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The dominoes are falling: EU ends 'boycott' of Modi

CG

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Barely two months before the Gujarat Assembly elections of December, British High Commissioner James Bevan traveled to Gandhinagar to meet Chief Minister Narendra Modi. The significance of that move was that it signalled the British governmentÃÔ ÅÓe-engagement with Gujarat under Modi and ended a 10-year freeze and a virtual ÃÃoycott over the 2002 riots. It was also the first sign that Western powers in economic decline were beginning to climb down from the pedestal of the high moral ground that they had clambered onto, largely in response to the high-decibel campaign by domestic human rights constituencies to target Modi over the 2002 riots. It also showed up the cracks in the united front that countries in the European Union had adopted on human rights considerations. Now, those cracks have widened even further, and the entire wall of the European ÃÃ…iplomatic boycot of Modi looks set to come crashing down. According to a report in the Indian Express, in early January, the ambassadors to India of all the countries of the European Union gathered at German Ambassador Michael SteinerÃÔ residence to host a lunch with Modi, who had been elected barely a fortnight earlier as Chief Minister for the fourth time. Over lunch, according to the report, and at the two-hour interaction that they had, the ambassadors evidently asked Modi some Åôtough questions about the 2002 riots, presumably about allegations that the State government was either complicit in or passive in in its response to the riots. Narendra Modi during his Delhi visit. PTI Modi, the report adds, answered them ÅÑatiently? In addition, it notes, he briefed the EU ambassadors about his model of governance, and his ideas for India. The significance of this lunch, which has remained under wraps evidently because neither side wished to acknowledge it publicly, was that this was the first contact between envoys of the European Union countries and Modi since the riots of 2002. As the Indian Express acknowledges, it ÅÔignalled the end of the EUÃÔ diplomatic boycott of him. Sources close to the European Union envoys are attempting to save face for themselves by noting that it was not they who had travelled to Gandhinagar to Modi in the way that the British ambassador did in October but Modi, who had traveled to Delhi to meet them at their invitation. But the bottomline of the engagement, as one diplomatic source noted, is that it had become impossible to ÅÊgnore Modi now, particularly after he had been re-elected for a third time and had established his political legitimacy and had made it abundantly clear that he nursed ambitions of wanting to play a national role. Late in August, Modi had hosted a Google+ hangout, at which he was asked by his ardent supporters when it would be possible for Modi to travel to the US (which has thus far steadfastly held onto the position that Modi would be unwelcome in the US). In response, Modi had said that while his supporters were dreaming that he should visit the US, he himself had another dream that ÅØe become so empowered that Americans queue up for visas one day. ThereÃÔ still some way to go before that happens. But just the fact that the economically enfeebled European Union countries are rapidly climbing off the moral high horse that they had mounted following the 2002 riots is a sign of the times. All this is not to say that the wheels of justice in India, which are in motion to fix the blame for the 2002 riots, will cease to spin. On Thursday, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court gave Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsaan Jafri, permission to file a fresh petition to challenge the Special Invetigation TeamÃÔ recommendation for the closure of criminal proceedings against Modi. The courtÃÔ decision, which sets aside a lower court ruling, is perceived as a setback to Modi, since it comes at just the time when the chorus for his appointment as the BJPÃÔ candidate for prime ministership in 2014 is growing louder. The judicial process will go on parallelly, but the European Union envoys formal end of the boycott of Modi after 11 years signals that in the court of international opinion at least, governments around the world are waking up to the realisation that there is little merit in continuing to ignore Modi and much to be gained from working with him.
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/the-dominoes-are-falling-eu-ends-boycott-of-modi-618018.html
surajmal Newbie

surajmal

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The only reason they are open to "dealing" with Modi is because their stooges in Congress and the current setup i.e. MMS, Montek and Madamji, have failed to deliver with business opportunities. That is it. If they think that Modi is going to let India become a dumping ground for foreign goods then they have another thing coming. I'm sure Modi is going to extract concessions from foreign businesses like China does. (atleast I hope he follows that MO).

Lurker Newbie

Lurker

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Firspost generally presents articles from as many angles as they can.
Not sure if they are covering any "angle" here aside from just one. Anytime a media, or a website, passes opinion - Dominoes are falling yada yada, it tells u exactly what it is. NOT a objective media but essentially a cheerleader (life Fox, MSNBC etc)
Crookbond Newbie

Crookbond

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Not sure if they are covering any "angle" here aside from just one. Anytime a media, or a website, passes opinion - Dominoes are falling yada yada, it tells u exactly what it is. NOT a objective media but essentially a cheerleader (life Fox, MSNBC etc)
Firstpost is a different type of news website Lurker - just go through it and you will find it.
DomainK Newbie

DomainK

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Sorry but this doesn't count. Nothing less than a visa from the US will prove that Modi's moral compass is in working order.
And how will an American visa prove that?
Ram Newbie

Ram

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Sorry but this doesn't count. Nothing less than a visa from the US will prove that Modi's moral compass is in working order.
Huh what? You mean the visa from the country that waged an illegal war in Iraq that killed 10s of 1000s of civilians?
DomainK Newbie

DomainK

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Huh what? You mean the visa from the country that waged an illegal war in Iraq that killed 10s of 1000s of civilians?
They gave asylum to the Shah of Iran, a criminal of the worst kind. How their visa is considered certificate of innocence is beyond me.
Swing_n_Speed Newbie

Swing_n_Speed

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They gave asylum to the Shah of Iran' date=' a criminal of the worst kind. How their visa is considered certificate of innocence is beyond me.[/quote'] What nonsense. He was dying of cancer, he only went to the USA for treatment. And it's not like the USA took him with open arms or anything. And they certainly didn't give him asylum. He passed away in Egypt. I highly doubt the entire embassy hostage crisis had anything to do with the Shah at all. Much like how the American ambassador to Libya was not killed because of some movie. The American gov is prolific in lying and their lies are always backed by their media. That said I quite liked the Shah. He was replaced by a regime which was/is infinitely more horrible than his. You should watch the Shah's interview with David Frost. YT it.
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