Hillary wants India, China to take steps against Syria

[Vibs]

As the U.S. mobilises international support against the authoritarian Syrian regime, the Obama Administration wants India and China, the two countries having major investment in Syria’s energy sector, to step up pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to curtail his government’s brutal crackdown on protests, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.

“We’ve issued more sanctions, tougher sanctions. We’re working with our European and other friends. But what we really need to do to put the pressure on Assad is to sanction the oil and gas industry, and we want to see Europe take more steps in that direction,” Ms. Clinton told the CBS evening news in an interview on Thursday.

“We want to see China take steps with us. We want to see India, because India and China have large energy investments inside of Syria. We want to see Russia cease selling arms to the Assad regime,” Ms. Clinton said.

This is for the first time that the US has gone public in asking India to take steps against the Syrian regime by imposing bilateral sanctions on it.

Ms. Clinton acknowledged that because of limited economic relations, the US has very little stake in it.

“We have such a small stake in what they produce and what they market. The real trick is to convince the Europeans and the Arabs and the Chinese and the Indians and others,” she said.

“We’re going to sanction, and we have been upping the sanctions. We’re going to continue to do so. But we want others to follow, because Syria was not one of our major economic partners. It wasn’t anybody that we had a particularly good relationship with before this all started, although we were open to improving the relationship if they showed that they were going to make changes. And obviously, that’s not in the cards right now,” she said.

Ms. Clinton said the Obama Administration has been very clear in saying that it the Assad regime has lost its legitimacy.

“I think we were among the very first to say it. We’ve sent a very clear message that he should be doing what is necessary to end the violence against his own people,” she said.

“But it’s important that it’s not just the American voice, and we want to make sure that those voices are coming from around the world.

And the Russians and the Chinese joined our presidential statement, after saying that they would never do anything to condemn the Assad regime,” she said.

“I come from the school that we want results, not rhetoric. And what we have done for the last several months is -- behind the scenes and in front of the cameras -- to build the pressure on Assad and the people around him,” she said.

“There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind where the United States stands. We’ve reached out to the opposition, we have been very proud of our ambassador, who has carried the message of our country and our values right into Hama, into the heart of the Syrian repression.

So I think we have done what is actually going to pay off rather than just rhetorically calling for him to go,” Ms. Clinton said.
The Hindu : News / International : Hillary wants India, China to take steps against Syria

 

[oct605032048]

I think China would like to help but we are too busy worrying the human right disaster in London where sits far more fancy shopping malls and football clubs than that desert country in the middle of nowhere.

 

[jdme]

As if India can afford such adventure...

 

[Vibs]

India and China were against Libya operation as it is. To expect them to take action against Syria is highly,highly optimistic

 

[Vibs]

UNSC western countries urge Syria to shape up or face further Council action
General 8/11/2011 12:51:00 PM

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 11 (KUNA) -- Western countries on the Security Council late Wednesday said if Syria does not comply with a Council demand last week to stop the killing of peaceful protesters, the Council must consider further action against Damascus.
British Charge d'Affaires Philip Parham told reporters following a Council closed-door meeting to discuss the situation in Syria "we need the Syrian leadership to heed the calls that have come now from the Security Council and from the region and from other parts of the international community." "And if they continue, nevertheless along their current path and they fail to heed those calls, then we believe the Council must look at taking further steps to keep up the pressure on the Syrian leadership to get things onto a better track and that kind of pressure will be consistent with, and complimentary to, the pressure we have now seen coming from the region and from other parts of the international community," the British official continued.
He said the Council agreed to a proposal by western nations on the Council - UK, France, Germany and Portugal - to invite the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pallay and the Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos to brief the Council next week about the humanitarian situation and "it's been agreed in principle that we will do that and the President of the Council (India) will be arranging that." He described to reporters a briefing on the latest developments in Syria delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco to the Council during a closed-door meeting as "depressing and chilling." He said Fernancez-Taranco's briefing stressed that gross human rights violations are the main feature of the current crisis in Syria, that there is no prospect of progress as long as the army and police continue their military operations against civilians, and that for the reform measures to gain credibility, the use of force and mass arrest must stop immediately.
"It's clear that the brutal military offensive by the Syrian government against its own people continues," Parham said, noting that some 2,000 civilians have been killed, 3,000 civilians have been forcibly disappeared, some 13,000 remain detained and tens of thousands have fled their homes and their land in Northern Syria in the face of the offensive. The Charge d'Affaires of France, Germany and Portugal, standing by his side, also spoke in his support.
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari later told reporters that the four European Charge d'Affaires were "misleading you" and wondered why the UK, which used the word "thugs" to describe the rioters in London, is objecting to Syria's use of the same term to describe the terrorist groups killing Syrian police.
Parham later commented on Jaafari's statement by saying "I leave you to judge who is misleading who." He also described Jaafari's comparison of the riots in London to those in Syria as "ludicrous." US Ambassador Susan Rice told the Council's closed-door meeting, according to a speech distributed by the US Mission, "we face a grave and growing threat to international peace and security in Syria today. The Assad government's crackdown has grown even bloodier in recent days, and anyone who still doubts the Syrian government's true character has only to look at the havoc and destruction it has unleashed in the streets of Hama and Deir al-Zour." In failing to comply with the Council's demand to immediately end the crackdown and fully comply with international law, she said, "Assad is not just ignoring the will of his own citizens. He is not just ignoring urgent calls to end the bloodshed from the Security Council, the UN Secretary-General, the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council, regional leaders from Turkey to Saudi Arabia, and religious leaders such as the head of al-Azhar. He is also ignoring the tide of history. All across the Middle East and North Africa, brave men and women are standing up for the rights that all of us have but not all of us can exercise. Regimes that meet peaceful and legitimate demands with tanks, guns, and clubs will themselves lose all legitimacy." Moreover, she added, the Assad government's policies of repression and deep reliance on Iran increasingly risk dangerous spillovers of sectarian and other tensions into neighboring nations. She noted that the US is "particularly concerned by the continued flow of arms to Syria. Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu said Friday that Turkey had intercepted a shipment of arms from Iran to Syria. We urge all states not to supply the Syrian government with the arms it will surely turn on its own citizens." She suggested that the "UN take further steps to help resolve this crisis, including perhaps sending a senior UN official to Damascus." Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called for reforms and dialogue in Syria.
"We think that the crucial thing for the international community is to make sure that the dialogue starts. One of the key issues is that we don't see response from the opposition to the proposals from Damascus for dialogue. This is a very important missing link to the situation," he told reporters.
He said Moscow is "in consultations with Damascus," noting that "What we're telling them is that they need to have serious reforms as soon as possible, even though we do realize that it takes time, especially in a dramatic situation like this, you simply cannot carry out reforms overnight." He said there are some "encouraging signs, some laws were adopted. Today I heard colleagues speak about assurances given to their representatives in Damascus that the constitution is going to be reviewed. So they are talking about very serious things, and they are proposing dialogue." He was referring to the high-level delegation, representing Council members India, Brazil and South Africa, who visited Damascus Wednesday in an attempt to defuse the Syrian crisis.
"This is the key thing. Without dialogue things cannot improve. We hope that Syria is going to be opening up as the situation improves, for the media, for UN agencies. That, of course, is something we would like to see." Asked if UN sanctions would be helpful, he said "no." (end) sj.nfm KUNA 111251 Aug 11NNNN

 

[ZhengHe]

the international community should resolve the conflict in london, britain 1st

 

[below_freezing]

China and India urge US to take action against British regime

 

[NiceGuy]

Will CHina help USA , so USA will have more free time for reconnaissance missions against China ?

 

[Vibs]

US pushes India, China to put sanctions on Syria
NEW DELHI: Pushing against an India-led initiative in the UN Security Council, the US has asked India and China to help put sanctions against Syria.

In an interview to CBS-News, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said, "We've issued more sanctions, tougher sanctions. We're working with our European and other friends. But what we really need to do to put the pressure on (Bashar al) Assad is to sanction the oil and gas industry, and we want to see Europe take more steps in that direction."

She added, "We want to see China take steps with us. We want to see India, because India and China have large energy investment inside of Syria. We want to see Russia cease selling arms to the Assad regime." Officials here said India's investments in Syria were minimal. India buys some crude from Syria, refines it and sells gasoline back to it. India also gets some fertilizers from Syria.

India sent one of its top diplomats, Dilip Sinha, to Damascus this week along with diplomats from Brazil and South Africa to push Syrian president Bashar al Assad to take some important steps towards political reform.

But though Assad promised elections in six months, nobody is quite sure whether the diplomatic space that India, China and other countries are trying to give him will hold.

Although China and Russia are currently the two P-5 members stalling US-Europe's push for sanctions against Syria, officials said in the global diplomatic field, given interdependencies and leverages that nations exercise, it's not clear whether this can be sustained. China and the US are bound together with too many bonds for China to cleave a path of its own. And India has too many common interests with US and Europe. As for Russia, exasperated Indian diplomats say you can no longer be sure of what the real Russian position is.

The US, as Clinton noted, has small stakes in Syria. "We have such a small stake in what they produce and what they market. The real trick is to convince the Europeans and the Arabs and the Chinese and the Indians and others," she said. "We're going to sanction, and we have been upping the sanctions. We're going to continue to do so. But we want others to follow, because Syria is not one of our major economic partners."

She added, "It wasn't anybody that we had a particularly good relationship with before this all started, although we were open to improving the relationship if they showed that they were going to make changes. And obviously, that's not on the cards right now."

The India-led diplomatic effort in the UN Security Council has not gone down well with the western countries who would like Assad to be given ultimatums. There are efforts to get the Europeans to stop buying oil and gas from Syria which would prove to be very costly to the Assad regime. This week and next will see the Security Council conduct two more hearings on Syria.

Indians are realistic about the chances of a quick resolution in Damascus -- the violence, according to observers, is likely to continue. Assad's future is precarious -- if he holds elections, he will definitely be voted out. If he amends Article 8 of the constitution to remove the exclusivity of the Baath party, then too he is likely to go.

But at the back of everyone's minds is the realization that Syria still remains a reasonably secular country. Although it is a totalitarian government, just like Saudi Arabia and others, there are many minorities, particularly Christians and Druze, who may be directly targeted once the Assad regime gives way. The removal of Assad will weaken Hezbollah and therefore Iran, which is exactly why the US is pushing against Assad. But while this could be a way of helping Israel in the short term, on the other hand, Indian officials say this could open the door to Sunni extremist groups, which would be more difficult for Israel.

The effect on two important countries in the region -- Iran and subsequently Israel -- may not be as Washington now sees it. As many diplomats see it, having Assad in power may well be the least "bad" option in Damascus.

 

[KKNDmx]

Why the double standard? Why not bomb and "liberate" the Syrian people? NATO did the same thing for the Libyan guys, does the Syrians people not worth the effort? or Has the price of the Missiles gone up?

 

[fd24]

Why dont americans just go and look after their own country where they have 1 in 6 on food stamps and increasing, unemployment 9.2% and rising going bankrupt. In any event who are they to dictate to other countries they are wasps bankrupt thieves trying to cling on to what power they got left

 

[Sinnerman108]

Once the lioness was coming back from her mom's house.
In the dark deep forest some one rapped the lioness.
The lion furious over this, called every animal to court .. and the next morning, ALL animals of the forest were running to get to court.
The crow, noticed the mouse ... twitching and churning it's moustache.

Perplexed, the crow asked how come the mouse felt relieved and satisfied.. in the aftermath of such a crime; when every animal would have to face the lion's wrath.

Don't you know.... I am a suspect too. the mouse replied. ( Indian euphoria ! )

Hillary wants India, China to take steps against Syria

 

[thebrownguy]

Once the lioness was coming back from her mom's house.
In the dark deep forest some one rapped the lioness.
The lion furious over this, called every animal to court .. and the next morning, ALL animals of the forest were running to get to court.
The crow, noticed the mouse ... twitching and churning it's moustache.

Perplexed, the crow asked how come the mouse felt relieved and satisfied.. in the aftermath of such a crime; when every animal would have to face the lion's wrath.

Don't you know.... I am a suspect too. the mouse replied. ( Indian euphoria ! )

Above statement - PAKISTANI OBSESSION

 

[Sanchez]

China's action of support would be to purchase devalueing US bonds. It's a huge contribution...

 

[Tshering22]

Why should we move "AGAINST" Syria when our UN representative Hardeep Singh Puri simply managed to secure a commitment from Assad without even raising the tone of his voice?

We have a saying in Hindi and it goes like this:

When you can extract butter with a straight finger, why curve it and struggle?

Same here. US has a blazing-guns policy, we have a simply straight-forward approach to get things done. And it as seen, usually works.