Diego Garcia: Mate you seem to know things about the Indian “annexation” wish-list that we haven’t even heard of!!! You must, I mean MUST have access to some great secret files archive or you believe everything you read on the internet. Yes, there are internet sites that claim they have invented a method that enables pigs to Fly!!! And no, I don’t mean in an aeroplane.
Goa: I think you have long left your comfort zone on this one when you compare it to Tibet. India liberated Goa from a foreign power where the administration did not include people who were “Goanese”, then granted the people a democratic system which continues to flourish. In Tibet, China replaced the existing, home-grown leadership system with one from the outside - the Chinese one. In fact, in that case, they didn’t liberate the people but subjugated them. That subjugation continues today with no real representative elections and frequent extra-judicial and judicial killings and executions.
So please....I respect your views on a wide range of subjects as many others do on the forum here but I recommend that you either research your claims better in order to substantiate them or stay away from making claims when you cannot.
Cheers!
I have no clue whether India has a Freedom of Information Act, but I suspect things like this could eventually be declassified in the fullness of time, if only because future bureaucrats need to give the eggheads one last look before the documents are thrown into the trash.
After a bit of looking, I found the mention of the operation on World Affairs Board. The poster is a former Indian officer whose father was involved in the prep work for the operation. He speculates that the Soviet Navy would have run interference:
During Indira Gandhi's time, we had an airborne operation half way towards the island to capture it, but was called back. But better sense prevaled and an incident against the US was avoided.These are one of those "for your eyes only" type things. All I know is that one phase was already underway when they were called back. My fathers unit (a field ambulance unit), was packed and on the tarmac waiting for their turn to take off.It was one of those cold war era incidents, as Indo-US relations were not cordial. It would have been a bde level op as the air lift capability of IAF during that time was'nt beyond bde level, including the supporting arms, and rear echlons.
But I guess such an operation would have been planned in conjunction with Soviet naval support. India really did'nt have the capability to take on a superpower so far away from home on its own. I'm just guessing, as no one really talks about an aborted baby. We could have managed a "Falklands op" but not against a superpower with the worlds largest and most powerful navy.
Here they are a Corps asset. Sir, you have an Engr bn to support a Bde, while we have a Engr bn for a div. They would have been given whole fd amb bn, considering likely cas rate and distance from home base.
Sir, as I keep saying, it would have been a Cold war era thing. Russians wanting to deny the control of the Indian Ocean to the US, who would help them? India. Lets just be happy that it was aborted...and not carried through.
As to Goa, from a non-Indian perspective, it comes across as a mild version of what Imperial Japan did in Asia. In a manner of speaking, Imperial Japan "liberated" its Asian neighbors from the European powers and that was why so many Indian luminaries were in Japan's pocket during and after WWII, when the war crimes trials were under way. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that India is some kind of moral pariah for conquering Goa. Every country in the world was built on armed conquest at some point in its history. What I am pointing out is merely that India's claim to being a non-aggressive or -expansionist country is false.
By the way, I found this interesting little excerpt from an Indian web commentator:
http://sameerkak.sulekha.com/blog/post/2011/12/diego-garcia-why-it-is-a-deal-breaker.htm
(Quote)
Though it is not the main issue at stake (at least, for this nation and for this writer), the strategic dimension to this disput cannot be ignored either. India, over the years, has come to regard itself as the regional superpower in the entire South Asian region, with interests ranging from the Karzai setup in Afghanistan to fighting pirates off the coast of Yemen to stemming the flow of Black Money from (offshore accounts in) Mauritius. India’s status as a regional superpower has, more or less, come to be accepted by the other powers involved, be they China or Sri Lanka or even Pakistan. It is in this light that India’s (justified) claim for permanent membership of the security council must be viewed, and it is also in this light that the presence of an alien military establishment in Diego Garcia has simply become intolerable.
Part VI - A Festering Sore
The problem with this issue - as with other issues of this nature - is that if they are left unresolved, they may turn into open sores (on the body politic of Indo American relationship). This issue first came into public consciousness in 1974 / 75, when Indira Gandhi was at the pinnacle of power, and was the unchallenged ruler of this nation. There is no reason why this issue should not have been sorted out by now, almost four decades later, given a little goodwill even if the political will was lacking... Diego Garcia must be regarded as a burden of history; and there is no reason why this burden should be passed onto our children (and grandchildren). Surely, they are carrying enough burdens already, there is no reason we should add to the load their (immature) shoulders already have to bear.
Part VII - War is Unthinkable!
Needless to say, war is unthinkable! No doubt, it would be a simple matter to just “nuke” Diego Garcia, and send it to the bottom of the Indian Ocean forever... but, no right minded person would even contemplate such a (reckless) course of action. Pointless to add, we have all been there before - remember “Pearl Harbour” anyone?! No doubt, India enjoys (unquestioned) military supremacy in the South Asian region, but its military strength could - and should - be leveraged in a more creative manner. Besides, there is a broad consensus emerging in this nation that economic / infrastructural development must be the need of the hour, and this nation needs to refrain from any (and all) military adventures till its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020 has been realised.
Here’s to hoping that his views are not representative of Indian thinking on territorial issues.