Yankee-stani
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- Aug 22, 2018
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- business with John Bolton
- Afghanistan is another area that Indian policy makers’ views and Bolton’s seemed aligned
NEW DELHI: It is unsure how many friends John Bolton made in his 18-month-long tenure as US National Security Advisor, but India is one of the countries sorry to see him go.
A quick internet search shows “hawkish" and “abrasive" are the most common adjectives used to describe the 70-year-old Bolton. Indeed, India did get a taste of Bolton’s “hawkishness" when, as the US ambassador to the UN (August 2005 to December 2006), Bolton joined hands with his Chinese counterpart to oppose India’s bid for permanent membership in the UN Security Council. Bolton was also sceptical about the India-US nuclear deal at one point, according to news reports.
But during his term as US National Security Advisor (NSA), India found that it could do business with him. Media reports say that Bolton and Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval got along “quite well" during Bolton’s term in office.
issues by the Indian side said that the two “vowed to work together to ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a safe haven for JeM (Jaish e Mohammed) and terrorist groups that target India, the US and others in the region."
“They resolved to hold Pakistan to account for its obligations under UN resolutions and to remove all obstacles to designating JeM leader Masood Azhar as a global terrorist under the UN Security Council," it added.
It was mainly due to US and French support that India managed to get Azhar blacklisted under UN Security Council norms in May. There can be speculation as to how much of this support was due to Trump’s views on Pakistan and how much of it can be attributed to Bolton, but the view among Indian officials in New Delhi is that the “this (Trump) administration has walked the talk on Pakistan and its support for terrorism" – that is, the backing the Trump administration has given India on the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistan has been much stronger than previously.
Afghanistan is another area that Indian policy makers’ views and Bolton’s seemed aligned. Reports emanating from Washington since Tuesday suggest that Bolton was against a deal with the Taliban, which put him at odds with his president. The former NSA was reportedly in favour of a tougher military response towards the Taliban and this difference of views was a key reason for Trump firing him.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.li...-will-miss-john-bolton/amp-1568262594915.html
