After 42 years, Indian Embassy gets a new hope in Beijing

BEIJING, January 11, 2012

The Indian Embassy in China on Tuesday moved to a sprawling, $10-million premises in the heart of the capital, getting, after 42 years, a modern new home which, officials said, was designed to address the growing demands of a fast-expanding bilateral relationship.

The expansive 13,500-square metre compound is a marked difference from the old property in the capital's Ritan Park area — a two-storey, old-fashioned and increasingly cramped wooden structure where Indian officials had moved into in 1969.

“As the relationship has grown, our functions as an embassy have also expanded,” Ambassador to China S. Jaishankar said.

Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo, who will travel to New Delhi next week for the 15th round of talks on the border dispute, is expected to attend a cultural performance at the new embassy on Wednesday evening to mark its opening.

A formal inauguration, to be presided over by an official from New Delhi, will be held later this year.

The old property, which India acquired on a 99-year lease and houses the ambassador's residence today too, would be used for other activities, Mr. Jaishankar said.

The embassy's move to a new location was long overdue, with India functioning out of a property that was acquired when diplomatic engagement was minimal. Chinese visitors to the Ritan Park compound were often surprised by the old-fashioned premises, where 29 diplomats, 33 other Indian staff members and 28 Chinese staff members worked.

The land for the new site was bought in 1989 for around $1 million on a 90-year lease. The new embassy is located in the central Liangmaqiao area, close to the United States and Israeli embassies and many office buildings.

The move from Ritan is the second time the Embassy's location has been changed. Before 1969, the embassy was in the foreign legation quarter near Tiananmen Square. It was damaged during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), after which many embassies moved to designated diplomatic enclaves in the city.

EC show-cause to Khurshid

NEW DELHI, January 10, 2012

The Election Commission late on Tuesday night issued a show-cause notice to Union Law Minister Salman Khursheed, asking him to explain why action should not be initiated against him for his statement in the course of an election rally in U.P.

In that rally, Mr. Khurshid had said that the government was considering a sub-quota of nine per cent for the minorities within the 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The notice was based on a formal complaint made by the BJP. Mr. Khursheed had gone on record after the statement that he only talked about the election manifesto of the U.P. Congress unit and it was not a policy statement in his capacity as a Union Minister.

Political observers here were of the view that the Congress actually stood to gain politically if the Minister had made public only the intention of the party if it was voted to power to give such reservation and not made an announcement on behalf of the Manmohan Singh government. One would have to wait for the video and audio clip of his exact statement to see if there was any merit in the charge of the Opposition.

Mr. Khursheed has been asked by the Commission to explain why action should not be taken against him for ‘violation of the Model Code of Conduct' and asked to send his response in writing by 5 p.m. on January 12.

It was clear during the day that the Commission would seek the explanation of the Minister after the District Returning Officer in the Farrukhabad Assembly constituency in the State served notice on his wife and the Congress candidate Lousie Fernandes to show reason why action should not be taken against her.

Earlier in the day, the BJP urged the EC to initiate action against the Law Minister for his ‘announcement' at an election rally that the Congress would provide nine per quota to the minorities within the 27 per cent for the OBCs.

The BJP contended that the announcement was a brazen violation of the model code of conduct.

A delegation of the BJP called on Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and gave a written representation asking the EC to initiate action under the symbols rules against Mr. Khursheed, the Union government and the Congress.

The party's representation was based on the reports in a section of the media.

At a news conference here, BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi termed reservation to the minorities “unconstitutional” and accused the Congress of sowing the seeds for dividing society on religious and caste lines.

Gilani not an honest man, says Supreme Court

Islamabad, January 10, 2012
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is not an honest man as he had not lived up to his constitutional oath, said Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday, as it warned of action against him for failing to act on an order to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Piling pressure on PPP-led beleaguered government, a five-judge bench, which had taken up the issue of implementing the apex court's verdict striking down a graft amnesty that benefited Mr. Zardari, said in its order that Mr. Gilani was not an “honourable man” as he had not lived up to his constitutional oath.

The Premier had shown loyalty to his political party rather than the Constitution, said the bench.

“Prima facie, the Prime Minister is not an honest man and violated his oath,” the bench said in its order.

The bench contended that the Pakistan People's Party-led government's refusal to write a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen cases of alleged money laundering against Mr. Zardari went against the Constitution and the Koran.

The bench listed six options for the government, including action against the Premier for contempt of court and declaring Mr. Gilani ineligible to be a Member of Parliament for five years — and referred the case to Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. The bench recommended that the Chief Justice form a larger bench to hear the matter on January 16.

The bench asked Attorney-General Anwar-ul-Haq to ascertain the government's views before the next hearing.

It also summoned the Attorney-General, the Law Secretary and the Chairman of the National Accountability Bureau to appear before the apex court at the next hearing. The apex court struck down the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a graft amnesty issued by the former President, Pervez Musharraf, that benefited Mr. Zardari and over 8,000 others in 2009.

Since then, the court has been pressuring the government to write to Swiss authorities to reopen the money laundering cases against Mr. Zardari.

The five-judge bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa had earlier set January 10 as the deadline for the government to implement the apex court's order on the NRO. The government has refused to act on the court's orders, saying the President enjoys immunity from prosecution under the Constitution. During an interview last week, Mr. Zardari made it clear that the government would not approach the Swiss authorities as long as he was in office.

Confrontation

The confrontation between the PPP and the judiciary over the NRO comes at a time when the Supreme Court is pressuring the government over an alleged memo that had sought U.S. help to stave off a feared military coup last year. Despite the government's objections, the court formed a judicial commission to investigate the Memogate scandal.