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BJP distrusts its allies, states CIA document
In a stunningly damning stricture on the Bhartiya Janata Party, a declassified United States Central Intelligence Agency document says the party distrusts the allies, uses them just to have an access to power and ignores them while making the high-profile policy moves. Though the document is a decade old, dating back to May 29, 1998, it explains the way the allies in the National Democratic Alliance are engaged in hard bargains on the alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The document, written by a Delhi-based CIA operative, also shows the BJP in bad light on the nuclear issue. Sent much before famed Jaswant Singh-Strobe Talbott talks began, it says India, under the BJP, was ready to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The communication reads: "In our judgment, India is trying to goad the United States into making an attractive offer on CTBT, without tipping its own hand." Titled "BJP flexing muscles, but how far will it go?", the document refers to the nuclear test conducted by the party to enhance its domestic political standing and says the decision to test was tightly held for reasons of secrecy, "but the BJP also has a history of ignoring its political allies when considering high-profile policymove." It points out that the BJP has handled its state-level alliances in this way, "reasoning that partners who depend on BJP strength for their seats at the table should take a backseat on decision-making." This and other sensational secret communications of the world's foremost espionage agency to top officials from 1951 to 2001 that became public because of a recent Presidential executive order are published in noted journalist Anuj Dhar's book "CIA's Eye on South Asia,". The book carries all such secret reports in full, of course with lines and paras "redacted" and so mentioned in the declassified documents. An earlier secret communication on April 13, 1998, also discusses "BJP without Vajpayee" and says "it is also uncertain whether a new moderate leader could generate comparable support to challenge the influence of the hardliner factions." The report puts former minister Jaswant Singh in the moderate camp and points out how Lal Krishna Advani's [Images] hardline camp was then dominating Vajpayee's small moderate camp. Former minister Murli Manohar Joshi falls in the category of extremists in the report. "The BJP's strong nationalist and security credentials might allow it to make concessions that other Indian parties---fearing accusations of being soft on Pakistan---have been unwilling to consider," the report added. "With the possible exception of Pakistan, all of the smaller states recognise they are defenceless against India and depend on their own diplomatic skills and Indian good will for stable relations," the report added. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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