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World
The day after
The Wikileaks expose triggered a diplomatic quake whose aftershocks continue
As
the world was trying to recover after suffering a major economic jolt, WikiLeaks, a whistle-blower website, came out with over 2,50,000 secret US documents exposing the fading superpower in the eyes of the international community. Though the website’s Founder-Editor-in-Chief, Julian Assange, an Australian national, was arrested (now free on bail), this did not affect the release of the cables, sent to Washington DC by US diplomats posted in different capitals. The website revealed the lies and the designs of the US about Afghanistan and Iraq, the two countries it invaded along with its allies in the name of eliminating global terrorism. The Barack Obama administration continued with its policy of withdrawal from the Afghan theatre despite the Al-Qaida threat and the Taliban’s presence in large parts of the landlocked country remaining undiminished. The US public was sick of the administration’s policies because of the various problems faced in 2010 on the economic front. Their anger led to the Democratic Party’s disastrous performance in the US Congressional elections. The ruinous US policies affected the politics in the UK, too, owing to Britain’s open support for the US actions at the world stage, particularly in Iraq. The British public dumped the ruling Labour Party and voted for a coalition government headed by David Cameron. There are some other European countries, too, like Greece which have been hit hard by the global recession. At one time, the economic crisis threatened to paralyse the entire European Union. The global recession led to a situation in which the Western (read the US) drive against Iran for scrapping its controversial nuclear programme got weakened. As was understandable, the Iranians took the advantage of the circumstances and continued to move ahead towards realising their nuclear ambitions. On the other hand, North Korea surprised the world by launching a missile attack at a South Korean territory, believed to be aimed at diverting the attention of the domestic public from the communist regime’s failure to alleviate the people’s economic suffering.
India’s western neighbour, Pakistan, was hit by the worst floods in its history in which hundreds of people perished in the country’s tribal areas. The disaster exposed Pakistan’s inability to come to the rescue of the people in such trying circumstances. The leaks caused a quake in India also. But otherwise, 2010 highlighted the emergence of India as a major player at the world stage with visits to New Delhi by all five permanent members of the UN Security Council. The first such distinguished visitor was the new British Prime Minister, David Cameron, in July. His considerable interest in strengthening Indo-British relations showed how he viewed India’s growing economic, technological and military might. President Obama, who came in November with a large number of business leaders, highlighted the gains in terms of new jobs that would be created in the US after the agreements signed between India and America. December saw three high-profile visitors to New Delhi — French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in that order— signifying the new status of India.
In October, the UN General Assembly elected India, besides Germany, South Africa and Colombia, non-permanent member of the 15-nation Security Council. Significantly, India secured the highest number of votes — 187—- in the 192-member General Assembly, clearly reflecting the country’s growing stature in the comity of nations. The large support for India further strengthened its case for permanent membership of the Security Council. Except for China, which has been maintaining an ambivalent attitude, all the other permanent members —- the US, the UK, France and Russia —- have expressed their support for including India in the big league.
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