) from the aircraft, will be analysed after recovery to determine the cause of the accident, an official said.
Ajit Pawar had taken off from Mumbai in the morning to address four rallies in the day in Pune district for the February 5 zilla parishad elections.
The others killed in the tragedy were Captain Sumit Kapoor, who had a flying experience of 15,000 hours, co-pilot Capt. Shambhavi Pathak with 1,500 hours of flying, Personal Security Officer (PSO) Vidip Jadhav and flight attendant Pinky Mali.
The government released a statement detailing the sequence of events that led to the crash and Pawar's death.
The aircraft, a Learjet, was cleared for landing in Baramati on Wednesday morning after a go-around due to poor visibility, but having finally received a clearance it did not give any read-back' to the ATC, and moments later burst into flames on the edge of the runway.
In aviation parlance, a go-around is a standard procedure where a pilot discontinues a landing attempt and initiates a climb to fly another approach. It is used when a landing cannot be completed safely due to factors like poor weather, an unstable approach, or traffic on the runway. It is a proactive safety measure rather than an emergency.
A readback is a crucial safety procedure where a pilot repeats back the essential parts of a message or instruction received from Air Traffic Control (ATC). It acts as a "closed-loop" communication system, ensuring that the controller's instructions were heard and understood correctly by the flight crew.
The 16-year-old chartered aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures Pvt Ltd, crashed while attempting a second landing approach at Baramati airport which is an uncontrolled airfield where traffic information is typically provided by instructors and pilots from local flying training organisations.
V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, said the pilot apparently could not see the runway and carried out a "missed approach", a standardised procedure in such cases.
Terrifying eyewitness accounts have emerged from the site of the aircraft crash as residents near the Baramati airport described a scene of chaos as the plane appeared to lose control before erupting into a series of big explosions.
An eyewitness described watching the aircraft circle the airport, noting it appeared 'a bit unstable' before its final approach. According to her, the plane 'hit the ground hard and exploded' upon impact, with the blast being heard in homes throughout the area.
Later, the Civil Aviation Ministry, quoting the person manning the Air Traffic Control at Baramati, issued a statement about the sequence of events indicating that the flight encountered visibility issues during its landing attempt despite reports of calm weather.
The statement said that at 8.18 am, the aircraft first established contact with Baramati air traffic control after being released by the Pune approach at 30 nautical miles (around 55 km) inbound to Baramati.
The crew was advised to descend at their discretion under Visual Meteorological conditions and were also informed that winds were calm and visibility was approximately 3,000 metres.
Upon reaching the final approach for the runway, the crew reported that the runway was not in sight and initiated a go-around to reposition for a second attempt on the runway.
After initially stating the runway was still not visible, the crew reported "runway in sight" just seconds later and the ATC cleared the aircraft to land at 8.43 am.
However, the crew did not provide the mandatory readback of this final clearance and at 8.44 am, exactly one minute after the last communication, ATC personnel observed flames erupting near the threshold of the runway.
Emergency services reached the scene immediately following the explosion and the wreckage was located on the left side of the runway.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is currently analysing why the crew struggled to maintain visual contact with the runway despite the reported 3,000-metre visibility.
According to eyewitnesses, the force of the explosion was so great that parts of the aircraft were hurled through the air, landing near residential structures. "The plane tilted before coming down. We saw the explosion and it was frightening," an eyewitness said.
Another eyewitness reported that the aircraft appeared to be losing control from an altitude of approximately 100 feet above the runway.
"The way the plane was coming down, we felt it was going to crash... As we rushed towards it, we saw flames, followed by four to five consecutive blasts, which prevented us from going anywhere near the aircraft".
Pramod Madurikar, a witness at the scene, said the victims were identified shortly after the crash and were shifted to ambulances. Fire brigade personnel reached the spot shortly.
The aircraft was trying to land amid poor visibility, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu told reporters in Pune.
VSR Ventures’ fleet includes seven Learjet 45 aircraft (including the one involved in the crash), five Embraer 135BJ aircraft, four King Air B200 aircraft and one Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, the statement said.
Superintendent of Police, Sandip Singh Gill, said that after the crash, there was a fire. "People onboard were immediately taken to the hospital," he said.
Ajit Pawar is survived by wife Sunetra, a member of the Rajya Sabha and two sons, Parth and Jay.
His Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had contested the recent municipal corporation elections in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in alliance with his uncle Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP).
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders expressed grief over Pawar's demise.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who reached Baramati and met Ajit Pawar’s family members, described the NCP leader’s tragic death as unbelievable, and said he had lost a good friend.
Maharashtra government declared a three-day state mourning till January 30, during which the national flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings.
Ajit Pawar’s last rites will be held with full state honours on Thursday in Baramati.
Modi and Shah are expected to attend the funeral, which will be held at Vidya Pratishthan ground at 11 am, the Nationalist Congress Party said.
