Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 26 February 2018 | Page 13

PM Janmabhoomi
W
hen Chinese pilgrim
Xua­nzang visited
Anandapura in the seve­nth
century, he noted it was
home to 10 Buddhist
monasteries housing around
100 monks. Vadnagar, as it is
now known, is a place of
some historical
significance. It’s
also the
birth­pl­ace of
PM Narendra
Modi. The
Gujarat
government
and the Centre are working
with a Rs 100 crore budget to
develop this town. This will
benefit the Hatkeshwar
temple, Sharmishtha lake,
Kirti Toran and Vadnagar
railway station, among
others. “We are dev­eloping a
heritage circuit
from Vadnagar to
the ­Modhera Sun
Temple and the
historical step well
in Patan,” said
Gujarat chief
secretary J.N. Singh.
A Fatal Push
I
n 2013, the Myanmar government gifted an
elephant named Myan Kumara to Sri L
­ anka,
where the species is sacred and protected, with
several Buddhist temples using elephants for
their annual pageants. However, this tusker’s
story turned dark earlier this month when
he fata­lly injured 77-year-old Bellanwila
Wimalarathana, a monk and vice-chancellor
of a state university, in his own temple near
Colo­mbo. The mahout stopped his charge
from goring the monk, but the doctors could
not save the injured monk, who died of his
wounds in hospital the following day.
The Border’s Nancy Drew
N
ancy, two-year-old
canine sleuth of the
BSF, proved her worth
when she helped find a
major stash of weapons
and ammo close to the
Zero Line at the Kassowal
border outpost. The reco­
vered materiel included
three AK-47s, two pistols,
six high-end grenades,
two magazines and 150
rounds of ammunition.
Gurdaspur Range DIG
Rajesh Sharma said
Nancy had been called up
after “suspicious move-
ment” was detected at
the border. She managed
to find the cache before
noon. “We will continue
the search as we expect
to find more arms,” said
Sharma. “Infiltrators may
have been abandoned the
consignment when chal-
lenged. We are not ruling
out more recoveries.”
Pak Outside US Orbit
W
hat was being predicted in several quarters over
the past months about the future of US-Pak
ties has now been confirmed by 17 leading intelligence
agencies in the US. They predict Pakistan will slip further
away from the American sphere of control in the days
ahead and pose a serious threat to US interests. Pakistan
will be “deploying new nuclear weapons capabilities”
and maintain “its ties to militants, restricting counter-­
terrorism cooperation” in addition to moving closer to
China, the agencies warned.
US National Intelligence director Daniel R. Coats made
these dire predictions in an annual report to the Senate
Committee underlining the worldwide threat assessment
of the US intelligence community, which includes the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) and the National Security Agency
(NSA). According to the report,
Islamabad-backed militant
Intelligence
groups will continue to take
agencies in the
advantage of their alleged safe
US predict
havens in ­Pakistan to “plan and
Pakistan will
conduct attacks in India and
slip further
Afghanistan, including against
US interests.”
away from
Pakistan’s perception of its
American
“eroding position relative to
control and
India, reinforced by endemic
pose a serious
economic weakness and do­
threat in the
mestic security issues, almost
days ahead.
certainly will e
­ xacerbate long-
held fears of isolation and drive
Islamabad’s pursuit of actions that run c ­ ounter to US
goals for the region,” the report stated.
In a brief assessment of Islamabad’s nuclear
programme, the agencies informed Congress that the
country continues to produce nuclear weapons and
develop new sea-based and air-launched cruise mis­
siles, besides longer-range ballistic missiles. “These
new types of nuclear weapons will i ­ ntroduce new risks
for e
­ scalation dynamics and security in the region,” the
report added.
On India-Pakistan tension, the agencies’ report
expects r ­ elations between the two hostile South Asian
neighbours to remain tense, with continued violence
along the Line of Control. The report warns of “the risk of
escalation if there is another high-profile terrorist attack
in India or an uptick in violence on the Line of Control”.
Leading newspapers in Pak­istan carried the news
prominently, indicating serious concern as the country’s
battered image in the US establishment has regularly
dominated the foreign policy debate there.
26 February 2018 Outlook 13