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2003-12-23 India-Pakistan

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Posted by Paul Moloney 2003-12-23 12:14:14 AM|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I'm starting to love the hell out of this operation. I know the bad guys are still going to be in business this time next year, but it feels good to see them getting seriously beat up.

Posted by Fred 2003-12-23 12:18:46 AM|| 2003-12-23 12:18:46 AM|| Front Page Top

If the truce with Pakistan turns out to be real (although I'm not holding my breath) wouldn't that free up more Indian troops to control the Indian side of the border? With any luck, that would leave them with only having dependable sanctuary in Nepal, if there, right?

Posted by Phil Fraering 2003-12-23 12:32:34 AM|| [http://newsfromthefridge.typepad.com] 2003-12-23 12:32:34 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 These rebel groups are active in the North Eastern states of India, far away from the Pakistani border. Although if the ceasefire does hold for the next few months at least, then the Indians could transfer some of their troops to those states.
However, the major base of all these tribal based, non-muslim groups is Bangladesh, which refuses to do anything to crackdown on the camps or the leadership of these groups, which are now their only sanctuary. This is because Bangladesh is currently ruled by a coalition of Nationalist and Islamist parties, both of whom are anti-India and pro-Pakistan.

Posted by Paul Moloney 2003-12-23 12:37:50 AM|| 2003-12-23 12:37:50 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 Phil#2: Paul's source for his related post asserts the Indian Army is active, trying to seal the border, quietly helping behind the scenes. It would appear New Delhi was 1) cued, 2) not displeased by the setpic-tank-mucking. Hard to tell from the map, and probably some rugged country, but it looks like there's no escape from Bhutan without crossing either Indian or Chinese territory.

Posted by Glenn (not Reynolds) 2003-12-23 4:32:29 AM|| 2003-12-23 4:32:29 AM|| Front Page Top

#5 The big problem is, it's only about 40 miles from the Bhutan border across India to the Bangladesh border. There are places where it's only five or six miles between Bangladesh and Nepal. There's also a third small kingdom, Sikkim, between Nepal and Bhutan, but it's so landlocked it's almost impossible to go THROUGH it - better to go around. The area's a nightmare for India, because it's the bottleneck to India's eastern provinces. Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan are all mountainous, but the portion of India that goes around and between these nations and Bangladesh is rather flat - part of the Ganges-Bramaputra floodplain. To add to India's miseries, the Nagas of the far eastern portion of the country along Burma's border are also seeking to create a "tribal homeland". The whole area is a bonfire ready to be kindled.

Posted by Old Patriot 2003-12-23 1:44:39 PM|| [http://users.codenet.net/mweather/default.htm] 2003-12-23 1:44:39 PM|| Front Page Top

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