29 may - 4 june 2017-min

R.N.I. No 53449/91 DL-SW-01/4124/17-19 (Monday/Tuesday same week) (Printed Every Monday) New Delhi Page 12 Rs. 5.00 

29 May - 4 June, 2017 Vol - 27 No. 17 Email : info@newdelhitimes.com Founder : Dr. Govind Narain Srivastava ISSN -2349-1221 

At last, a pact between the United 

States and Muslim countries 

Paulo Casaca 

Page 5 

Donald Trump on Arab land and outcome 

of ‘Arab NATO’ summit 

UNHRC and its impact in Asia 

By NDT Bureau 

Page 8 

Page 2 

If slaughterhouses had glass walls, 

everyone would be vegetarian 

Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi 

Page 10 

Perseverance: Never Give Up 

Dr. Pramila Srivastava 

Page 9 

Sudan’s attempts at making new 

friends and fighting terrorism 

Dr. Ankit Srivastava 

Manchester bombing exposes farce 

of Trump speech in Riyadh 

Tarek Fatah 

Page 3 Page 2

2 29 May - 4 June, 2017 

Editorial 

 

 

 

U 

NEW DELHI TIMES 

Donald Trump on Arab land and outcome of 

‘Arab NATO’ summit 

♦ By NDT Bureau 

@NewDelhiTimesIN 

info@newdelhitimes.com 

nited States President Donald Trump 

landed in Riyadh on May 20 to a 

warm welcome by Saudi King Salman bin 

Abdulaziz al-Saud on his first ever trip 

abroad since taking office to usher in 

stronger partnerships to combat terrorism 

in the region. Trump attended the US- 

Arab-Islamic Summit to lay the foundations 

of what White House officials call an 

‘Arab NATO force’ to push back Iran’s 

growing influence in the Middle East. 

The idea of an ‘Arab NATO’ has been 

in the air for years with strong Saudi 

support but never openly endorsed by 

the US. British journalist Robert Fisk, 

an expert on Middle Eastern affairs, in 

his article in the Independent wrote that 

Trump’s visit was for realising ‘the 

fantasy of an Arab NATO’. 

The idea sits comfortably with three 

major tenants of Trump’s ‘America First’ 

policy : asserting more American leadership 

in the region, shifting financial burden of 

security to allies and creating more jobs at 

home through the massive arms sales. 

Washington will play an organising and 

support role while staying outside the 

alliance that includes Saudi Arabia, the 

United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan. 

The Gulf countries always harbour deep 

fissures due to historical grievances. 

Egyptian effort in 2015 to establish a pan- 

Arab fighting force failed, so the US is 

unsure of proposed coalition. The results 

- greater stability, conflict resolution in 

Yemen and Syria, and successful fight 

against regional terrorisms – however will 

vindicate the efforts. 

As a cornerstone of the plan, Trump 

announced one of the largest arms-sales 

deals in history. At the centre is a mammoth 

US arms package for Saudi Arabia for $98 - 

Photo Credit : AP Photo 

$128 billion; total arms sales including 

Littoral Combat Ships, THAAD missile 

defence systems, armoured personnel 

carriers, missiles, bombs and munitions 

could reach $350 billion over a decade. 

Relocation of some production and 

assembly to Saudi Arabia will build a Saudi 

domestic defence industrial capability. The 

US framework for a unified Sunni coalition 

could set the stage for a more formal 

NATO-like organisational structure in 

future. The world as such has the same 

enemy and wants the same thing. Trump’s 

current trip will hopefully just change the 

environment by laying out American vision 

for new regional security architecture and 

guide the combat against terrorism. 

Trump is the only American President to 

make Saudi Arabia, or any majority Muslim 

country, his first stop overseas as President 

to move past the controversies engulfing 

his administration and show case his 

respect to the region after months of 

harsh anti-Muslim campaign rhetoric. 

Extensive negotiations conducted by 

White House senior adviser Jared 

Kushner and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince 

Mohammed bin Salman behind the 

scenes ensured that Saudis are now 

willing to make a bet on Trump and eager 

to do business with US after years of 

disillusionment with the Obama 

administration. 

The Saudis seek closer US-Saudi 

relationship and increased cooperation 

on security, economic and investment 

spheres while the US expect the kingdom 

to combat radical Islamic extremism, 

intensely fight the Islamic State and share 

the burden of regional security. 

The US for long has desired Saudis to 

modernise navy and be more effective in 

the Gulf as a strong Saudi deterrent lowers 

the risk of military confrontation with Iran. 

The Saudi courtship of the White House 

has been successful beyond expectations; 

results to follow in terms of regional 

stability, progress against terrorism or real 

deterrence against Iran. 

Arab NATO is the upcoming scenario 

with far fetching strategic implications. Iran 

was a little bit over confident and hard 

on trade deal with India after sanctions 

were lifted by west post-2016 nuclear deal 

forcing India to reduce oil purchase. 

Now India can breathe easily and trade 

on its own terms as Iran has to 

accommodate Indian interests and it 

needs India more than India needs Iran. 

Iran could facilitate Indian access to 

Afghanistan if only to spite Pakistan. 

Saudi Arabia is successfully pitting the 

world against Iran. Pakistan could tilt 

to USA camp and move away from Iran 

which is also good for India as it can 

expect US to pressurise Pakistan on 

various issues like terrorism etc. 

Pakistan’s proximity to the US could 

make China jittery which is good for 

both India and also Pakistan. 

China will not entirely go against India 

to keep its option open, and it will also 

not take Pakistan for granted, good for 

Pakistan. Arab NATO with Raheel Sharif 

as the commander in chief provides 

tremendous clout for Pakistan in Arab 

world. 

Manchester bombing exposes farce of Trump speech in Riyadh 

U. 

♦ By Tarek Fatah 

Author & Columnist, Canada 

@TarekFatah 

tarek.fatah@gmail.com 

S. President Donald Trump has 

accomplished the impossible. 

After correctly diagnosing the ailment that 

afflicts the Muslim world, he has prescribed 

the wrong medicine as the cure, thus 

ensuring the epidemic will thrive. 

Speaking Sunday at a summit of over 50 

Sunni Muslim-majority countries in the 

Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, Trump 

correctly called for “confronting the crisis 

of Islamic extremism and the Islamists and 

Islamic terror of all kinds.” 

So far so good. 

But then he laid the blame at the feet of 

Shia-Muslim Iran. 

It didn’t take long for Trump’s prescription 

to be blown to smithereens. 

Barely 24 hours after his speech, a 22-yearold 

Briton, whose family immigrated from 

Sunni-dominated Libya, not Shiadominated 

Iran, blew himself up in 

Manchester, England, outside an Ariana 

Grande concert, killing 22 people, including 

children, and injuring dozens more. 

Among those cheering the loudest were 

supporters of ISIS, the Sunni terrorist 

group. 

Prior to the tragedy, addressing the 

dictators and monarchs who rule the Sunni 

Islamic world, Trump said, “no discussion 

of stamping out this threat (Islamic terror) 

would be complete without mentioning the 

government that gives terrorists ... safe 

harbor, financial backing, and the social 

standing needed for recruitment. … I am 

speaking of course of Iran.” 

I shook my head in disbelief. I could not 

imagine any Muslim who would not roll 

their eyes and scoff at Trump’s prepared 

remarks. 

As Muslims, we may be grabbing at each 

other’s throats, but we can smell cow dung. 

Few Muslims, Shia or Sunni, Iranian or 

Saudi, Baloch or Kurd, Afghan or Somali, 

would swallow the absurdity of linking Shia 

Iran with Islamic terrorism, when the far 

greater culprit is Saudi Arabia’s Sunnicontrolled 

government. 

Even one of the most prominent Muslim 

Republicans in America, retired U.S. Navy 

Lt.-Cmdr. Zuhdi Jasser, 

referred to the leaders of 

the Sunni-dominated 

Muslim-majority countries 

present in Riyadh as, “THE 

Islamist Mafia.” 

Quoting from Trump’s 

speech, he rebuked the 

U.S. president in a tweet: 

“Trump: ‘Terrorists do not 

worship God they worship 

death’ -- No they are 

invoking interpretations of 

THE Islamist mafia you are 

addressing.” 

The Manchester slaughter took place on 

the fourth anniversary of the public 

execution of British Army soldier, Fusilier 

Lee Rigby, by adherents of the Islamism that 

has spread across the Sunni Islamic world, 

Europe and North America. 

The Riyadh conference was a farce. 

The leader of one of the few democracies in 

the Muslim world, Prime Minister Sheikh 

Hasina of Bangladesh, a woman who has 

actively fought Islamic terrorism, was shut 

out from the front row of the group 

photographs. She heads a nation of 150 

million Muslims, but she’s not Arab and 

doesn’t buy billions of dollars in armaments 


to fight wars. Half of the world’s Muslims 

live in the Indian sub-continent, a quarter 

live further east in Indonesia, yet India 

was not invited. 

Nothing was said about the fact that Saudi 

Arabia’s client state, Pakistan, is home to 

al-Qaida, Taliban, ISIS and scores of Islamic 

terrorists who raise and launder millions of 

dollars to fund international jihad. 

The only winner at the Riyadh circus was 

America’s military-industrial complex, 

which can sell weapons of war to 

dictatorships who will not be able to stop 

another Manchester bombing, no matter 

how many billions worth of tanks and 

fighter jets they buy. 

www.newdelhitimes.com

29 May - 4 June, 2017 

3 

Editorial 

S 

 

 

 

I 

♦ By Dr. Ankit Srivastava 

Editor - in - Chief 

@AnkitNDT 

ankits@newdelhitimes.com 





Sudan’s attempts at making new friends and fighting terrorism 

udan, a country in north-eastern 

Africa and bordered by Egypt to the 

north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea 

and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to 

the south, the Central African Republic to 

the southwest, Chad to the west and Libya 

to the northwest. The country has 

witnessed almost 2 million deaths in the 

last few decades due to multiple civil wars 

and famines. Sudan has always had a rocky 

relationship with the West, and a good 

relationship with Iran. Sudan failed to curb 

the rising extremism and hence, it found its 

way to the state sponsored terrorism list. 

Sudan is known for backing Iraq in its 

invasion of Kuwait. Sudan also provided 

safe harbour for terrorists like Osama Bin 

Laden, Abu Nidal, Carlos the Jackal and so 

on. It was also revealed that Sudan allowed 

members of Hamas to travel, fundraise, and 

live in their country. 

In its annual terrorism report in 2010, the 

US Department of State said that terrorist 

groups, including “Al-Qaeda-inspired 

terrorists, remain in Sudan as gaps 

remained in the Sudanese government’s 

knowledge of and ability to identify and 

capture these individuals as well as prevent 

them from exploiting the territory for 

smuggling activities”. Another report 

Islamabad, Tehran set up border commission amid tensions 

over killing of Iranian border guards 

ran and Pakistan have agreed to 

create a new border management 

commission amid heightened tensions 

between the two countries over the killing 

of at least nine Iranian border guards in 

late April. 

The commission, which will comprise four 

representatives from each country, is set 

to meet in May “to make sure such 

incidents do not happen again and any 

complaints that come in can be sorted out 

at the local level and, if necessary, at the 

political level,” Sartaj Aziz, Pakistan’s 

foreign affairs adviser to Prime Minister 

Nawaz Sharif, was quoted by the Iranian 

state-owned Islamic Republic News 

Agency (IRNA) as saying on 10 May. 

The statement came two weeks after at least 

nine Iranian border guards were killed while 

on patrol in the country’s southeastern 

Sistan and Balochistan Province, which 

borders the Pakistani province of 

Balochistan. 

Tehran blamed members of the Sunni 

militant Islamist group Jaish ul-Adl (Army 

of Justice) for carrying out the attack, 

adding that the assailants fled to the 

Pakistani side of the border following the 

incident. A day after the attack, on 27 April, 

highlighted Sudan’s close ties to Iran, 

noting that the regime provided meeting 

locations, transit points and safe havens 

for Iran-backed extremist groups as well as 

a disturbing relationship with a wide range 

of Islamic extremists. 

But things have been gradually changing 

in Sudan, in the last two years after a break 

with its ally Iran. Sudan government has 

been stepping up its game and working on 

tackling terrorism and radical elements that 

moved freely in the country for so many 

decades. The efforts have paid off and 

countries like Israel and even the U.S have 

noted these changes. US State Department 

issued a press release appreciating Sudan’s 

efforts to increase cooperation in 

counterterrorism operations. Hoping for 

easing on the sanctions and better ties with 

the Western world, Sudan aims to become 

a hub for counterterrorism operations 

against militant organizations like Islamic 

State. 

The State Department report said that 

Sudan was cooperating with the Financial 

Action Task force and was taking steps in 

curbing terrorist funding. It mentioned that 

“in 2014, Sudan adopted a new Anti- 

Money Laundering and Combating 

Terrorism Finance Act and ratified the UN 

Convention Against Corruption. Sudan’s 

Central Bank officials did not freeze, seize 

and/or forfeit assets in 2014. Sudan 

continued to cooperate with the United 

States in investigating financial crimes 

Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson 

Bahram Ghasemi said that Pakistan should 

“be held accountable for the presence of 

terrorist groups in its soil” and for their 

operations against Iran from its territory. 

This was followed by a message by Iranian 

President Hassan Rouhani urging prime 

minister Sharif to take urgent and serious 

measures to secure the border with Iran 

and bring “terrorist elements” to justice. 

On 8th May, the Chief of Staff of the Iranian 

Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad 

Hossein Bagheri, threatened to strike what 

he described as the militant group’s ‘bases’ 

inside Pakistan if Islamabad did not act 

against them. 

“Unfortunately, Iran’s eastern border 

regions with Pakistan have become a safe 

haven for training and equipping terrorists 

recruited by Saudi Arabia and supported 

by the United States,” the major general 

was quoted by IRNA as saying. 

“We will not tolerate this situation in the 

joint borders and expect the Pakistani 

officials to show responsibility, control 

their borders, arrest terrorists, and shut 

down the outlaws’ bases,” he said, adding 

that, “If [this] continues, we will hit the 

terrorists’ safe havens anywhere they are”. 

The statement led to Pakistan summoning 

the Iranian ambassador to the Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs (MoFA) in Islamabad and 

related to terrorism”. Washington released 

a statement welcoming the change in 

Sudan and appreciated the country’s 

increased counterterrorism cooperation 

with the United States. US also spoke 

about how Sudan in the last few months 

had taken crucial steps to counter Islamic 

State and other radical groups and has 

attempted to block their movement in and 

out of their country. Sudan’s move will help 

boost international efforts in combating 

terrorism around the world. But the 

statement also urges Sudan to protect its 

citizens from Human rights violations and 

improve the regional stability in a country 

that is struggling. 

Further affirming Sudan’s desire to form 

an alliance with the Western countries 

through providing intelligence on 

terrorists, Sudanese Ambassador Maowia 

Osman Khalid said in an interview that they 

lodging a protest over Maj Gen Bagheri’s 

remarks, saying that they were “against 

the spirit of brotherly relations existing 

between the two countries”. The MoFA 

also urged Iran to avoid issuing statements 

“that could vitiate the environment of 

fraternal relations”. 

In the meantime IRNA quoted an Iranian 

government official as saying that 

Islamabad accepted to change the 

arrangement of its forces on borders with 

Iran and deploy a senior military official in 

the region. 

During a meeting with Iranian foreign 

minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on 3 May 

in Rawalpindi General Qamar Javed Bajwa, 

the Pakistan Army’s chief of staff, said that 

his country “is committed to have lasting 

relations with Iran and will keep up its 

efforts to reduce friction amongst brotherly 

Muslim countries”. 

The two sides reportedly also agreed to 

establish a hotline contact between the 

director generals of military operations and 

the commanders on both sides of the 

border. 

On 10th May, Major General Asif Ghafoor, 

the head of the Inter-Services Public 

Relations (ISPR) - the media wing of the 

Pakistani military - was quoted by IRNA 

as saying that “if there is some tension on 

our borders then please understand the 

plots of our common enemies”. “Pakistan 

Photo Credit: Shutterstock 

had already passed on vital information to 

U.S. and allied intelligence agencies on 

activities of the Islamic State, who besides 

Syria also operate in Egypt, Somalia and 

Northeast Africa. Mr. Khalid said that 

Sudan is “a close partner with the United 

States in counterterrorism around the 

globe”. 

Radicalism is a prevalent issue in Sudan 

with many key members of terrorist groups 

hailing from the country. So despite these 

efforts, Sudan has a long way to go from 

being a safe haven for Osama to becoming 

a hub for counterterrorism. Sudan is the 

definition of an 180 degree turn about. After 

cutting ties with Iran, Sudan seeks to make 

new friends who will ultimately help the 

country in lifting the sanctions that have 

weighed down on the country’s 

development and fight radical elements to 

bolster the country’s growth. 

has been passing through a difficult phase 

for the last ten years, but now we are 

moving towards a better future and the 

anti-Pakistani elements are playing their 

last cards to destabilise Pakistan and its 

borders” said Maj Gen Ghafoor. According 

to NDT Bureau Assessment - The Gulf 

States, Jaish ul-Adl is a Sunni militant 

group known to operate mainly in Saravan 

County, which is located in Iran’s Sistan 

and Balochistan Province. 

The organisation posted a statement on 

its website in April 2012 announcing its 

formation and stating that its goal is to 

protect Iran’s marginalised citizens, 

particularly those from the Sunni minority. 

In October 2013, they carried out an attack 

in Saravan County in which 14 Iranian 

border guards were killed, before crossing 

the border into Pakistan. The group stated 

that the attack was prompted by a 

“ferocious massacre”, which it alleged had 

been carried out in Syria by Iran’s Islamic 

Revolutionary Guards Corps. 



World 


Iran's Rouhani Criticizes Trump, Recent Saudi Summit 

I 

ran's newly re-elected President 

Hassan Rouhani said that Iran's 

relationship with the U.S. is a "curvy road," 

and called President Donald Trump's 

summit in Saudi Arabia this past weekend 

"just a show." 

Rouhani also said that stability could not 

be achieved in the Middle East without 

his country's help. 

"The Americans do not know our religion, 

that's what the catch is," Rouhani said in 

response to a question from AP. 

Rouhani said he hopes the Trump 

administration will "settle down" enough 

for his nation to better understand it. 

Rouhani was re-elected in a landslide win 

after his first term saw a major nuclear arms 

deal with world powers in 2015. Trump 

has threatened to try to renegotiate the 

deal. 

On 21st May, Trump delivered a speech 

in Saudi Arabia, pushing for Muslim unity 

in the fight against terrorism, which he 

called "a battle between good and evil." 

In that address, Trump also took aim at 

Iran, accusing Tehran of contributing to 

instability in the region. 

"The gathering in Saudi Arabia was just a 

show with no practical or political value 

of any kind," Rouhani said. 

The Iranian president criticized Trump's 

decision to visit Saudi Arabia, noting that 

the kingdom "has never seen a ballot 

box" while Iran just had another 

UN: chemical experts found 

sarin exposure in Syria attack 

team from the international chemical 

A weapons watchdog found exposure 

"to sarin or a sarin-like substance" in 

samples from an April 4 attack in northern 

Syria that killed over 90 people and now 

wants to visit the opposition-held town of 

Khan Sheikhoun, a senior U.N. official said 

on 23rd May. 

U.N. disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu 

told the U.N. Security Council that the 

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical 

Weapons also submitted a report into the 

alleged use of chemical weapons near Um 

Hosh in the Aleppo countryside on Sept. 

16, 2016 which indicated the use of "sulfur 

mustard." 

OPCW fact-finding teams have been 

investigating the alleged use of chemical 

weapons in Syria but aren't mandated to 

determine responsibility for attacks. That 

has been left to a joint U.N.-OPCW 

investigative body known as the JIM. 

Last year, the JIM concluded that the Syrian 

government used chlorine gas in three 

attacks and Islamic State extremists used 

mustard gas in one attack during 2014 and 

2015. 

Nakamitsu said the two latest reports from 

the OPCW fact-finding team have been 

sent to the JIM, which is now studying the 

findings "and will keep the Security Council 

informed of its next steps." 

Syria agreed to destroy its chemical 

weapons under a deal brokered by Russia 

and the United States in 2013 and declared 

a 1,300-ton chemical arsenal when it joined 

the OPCW soon after. 

That stockpile has been destroyed, but the 

organization continues to question whether 

Damascus declared everything in its 

chemical weapon program. 

Nakamitsu said work to address unresolved 

issues related to Syria's declaration had 

been expected to move forward during 

high-level consultations scheduled for early 

May, but they have been temporarily 

postponed. 

The Syrian government has repeatedly 

denied using chemical weapons and so 

has its close ally Russia, which has also 

carried out aerial attacks. 

In the attack in the area of Um Hosh last 

Sept. 16, Nakamitsu said an OPCW team 

was deployed at the request of the Syrian 

government but wasn't able to visit the site. 

She said a review of blood samples from 

two women victims of the alleged attack 

indicated exposure to sulfur mustard. The 

team also evaluated a mortar reported to 

be connected to the incident that was 

handed over by Russian experts, she said, 

and "laboratory analysis indicated that this 

mortar contained sulfur mustard." 

As for Khan Sheikhoun, Nakamitsu said 

the fact-finding mission's report said their 

team conducted interviews with victims of 

the alleged attack and witnessed the 

collection of biomedical samples from 

casualties in an unidentified neighboring 

country. 

The team also received samples from dead 

animals reported to have been close to the 

site of the incident and environmental 

samples "from close to the impact point," 

she said. It also attended autopsies of 

three victims and witnessed biomedical 

samples being taken from their bodies. 

Nakamitsu said there is still work to be 

done in the Khan Sheikhoun investigation 

and OPCW Director-General Ahmet 

Uzumcu requested U.N. security, logistical 

and operational assistance for a visit to 

the town by the team. She said Secretary- 

General Antonio Guterres responded 

positively on May 4 and indicated that 

planning is under way. 

Nakamitsu said she is in contact with 

Uzumcu to help ensure that any visit to 

the site "would be accompanied by the 

most stringent security assurances." 

Credit : Associated Press (AP) 

successful presidential election in which 

over 40 million people voted. 

In response to the recent billion-dollar 

deals signed between Trump and the 

Saudi government, Rouhani said, "You 

can't solve terrorism just by giving your 

people's money to a superpower." 

Rouhani also defended Iran's ballistic 

missile program, which has been highly 

opposed by the Trump administration. 

"The U.S. leaders should know that 

whenever we need a missile test 

because of a technical aspect, we will 

test. We will not wait for them and their 

permission," he said. 

Credit : Voice of America (VOA) 

Turkey buys 52 Super 

Mushshak training aircraft 

from Pakistan 

 

 

 

T 




urkey has signed a contract with the 

Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) 

Kamra for the procurement of 52 MFI-17 

Super Mushshak primary trainers, 

according to a statement issued by the 

Turkish Defence Industries Undersecretariat 

(SSM). 

Turkey has signed a contract with Pakistan 

for the procurement of 52 Super Mushshak 

training aircraft. (PAC) 

The contract was signed on 10 May on the 

sidelines of the 2017 IDEF defence 

exhibition in Istanbul in a ceremony 

presided over by Turkish defence minister 

Fikri Isik and Pakistan’s minister for defence 

production, Tanvir Hussain. 

The value of the contract was not 

disclosed. 

The aircraft are set to replace the Turkish 

Air Force’s ageing T-41D Mescalero and 

SF-260D trainers. 

The Super Mushshak is a PAC licencebuilt 

version of the Saab MFI-17 Supporter 

aircraft. Around 46 of these trainers are 

currently in service with the Pakistan Air 

Force (PAF), with the first ones being 

commissioned in the year 2000. 

In addition to the PAF, the aircraft has been 

acquired by the air forces of Iran, Iraq, 

Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria. 

In 2015 officials of Pakistan’s Ministry of 

Defence announced that Turkey had 

donated 34 of its Cessna T-37 trainers to 

the PAF in a move that strengthened 

defence relations between the two 

countries. 



5 

P 

World 


At last, a pact between the United States and 

♦ By Paulo Casaca 

@PauloCasaca1 

pcasaca@gmail.com 

resident Trump’s pact with a Saudiled 

anti-terrorism alliance comprising 

55 countries is a major landmark for this 

presidency. 

The pact targets both explicitly and 

implicitly the Iranian regime as the main 

promotor of international terrorism as well 

as ancient sponsor of some virulent terror 

outfits which are not any longer directly 

controlled by the country. For the first time 

since the 1979 Islamic revolution in the 

Iranian Republic, the US seems determined 

to abandon the appeasing strategy towards 

the Iranian threat which doomed the foreign 

policy of all previous administrations, from 

Carter to Obama, including Reagan, Clinton 

and both Bush presidents. 

Whereas President Trump has been less 

than clear and consistent on the strategy 

to be followed on most of the international 

issues he faces, he has been so far reliable 

is the Iranian stance. His historical and 

clearly articulated speech as well as the 

ensuing pact both confirm great steadiness 

on the question. 

The bulk of the Western media, which has 

long been supportive of the appeasement 

policy towards Tehran, reacted with 

undisguisable discomfort, as the pact 

destroyed several of the myths they have 

maintained to justify their nefarious advice. 

The first myth is that Muslim countries only 

care with attacking Israel. 

The second myth is that whoever is tough 

on Islamic fanaticism is ‘islamophobe’. The 

third is that Iran is not the most aggressive 

and terror-promoting country in the region 

but instead and somehow a ‘moderate’ 

country. 

Regarding the issue of Israel, anti-Semitism 

has been endemic in the West; it is almost 

as if the Muslim-Jewish issue was just used 

as a pretext for this hate to be expressed. . 

As regards islamophobia, and as President 

Trump rightly said, most of the victims of 

Islamic fanaticism being indeed Muslims, 

to excuse the crimes made in the name of 

Islam in fact discriminates against the 

human rights of Muslims, and not the other 

way round. The myth of a ‘moderate’ Iran 

is a public affairs invention that has nothing 

to do with reality. 

From the point of view of the vast majority 

of the Muslim World, the pact is selfexplanatory. 

Confronted with an Iranian 

regime that is expanding its influence 

worldwide and stretched its direct and 

indirect militarily presence to Iraq, Syria, 

Lebanon and Yemen, there is a widespread 

apprehension amongst Muslim collectives 

in the area that they might be next in line 

on the Iranian expansionist agenda. 

Nowhere is such apprehension stronger 

than in the Gulf, and most particularly in 

Saudi Arabia, whose monarchy barely 

Muslim countries 

escaped the fate of its Iranian counterpart 

in the end of 1979, when an Islamist putsch 

nearly managed to overthrow it. 

The inauguration of the global centre for 

combating extremism’, whatever the 

shortcomings said centre might show, is 

definitely a tremendous and fundamental 

step in the right direction. The European 

Union and every other OECD country 

should follow the US lead and join its 

attention and efforts to make this 

endeavour a success that will necessarily 

tackle all forms of hate speech and most in 

particular jihadism. 

Nevertheless, we should bear in mind that, 

as it is often the case with this sort of 

alliances, the only common denominator 

for the time being is a shared fear, not a 

joint resolution to construct anything 

positive. The impressive formal feature of 

putting together 55 countries actually 

hides severe and embedded weaknesses 

and shortcomings. 

Some of the shortcomings are not new. As 

President Obama before him, President 

Trump could not resist the billion arms deal 

call. The truth, however, is of course that 

the Saudi defence has no need of more 

weapons, but of reform and new policies. 

The huge expenditure with weapons might 

actually do more harm than good for the 

country’s preparation to face its external 

challenges. 

Saudi Arabia cannot face the unconventional 

sort of threat posed by Jihadism through 

the use of ever more sophisticated war 

material. Other than the restraints linked 

to the purely logistical side of the issue – 

the necessary training and the capacity 

not to ‘over-use’ advanced war material – 

the challenges the country is facing have 

a lot more to do with its capacity to counter 

the sectarian Jihadi subversion sponsored 

by Iran and to gain full support of its 

population than with conventional military 

considerations 

For instance, the Iranian Revolutionary 

Guards terrorist outfit and Yemeni based 

‘Ansar Allah’ (also known as the Houthis 

militia) have been operating within Saudi 

borders for quite some time and with ever 

more success—not because of the Saudi 

nation lacks sophisticated war material, but 

because it lacks in capacity to wage a war 

against unconventional jihadi tactics. 

Otherwise, the alliance comprises a lot of 

members that only fear the Iranian Jihad 

because it is more efficient than their own, 

not because they have any fundamental 

disagreement with it. The ‘aseptic’ 

terminology of ‘terrorism’ serves to hide 

the supremacist ideology animating the 

systematic violence of all forms of jihadism, 

including terrorism. The fact is there will 

be no victory against the violent 

manifestations of an ideology as long as 

the ideology itself remains unscathed. 

Saudi Arabia is a case in point. Whatever 

will be done to hide the country’s share of 

responsibilities in the spread of jihad 

across the world is unacceptable and will 

ultimately benefit those who resist reforms 

within the country. 

Most importantly, there is the case of 

Pakistan, which appears as a sort of 

mercenary force, ready to lend its armed 

muscle to the alliance only for profit, not 

by conviction. Pakistan simply cannot be 

seriously thought of as a reliable force 

against terrorism. 

The country supports the Afghan Taliban; 

its own sponsored jihadis now openly call 

for an ‘Islamic State’ in the Kashmir valley; 

and it continues to keep a terror 

infrastructure to attack India. 

Afghanistan’s recent reception of an icon 

of mass scale murder in the name of jihad, 

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, is another case in 

point exemplifying how ‘anti-terrorism’ can 

become a hollow term. In fact, Hekmatyar 

forces did not renounce to their jihadi 

ideology or their belief in terrorism and 

barbarian violence as worthy instruments. 

Worse than this, everything lead us to 

believe this Jihadi Mogul continues in plain 

coordination with his Iranian masters and 

might be preparing to act in cooperation 

with the Taliban for the take-over of the 

country. Incidentally, Iran is becoming an 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ever more important player on the 

traditional field of Pakistani terror turfs. 

The country is disputing with Pakistan 

the sponsoring of the Afghan Taliban and 

it has been for a long time the main 

sponsor of Hekmatyar—after Pakistan 

dropped him in favour of the Taliban. It is 

starting to reveal itself an important player 

in the jihadi subversion scenario in 

Kashmir. 

It is true that simply pushing the autocratic 

regimes of the Muslim world overboard 

without an overarching strategy might 

result only in upheaval, chaos or even 

ultimately in their takeover by Jihadist 

forces. Lessons from Iraq and Libya 

should be fully understood. 

Strategically, however, reform, democratisation 

and openness are the only sensible ways 

forward in the whole Muslim World. 

This means there is no substitute for a 

global strategy to face the challenges of 

jihadism, and President Trump will 

ultimately have to reconsider its strident 

isolationism and follow a globalised 

approach to the fight against fanaticism 

on various other fields if he wants to 

succeed. 

 



Delhi/NCR News 

 

 

 

K 

KPS Gill, who wiped out 

militancy from Punjab, 

passes away 




anwar Pal Singh Gill, former director 

general of police (DGP) of Punjab and 

Assam, and who was instrumental in 

crushing militancy in Punjab passed away 

due to a sudden cardiac arrest on 26th May 

in a Delhi hospital. 

He was referred to as a supercop for his 

tackling of the insurgency in Punjab, and 

breaking the backbone of Khalistani 

terrorism in the state where served as the 

Director General of Police from 1988 to 1990 

and then again from 1991 until his retirement 

from the Indian Police Service in 1995. 

He was conferred with Padma Shri in 1989 

for his work in civil services. Gill was also 

one of India’s best counter-terrorism expert 

and served as the President of the Institute 

for Conflict Management. 

KPS Gill was also the author of a book, 

"The Knights of Falsehood", which 

explores the abuse of religious institutions 

by the politics of terrorism in Punjab. 

KPS Gill also served as the President of 

the Indian Hockey Federation. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi 

condoled the death of super cop KPS Gill 

who passed away and paid tributes to him. 

Condoling his death, the prime minister said, 

“KPS Gill will be remembered for his service 

to our nation in the fields of policing & 

security. Pained by his demise. My 

condolences”. Congress President Sonia 

Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Captain 

Amarinder Singh also offered their condolence. 


MCD Bypoll results: AAP, 

Cong beat BJP 

 

 

 

T 




he Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and 

Congress emerged as winners in the 

two municipal corporation seats of 

Maujpaur and Sarai Pipal Thala, 

respectively, where bypolls were held earlier 

this month. Now, of the 272 wards, BJP 

holds 184 seats, AAP 47 and Congress 31. 

The other have got 10 seats. 

In Maujpur (ward 40 E), AAP candidate 

Reshma, who got 9374 votes won the seat. 

She defeated Congress candidate Rekha 

Sharma by a margin of 699 votes. Sharma 

managed to get 8675 votes. 

The Maujpur ward was held by the BJP’s 

Sanjay Jain (outgoing leader of house, 

EDMC) who had won the MCD elections 

in 2012 with 12,652 votes. 

In Sarai Pipal Thala ward, which was carved 

out after delimitation, Congress candidate 

and former leader of opposition in North 

Delhi Municipal Corporation, Mukesh 

Kumar Goel, won the bypoll with 10, 946 

votes. 

Goel was earlier a two-time councillor from 

Dhirpur ward. BJP candidate Mangat Ram 

Sharma got 8203 votes. 

Days after the BJP swept clean the municipal 

corporation polls in 181 of the 270 wards, 

the AAP and Congress tally have 

increased by one seat each now having 48 

and 31 seats, receptively. Bypolls to the 

Maujpur and Sarai Pipal Thala wards were 

held on May 16 and May 21, respectively. 

While Maujpur had recorded 58% voting, 

the voter turnout in the latter was 46.3%. 

 

 

 

 

 



7 

S 

Neighbourhood News 

Pakistan warns 

anti-state social 

media posts to 

face charges 

P 

akistan's interior minister is warning 

that people posting "anti-state" 

content on social media will face 

prosecution. 

Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said that recent 

attacks against the country's army and 

judiciary are unacceptable. 

He confirmed an ongoing crackdown on 

social media activists, saying that Pakistani 

security agencies have identified 27 

accounts, which are under investigation. 

Khan said that six of them have been 

questioned, but not arrested, warning that 

there will be red lines in line with Pakistan's 

laws. 

Officials at Pakistan's Federal Investigation 

Agency have said the men faced 

questioning under cybercrimes laws for 

criticizing state policies and country's army. 

Rights groups have raised concerns, 

terming it a crackdown on dissent and 

freedom of speech. 


S 


4 bodies found inside tent at the highest 

camp on Everest 

herpa rescuers have found the bodies 

of four climbers inside a tent on the 

highest camp on Mount Everest, raising 

the death toll this climbing season to 10, 

authorities said on 24th May. 

The bodies were found by a team of 

rescuers who were there to recover the 

body of a Slovak mountaineer who died 

over the weekend, Tourism Department 

official Hemanta Dhakal said. 

The identities of the dead climbers in the 

tent were still unknown and other rescuers 

were heading there to learn more details. 

Sri Lanka's President replaces 

foreign minister 

ri Lanka's President removed the 

country's liberal foreign minister who 

spearheaded a successful campaign to 

extricate the country from possible 

international sanctions over war crime 

allegations from the country's long civil 

war. 

In the first Cabinet reshuffle of the coalition 

government since 2015, President 

Maithripala Sirisena replaced Mangala 

Samaraweera as foreign minister and gave 

him the portfolio of finance and mass media 

minister. Ravi Karunanayake, who headed 

the finance ministry, was named the new 

foreign minister. 

would not prosecute government soldiers 

for war crimes. However, it is unclear if 

Samaraweera's removal as foreign minister 

is a sign of a government policy shift 

toward post-civil war reforms and 

reconciliation. 

Sri Lanka's nearly 26-year civil war ended 

in 2009 with the government crushing 

separatist ethnic Tamil rebels who fought 

to create an independent state for the 

country's largest minority ethnic group. Sri 

Lanka's government and military are largely 

majority ethnic Sinhalese. 

The civil war's final months were especially 

savage, and both the government forces 

and Tamil Tiger separatists are accused of 

grave human rights violations and war 

crimes. According to a U.N. report, some 

40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed 

in the final months of the fighting alone. 

Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, 

who was coordinating the recovery of the 

Slovak climber's body, said the Sherpa 

rescuers found the four bodies on the night 

of 23rd May. 


The bodies were at 

Camp 4 at South Col, 

located at 8,000 meters 

(26,247 feet), which is 

the last camp before 

climbers make their 

summit attempt. 

Any recovery attempt 

would require many 

Sherpas, who would 

have to bring the bodies 

down to Camp 2, from 

where they can be 

winched by helicopter. 

Six climbers have already died this year 

attempting to reach the 8,850-meter (29,035- 

foot) summit of the world's highest 

mountain. 

Indian climber Ravi Kumar, American 

doctor Roland Yearwood, Slovak climber 

Vladimir Strba and Australian Francesco 

Enrico Marchetti died over the weekend, 

and two climbers died earlier. The climbing 

season begins in March and runs through 

the end of May to take advantage of the 

best weather conditions in the harsh 

environment on Everest. 

With 10 fatalities, this season has exceeded 

what mountaineering officials say is a 

typical toll of six. Recent decades have 

brought improvements in climbing 

equipment, weather forecasting and 

reducing other dangers to climbers, 

keeping the death toll much lower than in 

the early decades on Everest. 

The Nepalese Tourism Department issued 

a record 371 permits this year to people to 

scale the mountain. The increased number 

of climbers this year is likely because many 

people were unable to climb in 2014 and 

2015, when deadly avalanches disrupted 

the climbing seasons. 

Climbers who had permits for the 2014 

season were allowed to receive a free 

replacement permit until 2019, while 

climbers with 2015 permits were given only 

until this year. The permits normally cost 

$11,000. 


Samaraweera was instrumental in Sri 

Lanka's co-sponsoring of a resolution at 

the United Nations Human Rights Council 

that called for investigations into the 

alleged wartime abuses with international 

assistance. However, he was accused by 

nationalists of paving the way for outside 

interference. 

Sirisena had distanced himself from the 

promise to involve international judges and 

prosecutors in a 2015 resolution at the 

Human Rights Council and said that he 

Sri Lanka's former strongman leader 

Mahinda Rajapaksa, who led the military 

campaign, had refused to investigate the 

allegations, resulting in the country being 

sidelined internationally. The U.N. Human 

Rights Council had adopted a resolution 

calling for an independent, international 

investigation on Sri Lanka. 

However, steps taken by Sirisena's 

government and far-reaching promises 

since its election in 2015 changed Sri 

Lanka's international standing. Also, the 

portfolios of seven other ministers were 

swapped and a new minister for 

Development Assignments was 

appointed. 


 

 

 



Editorial 


 

 

 

T 




he United Nations Human Rights 

Council (UNHRC) was established in 

2006, replacing the United Nations 

Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR). 

The creation of UNHRC marks one of the 

major reforms ever undertaken in the 

United Nations (UN) since its inception in 

1945, and was a significant step towards 

strengthening the institutional mechanism 

of the human rights as well as the 

promotion of human rights. 

UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251 

of April 6 2006 UN General Assembly 

officially established the UNHCR based 

in Geneva. The stated objective of the 

UNHRC was to promote universal respect 

for the protection of human rights and 

fundamental freedoms for all without any 

distinction. The HRC was also entrusted 

with the responsibility of addressing 

situations of violations of human rights, 

and make recommendations thereon, along 

with an effective co-ordination and 

mainstreaming of human rights within the 

UN system. The UNGA Resolution 

 

 

 

F 




UNHRC and its impact in Asia 

furthermore mentioned that the HRC shall 

undertake a Universal Periodic Review 

(UPR), and make recommendations with 

regard to the promotion and protection of 

human rights and submit an annual report 

to the General Assembly. The inaugural 

session of the HRC was held on 19 June -30 

June 2006 in Geneva, electing Ambassador 

Luis Alfonso de Alba of Mexico as its first 

President. One year later, on 18 June 

2007, the Council adopted the Human 

Rights Council “Institution-building 

package” resolution to guide its work 

and set up its procedures and 

mechanisms. 

The Council is made up of 47 United 

Nations Member States. On a yearly basis, 

the United Nations General Assembly elects 

a third of the members directly and 

individually by secret ballot for a period of 

3 years. They shall not be eligible for 

immediate re-election after two consecutive 

terms. The composition of the Council is 

based on equitable geographical 

distribution, and seats are distributed as 

follows among regional groups: Group 

of African States and the Group of Asian 

states are allotted 13 seats each. 8 seats 

are allotted to the Group of Latin American 

and Caribbean States, 6 seats are allotted 

to the Group of Eastern States, while Group 

of Western European and other States are 

allocated 7 seats. 

The main mechanism of the UNHRC are: 1) 

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) – 

It is aimed at reviewing the human 

rights records of all United Nations 

Member States; 2) The Advisory Committee 

– It is composed of 18 independent experts 

and function as a think-tank for the 

Council and to provide expertise and 

advice on a number of thematic issues; 

3) The HRC Complaint Procedure - It 

addresses communications submitted 

by individuals or organizations that claim 

to be victims of gross and reliably 

attested violations of all human rights 

and fundamental freedoms or that have 

direct, reliable knowledge of such 

violations; and 4) The Special Procedures 

– They were established by the former UN 

Commission on Human Rights and now 

assumed by the Council. They are made 

up of mandate-holders such as special 

rapporteurs, special representatives, 

independent experts and working groups. 

Their main role is to monitor, examine, 

advise and publicly report on human rights 

situations in specific countries or territories 

(country mandate) or on a major 

phenomenon of human rights violations 

(thematic mandate). 

The UNHRC has exercised a considerable 

effect on the situation of human rights in 

Asia. The Council’s work in Sri Lanka has 

helped the international community to 

respond to human rights emergencies and 

work towards accountability and has also 

boosted its creditability. In Sri Lanka, the 

UPR was also a great success. The Human 

Rights Council has also discussed at large 

the threat faced in the Middle East region 

as a result of the reign of terror unleashed 

by the Islamic State. In March 2015, HRC 

adopted a resolution denouncing ISIS 

atrocities. The HRC has also paid attention 

towards the situation in Syria. On 21 

October 2016, HRC concluded its special 

session on Syria and adopted a resolution 

in which it urged the immediate 

implementation of the cessation of 

hostilities, and demanded that the regime 

and its allies put an immediate end to all 

aerial bombardments of and military flights 

over Aleppo city. The Council demanded 

that all parties, in particular the Syrian 

authorities and its supporters, promptly 

allowed rapid, safe, unhindered and 

sustained humanitarian access, including 

across conflict lines and borders. The HRC 

has also focused on the human rights 

situation in Myanmar arising due to ethnic 

conflict. On 24th March 2017, HRC adopted 

a resolution by which it decided to dispatch 

an independent, international fact-finding 

mission to establish the facts about 

alleged recent human rights violations by 

military and security forces and abuses 

in Myanmar, in particular in Rakhine 

State. 

The Council has also taken stock of the 

human rights situation in Democratic 

People’s Republic of Korea. . HRC has 

condemned in the strongest terms the 

long-standing and on-going systematic, 

widespread and gross human rights 

violations and other human rights abuses 

committed in the Democratic People’s 

Republic of Korea, and has decided to 

strengthen, for a period of two years, the 

capacity of the Office of the United 

Nations High Commissioner for Human 

Rights, including its field-based structure 

in Seoul, to allow the implementation of 

relevant recommendation. 

Russia’s Military Alliance is not NATO 

or nearly a decade, Russia has tried 

to use the Collective Security Treaty 

Organization (CSTO) to make inroads into 

the former Soviet states. The collapse of 

the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the rise of 

the Military bloc which was created as an 

alliance designed to serve as a Eurasian 

NATO. In 1992, the treaty was signed with 

the possibility of further elongation. 

Collective Security Treaty Organisation 

(CSTO) serves as an association formed 

among the six post- Soviet countries: 

Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, 

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The Eurasian 

organisation is strongly supported by 

Russia but seems to be facing challenges 

in its cohesion and efficacy. 

The alliance reaffirmed all the member 

states to curb from the use of threat and 

force. It focuses on holding military 

command exercises for the CSTO members 

to improve inter-organisational 

cooperation. The CSTO welcomes all 

states that share its goals and principles. 

The military alliance’s priorities are 

influenced by the interests, priorities and 

concerns of its member states. However, 

the CSTO member states have civilizational 

differences which do not let the organisation 

completely utilize the full potential. The 

organisation has not materialized into a 

political-military pact like Moscow had 

intended; it envisioned CSTO as a 

competitor to NATO and the EU. Initially 

CSTO was echoed as the “Eastern NATO”, 

but has failed to have become an important 

factor for the security of its member states. 

Russia’s evident dominance within the 

organisation as well as the tensions 

between the member states and Moscow’s 

aversion to involve the bloc in foreign 

conflicts restricts its legitimacy as an 

organisation. 

Moscow’s allies in the CSTO are unreliable 

and seek different purposes focusing on 

their growth instead of strengthening the 

relations among member states. The 

different mind-set and the priorities of its 

member states have limited the scope of 

CSTO to become the next NATO. Also the 

organisation is like a project to expand 

Russian influence as can be seen with other 

groups such as Eurasian Economic Union. 

The limitation of CSTO was evident in a 

series of events such as the war that broke 

out in Kyrgyzstan in 2010 or the Tajikistan’s 

struggles against rebel forces. The 

unwillingness of CSTO to provide military 

assistance raised speculations about the 

organisation’s true mission and 

capabilities. The two states faced the most 

serious security challenges and yet the 

organisation did little to address the 

problem. 

Russia tries to regain its influence in the 

former soviet sphere, which is clear through 

its involvement in CSTO. Moscow also 

signed a new military cooperation deal with 

Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Belarus and 

Armenia which hardly turned into a 

progressive outcome as a whole. 

This was obvious with the apparent delay 

in the selection for the replacement for 

outgoing Secretary-General Nikolai 

Bordyuzha. The incapability of agreeing 

on a decision showed the segregated views 

of the member states. In April 2017, the 

Armenia National Security Council 

Secretary Yuri Khachaturov was appointed 

as Secretary-General of the Russia-led 

CSTO. 

The CSTO has so far has not been able to 

be at par with its original aspirations and 

its alliance with NATO. It will be a limited 

platform for defence cooperation. The 

CSTO enables its member states to 

purchase weapons and arms from Russia 

with preferential prices. 

Nevertheless, CSTO continues to remain a 

legal mechanism for its member states to 

be associated with Russia as leaving the 

CSTO for member states could create a 

problem due to the dependency on Russia. 

CSTO will remain a viable platform for 

military exercises and other forms of 

security cooperation. Despite Russia’s 

efforts to improve the CSTO’s effectiveness 

and cohesion, it has not been able to reach 

the efficacy of NATO. The charter 

amendment should be more clear and brief 

to make CSTO more politically potent. 

The charter ought to specify the regions 

covered by the North Atlantic treaty to 

avoid further misunderstandings that might 

arise in the disputed areas in Central Asia. 

Until the organization’s consistency and 

capabilities improve, Russia will be forced 

to trustother means of expanding its 

military and political influence throughout 

Eurasia. 



9 

Think- Tanks 

“G 

T 

♦ By Dr. Pramila Srivastava 

@PramilaBK 

ps.a@iins.org 

reat works are performed not by 

strength, but by perseverance” 

♦ By International Institute 

for Non - Aligned Studies 

@iinsNAM 

iins@iins.org 

- Samuel Johnson 

In a fast paced world where we often forget 

to nurture our thoughts and get stuck in a 

limbo of events overshadowing our sense 

of perception in our daily lives, it seems 

rather difficult to achieve success in all its 

might. In the multitasking world, we forget 

a pivotal part of achievement which is 

required to succeed- PERSEVERANCE. 

We dwell on the negative and regret of not 

achieving certain things in life, succumbing 

to the difficulties that are laid upon us 

throughout life and ignoring the divine 

nature. We completely become obsessed 

with the idea that things are not going as 

planned. Instead of moving ahead of our 

problems and understanding the 

vicissitudes of life, we get trapped in the 

problems and often feel wounded. 

The glitches that life gives us are 

something we can ignore and we can move 

past them by opting for perseverance as 

working towards your faith despite 

opposition. To be able to curtail the 

difficulties that arise along the way to 

success, one needs perseverance. The 

he rapid growth of the global tourism 

sector has also brought along with it 

issues such as environmental degradation, 

adverse effect on natural resources such 

as land, freshwater and marine resources, 

and damage to eco-systems through 

considerable waste and pollution. There is 

now increasing agreement on the need to 

promote sustainable tourism development, 

especially in the developing nations of the 

world to minimize its environmental impact 

and to maximize socio-economic overall 

benefits at tourist destinations. The 

concept of sustainable tourism, as 

developed by the World Tourism 

Organization (WTO) in the context of the 

United Nations sustainable development 

process, refers to tourist activities “leading 

to management of all resources in such a 

way that economic, social and aesthetic 

Perseverance: Never Give Up 

concept beckons us to a comfortable and 

beautiful life. In Latin, the word means “one 

who sees through to the end”, the quality 

of determination can encourage us to leave 

behind the difficulties and move towards a 

better future with patience and 

perseverance, which are important 

elements on any spiritual path. 

On our way to perseverance, we might face 

praise, responsibility, anxiety, monotony, 

jealousy, idleness, and guilt, but these 

obstacles may be spiritual guides that 

could help us reshape our goals in our 

heads and move towards a new direction. 

Perseverance enters the mind when we 

welcome faith, joy, choice, clarity and the 

world in all aspects of our mind. One needs 

to undertake certain actions at a time and 

move progressively towards the anticipated 

result of his or her doing. To keep the focus 

on only one task, that can drive our 

motivation and enthusiasm to ensure that 

we get to the finish line. Holding on to a 

positive attitude and dedication can help 

to take our minds off of the obstacles and 

problems of our lives and help us move 

towards our goals with perseverance. 

Perseverance comes from believing in our 

dreams, establishing our groundwork and 

accomplishing it with everything that we 

have. 

When experiencing hardships, one should 

remember to keep Him in mind with the 

belief that he is the soul guide for you on 

your path to perseverance. It does not 

matter as to why the difficulties have arisen 

in one’s life- wrong choices or otherwisethe 

focal point is to focus on Him without 



NAM Supports Sustainable Tourism in 

Developing Countries 

needs can be fulfilled while maintaining 

cultural integrity, essential ecological 

processes, biological diversity and life 

support systems”. In 1992, the ‘Earth 

Summit’ in Rio established the triple 

principles of environmental, economic and 

social sustainability. Since then, the 

principles of sustainable tourism have 

been adopted by the tourism industry 

worldwide. 

According to the United Nations 

Environment Program (UNEP), the major 

principles of sustainable tourism entail 

enhancing the wellbeing of communities, 

supporting the protection of the natural 

and cultural environment, recognizing 

product quality and tourist satisfaction, 

and ensuring that tourism is developed 

in a way which is ecological, economic and 

socially sustainable, adequate management 

and monitoring must be established, 

following the basic principles of 

sustainable use of resources. NAM 

Member States have been at the forefront 

at implementing the principles outlined in 

major international frameworks related to 

sustainable tourism such as the decision 

7/3 on tourism and sustainable development 

adopted at the 7th session of Commission 

for Sustainable Development in 1999, 

Quebec Declaration within the framework 

of the International Year of Ecotourism 

2002implemented by the Commission on 

Sustainable Development, International 

Guidelines for Biological Diversity and 

Tourism Development” in 2004, and the 

Marrakesh Task Force Sustainable 

Tourism, established in 2006, which is 

encouraging the implementation of 

actions that promote sustainable tourism 

through the development of support 

tools and presenting existing initiatives. 

NAM has also welcomed the adoption by 

the General Assembly of Resolution A/ 

RES/69/233 entitled “Promotion sustainable 

tourism, which recognizes that sustainable 

tourism, including ecotourism, represents 

an important driver of sustainable 

economic growth and decent job creation, 

that it can have a positive impact on income 

generation and education, and thus on the 

fight against poverty and hunger, and that 

it can contribute directly to achieving the 

internationally agreed development goals, 

including the Millennium Development 

Goals. The resolution encourages 

Governments at all levels to use sustainable 

tourism, including ecotourism, as a tool to 

support poverty eradication, 

environmental protection and/or 

conservation and the sustainable use of 

biodiversity and to base tourism 

components on clear evidence of market 

demand and on a sound economic and 

environmental foundation. 

A number of NAM Member States have 

initiated measures for promoting 

sustainable development. In Seychelles, 

where tourism is a major source of income, 

a number of policies have been designed 

dividing our attention elsewhere. We need 

to move away from the distractions that 

surround us and take us away from 

achieving of what we are really capable of. 

We get so consumed in what is happening 

in the world around us that we never 

completely fathom ourselves. 

Deriving your thoughts and following your 

dreams based on other’s opinions and 

perspectives is never going to help you 

achieve anything to your full potential. It 

is about transforming our “today” that can 

shape our “future”. Start changing your 

present and everyone else will see your 

reformed future. Perseverance demands 

deliberate determination knowing the rights 

and wrongs, ups and downs. It demands 

the belief that God has a plan for us and he 

can never fail in his sight. 

Choices we make can result in our salvation 

or damnation, it can make us or destroy us 

but if we pursue the path of perseverance 

accompanied by inner peace, it can help 

us achieve our goals. “When the going 

gets tough, the tough get going”, the 

tough only attains his or her goal with 

continuing on the path of achieving it. 

When the things are tough, we have to 

spiritually persevere towards our goals by 

working in putting thorough confidence 

in ourselves and in God. There has to be 

a constant effort to accomplish something 

notwithstanding problems, disappointment 

and opposition. The key is never to give 

up. 

in order to promote sustainable tourism. In 

recent years, the country has been a 

pioneer in the concept of a ‘blue economy” 

seeking to harness locally available marine, 

land and other resources in a responsible, 

sustainable and connected manner as a 

mainstay of long-term development. As 

well as having a long-established and 

robust legal framework for environmental 

protection and conservation, Seychelles 

has embarked on a project to develop a 

comprehensive marine spatial plan, 

whereby it defines the economic and 

conservation activities to be developed 

throughout our maritime zones, which 

includes a vast exclusive economic zone 

(EEZ) and areas of continental shelf 

beyond the EEZ. In India, a Sustainable 

Tourism Criteria for India has been set 

which entails the implementation of a longterm 

sustainability management system which 

considers environmental, sociocultural, 

quality, health and safety issue. The Criteria 

aims at maximising benefits to the 

environment and minimise negative impacts. 

Non-Aligned Movement has emphasised the 

strategic role of sustainable tourism in socioeconomic 

development of the South and 

expressed their wish to have a common 

approach to boost cooperation in tourism 

strategy and promoting sustainable tourism 

in Member States. 

(in arrangement with 

News from Non-Aligned World) 

www.iins.org 



V 

Technology & Health 

♦ By Smt. Maneka 

Sanjay Gandhi 

@ManekaGandhiBJP 


If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone 

would be vegetarian 

eganism finally has meat eating on the 

run in the United Kingdom. Not only 

are the ad campaigns, all over metro 

stations, really big and powerful showing 

what happens in slaughterhouses, but 

people are actually listening to them and 

making a switch. So much so thatThe 

Independent newspaper has just revealed 

(http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ 

save-veganism-abattoirs-animal-crueltyterrorism-vigils-animal-welfarea7579251.html) 

that a meeting was called 

by the Association of Independent Meat 

Suppliers and the National Pig Association 

with the official National Counter Terrorism 

Police Operations Centre team to find out 

how they could stop peaceful vegans from 

holding candlelight vigils outside 

slaughterhouses, to show love and 

compassion to pigs, cows and chickens in 

their final moments and to raise awareness 

of the cruelty we inflict upon them. 

Not only should every slaughterhouse 

have a CCTV, any citizen should be allowed 

in. That way the enormous cruelty that 

 

 

 

 

 

happens to animals – apart from dragging 

buffaloes and calves off overloaded trucks 

by their tails, or throwing them off with 

one leg, or wing as in chickens, dragging 

them across the floor, hanging them upside 

down, slitting their throats to catch the 

blood, pouring boiling water on them while 

alive to loosen their skins etc. – there is 

the gratuitous cruelty of slaughterhouse 

workers amusing themselves at work. Live 

chickens are used as footballs, pigs are 

stabbed repeatedly as target practice with 

knives, competitions take place on novel 

ways to kill. 

The Mayor of North Delhi and Gauri 

Maulekhi of PFA went to the Delhi 

Ghazipur slaughterhouse on a surprise 

inspection last month. Apart from finding 

no vets there (they get their haftas sitting 

at home) they found buffaloes being hit 

many times over by laughing butchers with 

live electric wires. The animal collapsed 

repeatedly. When it got to its feet again, 

they did it again. 

They took bets on how many times an 

animal could sustain electric hits before it 

dissolved into a trembling conscious mass 

on the floor. Then they slit its throat – in 

full view of a hundred other buffaloes and 

their children. One herd of goats had a little 

 

 

 

kid who ran for her life. She was chased by 

ten shouting men with heavy sticks, and 

who would have crushed her to a pulp had 

Gauri not caught her. She is now in my 

house. Gauri took a video of the 

slaughterhouse and was nearly lynched by 

hundreds of resentful butchers and the 

owner’s manager (Allana and Co) who 

knew what they were doing is so wrong 

but what-the-hell. 

I once did a survey of the animals being 

killed. We found 78% of all chickens had 

broken legs and wings at least three days 

before being slaughtered; 60% of all large 

animals had shattered limbs and 45% were 

diseased. Forget the terrible pain they were 

in, by law none of them should be killed as 

they were gangrenous and the meat 

dangerous for humans. 

Instead of me saying anything else, let me 

quote the rest of the Independent article : 

“To regard Save vigils as terrorism is 

genuinely absurd: a panicked, guilty 

response from the planet’s most brutal 

industry. Our counter-terrorism experts 

should be concentrating their efforts on 

genuine threats against British public 

safety, not a bunch of vegan campaigners 

who only wish to expose the reality of a 

commercial sector that the majority of its 

consumers remain in the dark about. 

But although Save protestors are not 

terrorists, perhaps abattoir bosses have 

good reason to fear their work. 

The meat industry is vulnerable when 

consumers learn the reality of how it 

operates; when they look directly at the 

faces of the animals it condemns to short, 

torturous lives and ferocious deaths. 

Protestors share videos from the vigils on 

social media, offering that connection to 

the general public. This makes an industry 

that has poured so much money, time and 

desperation into keeping consumers’ eyes 

shut feeling nervous. 

According to latest estimates, 542,000 Brits 

are now vegans, up from 150,000 in 2006 – 

a 350 per cent increase in just over a 

decade. Official supermarket revenue 

statistics for 2016 showed the biggest 

losers were meat and dairy, while the 

biggest gains came for dairy-free products. 


Overall sales of plant-based products are 

up 1,500 per cent. Big food and hospitality 

brands, from Harvester and Wetherspoons 

to Pret A Manger and Sainsbury’s, are 

launching successful vegan ranges. Last 

month, Sainsbury’s reported that sales of 

its new own-brand vegan cheeses were 300 

per cent greater than it had anticipated. 

Activists are exposing the truth about the 

meat on your plate: that piglets who grow 

too slowly are killed by being slammed 

headfirst onto concrete floors, a standard 

industry practice called “thumping”; that 

in many chicken slaughterhouses workers 

routinely rip the heads off live birds; that 

pigs scream in gas chambers, or as they 

are boiled alive; that cattle sometimes 

experience having their legs sawn off while 

they are still conscious. I’ve nothing but 

respect for Save as they rattle and expose 

those complicit in the meat industry. They 

are not terrorists. 

It’s often said that we accuse others of what 

we secretly know we are doing ourselves. 

So as abattoir workers toss and turn at 

night, perhaps they might ask themselves, 

who is really doing the terrorising?” 

Why are you eating meat in India when 

you have at least 50,000 + options of 

amazing food which are better for you, 

better for animals and better for the planet. 

Each one of us has a belief that we are in 

our hearts good people. Do good people 

allow so much pain to be caused in beings 

that are exactly like you in every way, only 

kinder and smarter? 

Sir Paul McCartney once said “If 

slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone 

would be vegetarian.” 

Are you going to wait for the glass walls 

to show you what is happening, or will you 

go with your conscience which tells you 

what you are doing is wrong? 

To join the animal welfare movement 

contact gandhim@nic.in, 

www.peopleforanimalsindia.org 



11 

Entertainment & Lifestyle 

Blake Lively to 

lead film from 'Big 

Little Lies' author 

B 

lake Lively is set to star in an 

adaptation of the best-seller "The 

Husband's Secret," from "Big Little Lies" 

author Liane Moriarty. CBS Films said that 

Lively will play Cecilia Fitzpatrick in the film 

and also executive produce. 

The character is a model wife and mother 

who discovers an unopened letter from her 

husband that says to open only in the case 

of his death. The curiosity and eventual 

revelation sends her life into a spiral. 

Moriarty's books are becoming a fixture 

in Hollywood. Her book "Big Little Lies" 

was adapted into a popular HBO 

miniseries with Reese Witherspoon, Laura 

Dern and Nicole Kidman that ended its 

run recently. The prolific Australian 

author also has a number of books being 

optioned for big and small screen 

adaptations. 


Actor Roger Moore passes 

away at 89 

 

 

 

F 





ormer James Bond star Sir Roger 

Moore died in Switzerland at the age 

of 89 after a short battle with cancer, his 

family announced. 

'Dangal' becomes China's biggest 

non-Hollywood foreign film 

T 

he Aamir Khan film "Dangal," about 

an Indian man training his daughters 

to become wrestlers, has become China's 

biggest-grossing non-Hollywood foreign 

movie. 

The Indian film, whose name translates as 

"Let's Wrestle, Dad," was released in China 

on May 5. By 23rd May, it had pulled in 

806 million yuan ($117 million) in mainland 

China, according to data from EntGroup, a 

leading entertainment consultancy. 

The previous top-performing non- 

Hollywood foreign film was the 2016 "Your 

Name," a Japanese fantasy drama. It made 

577 million yuan ($84 million) at the Chinese 

box office. Media and online commentary 


has said "Dangal," which is based on a true 

story, impressed audiences with its 

message of giving girls opportunities in a 

male-centric society, and has prompted 

discussions over how strict parents should 

or should not be when raising their 

children. 

Actor and producer Khan had already built 

up a following in China following the 

success of his previous films "3 Idiots" and 

"PK." 

The Bollywood star has garnered 640,000 

followers on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo 

since opening an account in early April. 



London premiere for 

'The Mummy' 

scrapped after attack 

U 

niversal Pictures has scrapped plans 

for the London premiere of Tom 

Cruise's "The Mummy," the latest big, glitzy 

event canceled following the terror attack 

in England. In a statement, the studio says 

it was "devastated" by the attack's at an 

Ariana Grande concert in Manchester: "Out 

of respect to those affected by this tragedy 

we have decided not to move forward with 

the London premiere." That move comes a 

day after Warner Bros. scrapped its 

London premiere of "Wonder Woman" on 

May 31. Stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine and 

Robin Wright had been scheduled to walk 

a red carpet. 

Bands like Blondie and Take That canceled 

shows in the immediate aftermath of the 

bombing, and Netflix scrapped a few 

screenings. Grande's concerts through June 

5 have been canceled. 



 

 

 

“It is with a heavy heart that we must 

announce our loving father, Sir Roger 

Moore, has passed away today in 

Switzerland after a short but brave battle 

with cancer,” his three children announced 

in a statement on the Twitter account. 

Roger Moore was born in England, where 

he began acting in bit parts and then spent 

three terms at the Royal Academy of 

Dramatic Arts. 

He moved to the United States in 1953. He 

made his mark in the TV western Maverick, 

where he replaced James Garner in 1959. 

Even more successful was his smooth 

portrayal of the mysterious and lovable 

thief Simon Templar in the British TV series 

The Saint (1962-69) 

Moore took over the role of Bond from 

Sean Connery in 1972, and made his first 

appearance as 007 in Live and Let Die 

(1973). He went on to portray the spy in six 

more films. Appointed a UNICEF Goodwill 

Ambassador in 1991, Moore was knighted 

by Queen Elizabeth II in 2003 for “services 

to charity”. 


In 2008, the French government appointed 

Moore a Commander of the Ordre des Arts 

et des Lettres. His 12 years as James Bond, 

the British agent with a voracious appetite 

for danger and sex, made Moore a 

millionaire as well as a heartthrob the world 

over. 

Sir Roger was the longest-serving actor to 

play the womanising MI6 agent, having 

portrayed 007 in seven films. In 2004, 

Moore was voted ‘Best Bond’ in an 

Academy Awards poll, and he won with 

62% of votes in another poll in 2008. In 

1987 he hosted Happy Anniversary 007: 

25 Years of James Bond. 

He held the title for a total of 14 years, 

from 1972 - when he was officially 

confirmed as 007 - to 1986, when his 

successor Timothy Dalton was formally 

announced. 

 

 

 

 

 



Sports 

 

 

 

M 




umbai Indians (MI) won the tenth 

edition of the Indian Premier League 

(IPL) in a thrilling final defeating Rising 

Pune Supergiant (RPS) by 1 run in a thrilling 

final and lifted their third trophy in 10 

editions. The thrilling contest was a perfect 

finale to yet another successful season of 

undoubtedly the biggest and the most 

followed T20 league in world cricket today. 

New Delhi Times reviews the performances 

of the eight teams in IPL 10. 

Mumbai Indians (Champions) : Mumbai 

Indians were the deserving winners of IPL 

10 after being the best side during the 

league phase. The biggest strength of 

Mumbai Indians was their bowling attack 

comprising of the pace trio of Lasith 

Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Jasprit Bumrah, 

who performed magnificently throughout 

the tournament, reserving their best for the 

Review of IPL 2017 

final. McClenaghan too was fantastic in the 

league phase. They received great support 

from Karn Sharman and Krunal Pandya and 

this made the MI bowling line up the 

strongest in the tournament. In the batting 

department, Parthiv Patel, Rohit Sharma, 

Keiron Pollard, Nitish Rana, and Krunal 

Pandya scored runs at crucial times. 

Perhaps the biggest strength of MI was 

they were not reliant on any individual to 

perform. This was visible in the final when 

MI was 7/79 in the final and Pandya scored 


47 from 38 balls to lead them to a total which 

ultimately proved to be match winning. 

Rising Pune Supergiant (Runners Up): 

RPS had a great IPL season but faltered at 

the last hurdle. Steven Smith, MS Dhoni 

and Rahul Tripathi were the mainstays of 

RPS batting while in the bowling department 

Jaydev Unadkat and Washington Sunder 

were a revelation. Imran Tahir too picked 

wickets at crucial times. RPS had splashed 

out a lot of money on Ben Stokes and he 

did not disappoint scoring crucial runs and 

picking critical wickets. Stokes century 

Manchester United beat Ajax to 

win Europa League 

 

 

 

M 




anchester United were crowned 

champions of 2016-17 Europa League 

as they defeated Ajax 2-0 in the final 

played in Stockholm. By virtue of this title, 

victory, Manchester United also qualified 

for the group stages in the next season of 

the UEFA Champions League. 

Paul Pogba gave Manchester United the 

lead in the 18th minutes, scoring off 

Davinson Sánchez’s deflected shot. 

Manchester United went into the halftime 

with a 1-0 lead. In the second half, Henrikh 

Mkhitaryan flicked a corner by Chris 

Smalling to double United’s lead. This was 

Manchester United’s second major trophy 

of the season under Jose Mourinho. 


United also won the English League Cup 

in February. 

A minute’s silence was observed before the 

final in memory to victims of the bombing 

in Manchester which occurred two days 

before the final. 

against Gujarat Lions in the league phases 

will be remembered as one of the greatest 

IPL innings of all times. Perhaps, if Stokes 

was available in the final; the script might 

have been different. Overall, RPS pulled 

much above what was expected of them 

before IPL started. 

Kolkata Knight Riders (Lost in qualifier): 

KKR started the season brilliantly and were 

consistent in the league giving MI a stiff 

challenge for the top spot during the phase. 

Without Andre Russell, KKR found their 

power hitter in first Chris Lynn, and then 

after his injury in Sunil Narine, who was 

mighty impressive in the power plays. 

Uthappa, Gambhir and Manish Pandey 

lend solidity to the batting line up. 

However, the absence of Russell and the 

indifferent form of Yusuf Pathan meant that 

KKR were devoid of an impact hitter in the 

late middle order. This was felt most in their 

qualifier against Mumbai Indians. Their 

spin trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Narine, and 

Piyush Chawla was impressive. Woakes 

and Coulter Nile impressed among fast 

bowlers. Injuries to key players like Manish 

Pandey and Lynn proved detrimental to 

KKR’s hope. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad (lost in eliminator): 

Sunrisers Hyderabad, the champions of IPL 

2016, played good cricket to finish in the 

top 4 of the IPL. Their loss in the eliminator 

to KKR in a rain affected contest was rather 

unfortunate.SRH had the leading run 

scorer and the leading wicket taker in the 

IPL 10 in the form of David Warner and 

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar respectively. 

Dhawan was the other mainstay in SRH 

batting, while the Afghan spinner Rashid 

Khan had a terrific IPL season. However, 

over-reliance of SRH on these 4 players 

proved to be their undoing. 

King XI Punjab (5th): Inconsistency was 

the biggest bane of KXIP. The team won 

crucial games in the latter part of the season 

to stay in a playoff hunt but in their last 


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T 

game against RPS, which was virtually a 

knock out contest to enter the playoffs, 

KXIP folded for just 73, their lowest ever 

total. Hashim Amla was the standout 

performer for KXIP scoring 2 centuries. 

Saha and Maxwell were good in patches. 

The biggest disappointment was David 

Miller who scored just 83 runs in five 

matches. In the bowling department, fast 

bowlers Sandeep Sharma and Mohit 

Sharma impressed but the lack of a quality 

spinner hurt their chances. 

Delhi Daredevils (6th): Like KXIP, Delhi 

Daredevils were inconsistent and in a 

second successive season, their tendency 

of tampering with a winning XI backfired. 

The decision to give the captaincy to Karun 

Nair did not pay off either. The positives 

for Delhi from this tournament was the form 

of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Sanju 

Samson. Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada and 

Pat Cummins performed well. Angelo 

Matthews, Carlos Braithwaite and Marlon 

Samuels were major disappointments 

Gujarat Lions (7th): Gujarat Lions had a 

disappointing season to say the least. In 

batting department, the team looked over 

reliant on Suresh Raina and McCullum, 

while their bowling did not look 

penetrative. Ishan Kishan shone with the 

bat in a few matches. Overall, Gujarat Lions 

moments of brilliance were sparse as they 

never won more than one match in a row. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (8th): RCB 

proved to be a flop show of IPL 10. Their 

batting line up of Kohli, Gayle, and De 

Villiers looked the strongest on paper 

before the IPL started, but an indifferent 

tournament for all three and the failure of 

Jadhav, Binny and Watson meant that RCB 

struggled throughout. Their low point 

came when they were bowled out for 49 

by KKR, the lowest ever IPL score. Their 

bowling looked weak too with Pawan 

Negi and Badree impressing in patches 

only. 

Azarenka aims to come 

back in time for Wimbledon 

wo-time Australian Open champion 

Viktoria Azarenka says she is 

planning to return to competition before 

Wimbledon. Azarenka, who was ranked No. 

1 for seven months in 2012 and 2013, went 

on a break last July to have her first child. 

She had previously 

been targeting a return 

at the July 31-Aug. 6 

Bank of the West 

Classic in California. 

In a statement on 

Twitter, the Belarusian 

says "my training has 

been progressing well 

and I feel ready to start 

competing," adding 

that she plans "to play 

one of the grass court 

events prior to Wimbledon." Wimbledon 

starts July 3. Azarenka won the 

Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, and 

has twice reached the Wimbledon 

semifinals.

29 may - 4 june 2017-min

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