ID :
170076
Tue, 03/22/2011 - 20:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/170076
The shortlink copeid
US should not preach India on human rights: Modi
Gandhinagar, Mar 22 (PTI) Gujarat Chief minister Narendra
Modi Tuesday said the United States need not preach India on
human rights in the wake of its concerns on this issue in his
state as reflected in leaked diplomatic cables from an
American Consul.
Modi at the same time noted that the cables had also
spoken of him being "incorruptible" and Gujarat being a
"progressive" state.
He also said that the central government should address
the issue of US "interference" in the internal affairs of
India.
"(Michael) Owen had discussed Gujarat..I looked into his
eyes and said America should not give us advice on human
rights," Modi recalled. Michael S Owen was US' Consul General
in Mumbai (capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra) when he
had a meeting with Modi in 2006.
Modi reiterated his stand in the wake of Owen's
purported November 2, 2006 cable made public by Wikileaks
that "direct encounters with Modi will also enable us to
deliver a clear message regarding USG (United States
Government) concerns for the state of human rights and
religious freedom in Gujarat." The US had denied visa to the
Bhartiya Janta Party stalwart in 2005 in the wake of 2002
post-Godhra riots.
"Ye america hame manvta ki salah na de (This America
should not give us advice on human rights). I am son of India
and I know what human rights violations you have done. Good
that dialogue is faithfully reproduced," he told reporters
on Tuesday.
According to a report citing Wikileaks cables, US
diplomats found themselves in 2006 facing the possibility of
Modi assuming a leadership role at the national level.
Owen in his cable emphasized the need for US to open
interaction with Modi.
Such interaction, Owen said in the cable, "will also
shield us from accusations of opportunism from the Bhartiya
Janta Party that would invariably arise if we ignored Modi now
but sought a dialogue with him in the likely event that he
makes it to the national stage."
To a question on alleged US interference in Indian
internal affairs as suggested in the leaked US diploamtic
cables over issue of appointment of Pranab Mukherjee as
Finance Minister, Modi said, "Government of India should
address the issue of American interference in internal matters
of India."
Modi also said "America has shown me incorruptible. There
are many non- corrupt people, but they have termed me
incorruptible, which is good for the people of Gujarat.
Wikileaks shows two faces one that of Government of India and
another of progressive Gujarat.
The Mumbai Consulate's 2,850-word assessment, which
was cleared by the New Delhi Embassy before being cabled to
the State Department, said "If Modi does eventually get a
national leadership role in the Bhartiya Janta Party in the
foreseeable future, the United States Government will be
obliged to decide how it wants to deal with a figure of
national prominence whose B1/B2 we revoked."
"We believe it would dilute our influence to avoid
Modi completely. If we waited to engage Modi after he attains
national stature within India's largest and most important
opposition party, many in the Bhartiya Janta Party would
likely view this as an opportunistic move and only deepen the
suspicions cultivated by some Bhartiya Janta Party leaders in
western India since the visa revocation," the cable further
said.
"Since the riots of 2002, we have declined to engage
Modi at the Ambassadorial level, but Mumbai Consul Generals
have routinely sought meetings with Modi whenever they visited
Ahmedabad. We will continue to seek such meetings at the level
of the CG to emphasize that the USG does not have a formal
no-contact policy and to demonstrate to the BJP that we are
interested in cultivating relationships with the party while
it is in the opposition," it said.
"Direct encounters with Modi will also enable us to
deliver a clear message regarding USG concerns for the state
of human rights and religious freedom in Gujarat," it further
said.
The cable further said, "Modi has successfully branded
himself as a non-corrupt, effective administrator, as a
facilitator of business in a state with a deep commercial
culture, and as a no-nonsense, law-and-order politician who
looks after the interests of the Hindu majority".
Modi Tuesday said the United States need not preach India on
human rights in the wake of its concerns on this issue in his
state as reflected in leaked diplomatic cables from an
American Consul.
Modi at the same time noted that the cables had also
spoken of him being "incorruptible" and Gujarat being a
"progressive" state.
He also said that the central government should address
the issue of US "interference" in the internal affairs of
India.
"(Michael) Owen had discussed Gujarat..I looked into his
eyes and said America should not give us advice on human
rights," Modi recalled. Michael S Owen was US' Consul General
in Mumbai (capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra) when he
had a meeting with Modi in 2006.
Modi reiterated his stand in the wake of Owen's
purported November 2, 2006 cable made public by Wikileaks
that "direct encounters with Modi will also enable us to
deliver a clear message regarding USG (United States
Government) concerns for the state of human rights and
religious freedom in Gujarat." The US had denied visa to the
Bhartiya Janta Party stalwart in 2005 in the wake of 2002
post-Godhra riots.
"Ye america hame manvta ki salah na de (This America
should not give us advice on human rights). I am son of India
and I know what human rights violations you have done. Good
that dialogue is faithfully reproduced," he told reporters
on Tuesday.
According to a report citing Wikileaks cables, US
diplomats found themselves in 2006 facing the possibility of
Modi assuming a leadership role at the national level.
Owen in his cable emphasized the need for US to open
interaction with Modi.
Such interaction, Owen said in the cable, "will also
shield us from accusations of opportunism from the Bhartiya
Janta Party that would invariably arise if we ignored Modi now
but sought a dialogue with him in the likely event that he
makes it to the national stage."
To a question on alleged US interference in Indian
internal affairs as suggested in the leaked US diploamtic
cables over issue of appointment of Pranab Mukherjee as
Finance Minister, Modi said, "Government of India should
address the issue of American interference in internal matters
of India."
Modi also said "America has shown me incorruptible. There
are many non- corrupt people, but they have termed me
incorruptible, which is good for the people of Gujarat.
Wikileaks shows two faces one that of Government of India and
another of progressive Gujarat.
The Mumbai Consulate's 2,850-word assessment, which
was cleared by the New Delhi Embassy before being cabled to
the State Department, said "If Modi does eventually get a
national leadership role in the Bhartiya Janta Party in the
foreseeable future, the United States Government will be
obliged to decide how it wants to deal with a figure of
national prominence whose B1/B2 we revoked."
"We believe it would dilute our influence to avoid
Modi completely. If we waited to engage Modi after he attains
national stature within India's largest and most important
opposition party, many in the Bhartiya Janta Party would
likely view this as an opportunistic move and only deepen the
suspicions cultivated by some Bhartiya Janta Party leaders in
western India since the visa revocation," the cable further
said.
"Since the riots of 2002, we have declined to engage
Modi at the Ambassadorial level, but Mumbai Consul Generals
have routinely sought meetings with Modi whenever they visited
Ahmedabad. We will continue to seek such meetings at the level
of the CG to emphasize that the USG does not have a formal
no-contact policy and to demonstrate to the BJP that we are
interested in cultivating relationships with the party while
it is in the opposition," it said.
"Direct encounters with Modi will also enable us to
deliver a clear message regarding USG concerns for the state
of human rights and religious freedom in Gujarat," it further
said.
The cable further said, "Modi has successfully branded
himself as a non-corrupt, effective administrator, as a
facilitator of business in a state with a deep commercial
culture, and as a no-nonsense, law-and-order politician who
looks after the interests of the Hindu majority".
