[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 82 (Wednesday, June 13, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1083-E1084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INDIA PURSUES MISSILE DEFENSE IN IS DRIVE FOR HEGEMONY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 13, 2001

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, on June 6, the French news 
agency, Agence France Presse, reported that Russia offered to provide 
an anti-missile system to India, which Indian ``defense expert'' Uday 
Bhaksur called a ``desirable development.'' This offer comes from the 
same Russian government that has told us that we cannot build a missile 
defense system because of the ABM treaty. It is ironic that Russia is 
vigorously opposing our missile defense efforts while providing an 
anti-missile system to a country that has a longstanding tradition of 
opposing America on a variety of issues and in a variety of foreign 
policy forum.
  For example, India, a country which supported the former Soviet 
Union's invasion of Afghanistan, recently voted with China to table a 
U.S. resolution at the United Nations against Chinese human-rights 
violations. India later voted to remove America from the U.N. Human 
Rights Commission. In fact, India votes against the United States at 
the U.N. more often than any country except Cuba. We should not forget 
that in May 1999, the Indian Express reported that Defense Minister 
George Fernandes convened and led a meeting with the Ambassadors from 
Red China, Cuba, Russia, Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Libya. According to this 
article, the aim of this meeting was to set up a security alliance ``to 
stop the United States.''
  According to the Council of Khalistan, India has murdered over 
250,000 Sikhs since June 1984 when it attacked the Golden temple, the 
Sikh religion's holiest shrine. According to a recent report from the 
Movement Against State Repression, India admitted to holding over 
52,000 Sikh political prisoners without charge or trial. Just recently, 
five Indian troops were overwhelmed when they were trying to set fire 
to a Gurdwara and some Sikh homes in Kashmir to set Sikhs and Muslims 
against each other. Both Sikh and Muslim residents of the village came 
out to stop the troops from burning down the houses and the Gurdwara. 
Two reports accuse the Indian government of killing 35 Sikhs in Chithi 
Singhpora in March 2000. By some calculations, India has also killed 
more than 75,000 Muslims in Kashmir. Other reports indicate that the 
Indian government has killed tens of thousands of Dalit 
``untouchables,`` Assamese, Tamils, Manipuris, and other minorities.
  Since Christmas 1998, India has pursued a policy of terror against 
Christians. A missionary named Graham Staines, who was running a 
program to help treat leprosy, was burned to death in his jeep, along 
with his two sons, ages eight to ten, while the killers surrounded the 
jeep and chanted ``Victory to Hannuman,'' a Hindu god. This wave of 
terror has been characterized by church burnings,

[[Page E1084]]

the murder of priests, the rape of nuns (supporters of the RSS, the 
parent organization of the ruling BJP described these murders as 
``patriotic''), attacks on prayer halls, and attacks on Christian 
schools. Reports indicate that over 200,000 Christians have been killed 
by the Indian government since 1947.
  Mr. Speaker, America should not support this military provocation and 
human-rights abuse. We should stop all our aid to India until the human 
rights violations have ceased. We should also support the fundamental 
right of all peoples to self-determination. Whether it is the Sikhs of 
Khalistan, the Kashmiris in Indian-occupied Kashmir, or the people of 
Nagalim, all peoples and all nations should have the right to govern 
themselves. States which rule through the force of violence are 
destined to collapse. In the case of India, it is better that this 
happens peacefully like the Soviet breakup. We do not want another 
Yugoslavia in South Asia. And when all the people and nations of South 
Asia have achieved freedom, our help will bring us new allies in that 
troubled region.
  Mr. Speaker, I would like to place the Agence France Presse article 
into the Record for the information of my colleagues.

             [From the Agence France Presse, June 6, 2001]

           Indian Expert Welcomes Russia's Anti-missile Offer

       New Delhi, June 6 (AFP).--Russia's offer to develop a 
     national missile defence system for India is a ``desirable 
     development'', an Indian defence expert said Wednesday.
       ``India should definitely says, `We would like more 
     details' It is a very desirable development,'' Institute of 
     Defence Studies and Analysis deputy director Uday Bhaskar 
     told AFP.
       ``This gives a sense of the direction that Indo-Russian 
     strategic cooperation is likely to take,'' he added.
       Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, who is holding 
     talks with Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh in Moscow, 
     unexpectedly announced Wednesday that Russia would shortly 
     make a full proposal on the system. Indian defence ministry 
     officials in New Delhi declined to comment.
       ``The political intent now to pursue defence or even 
     missile defences of deterrence is now becoming more palpable 
     and evident,'' Bhaskar said.
       U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visited 
     India last month to talk to leaders about the U.S. plan to 
     build a missile defence shield, which India has partially 
     supported.
       Moscow has traditionally enjoyed warm ties with India, 
     which is currently engaged in a nuclear arms race with arch-
     rival Pakistan.
       However, Russia has expressed concern about India's initial 
     warm response to the U.S. missile defense shield.
       Bhaskar said India was correct to hold discussions with 
     other world powers on the issue. ``If India is talking to the 
     Americans, then they should also talk to the others,'' 
     Bhaskar said. Klebanov also said India and Russia would 
     cooperate on the development ``of the latest type of 
     submarine''. The two sides also agreed to jointly develop an 
     II-214 military cargo plane.

     

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