NEW DELHI: The unexpected landslide victory of the Congress Party in India's general elections has unshackled the incoming government from the tricky task of managing its earlier coalition for political survival, especially the rabidly anti-American Left parties. There is little doubt that the team of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, all-powerful Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi -- who led the election campaign -- will look to firm up some of their earlier aims, given the near-majority and stability that the party and its allies now command.In fact, the new government can no longer offer excuses for not delivering on its promises -- whether in pushing for further economic reforms, building infrastructure, implementing security measures and diplomatic initiatives, and developing education and healthcare frameworks that benefit all.If the election results deliver a message, it is that the people of India are looking to their political representatives for a focused national policy that promotes development and provides for stable government. It represents a mature verdict that sidelines regional parties with limited and parochial notions about national issues, and blunts the emergence of regional satraps -- such as Mayawati of Uttar Pradesh -- who ride on caste politics. At the same time, Indian voters rewarded leaders and parties -- in states such as Bihar, Delhi and Orissa -- that have provided corruption-free, pro-growth governance. With expectations so high, Congress cannot afford to be complacent. Given such a mandate, India's foreign policy is likely to reflect domestic concerns and, in particular, Indians' aspirations for a better life. That means defusing conflict scenarios with Pakistan that could set back business and economic prospects, and ensuring that the derailed peace process gathers momentum -- even while security issues are not ignored.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
Comments