Wednesday, September 5, 2012

12-09-05 US and India - the pot calling the kettle black...


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Manmohan Ineffectual, Presides Over Corrupt Government: U.S. Daily


Wednesday, 05 September 2012, 00:37 Hrs   
 
Washington: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been described as "a dithering, ineffectual bureaucrat presiding over a deeply corrupt government" by a leading U.S. daily that said his reputation was damaged by the "accusation that he looked the other way and remained silent as his cabinet colleagues filled their own pockets".

In an article "India's 'silent' prime minister becomes a tragic figure", the Washington Post said that Manmohan Singh helped set India on the path to modernity, prosperity and power, but critics say the soft-spoken 79-year-old is in "danger of going down in history as a failure".

"The architect of India's economic reforms, Singh was a major force behind his country's rapprochement with the United States and is a respected figure on the world stage.

"But the image of the scrupulously honourable, humble and intellectual technocrat has slowly given way to a completely different one: a dithering, ineffectual bureaucrat presiding over a deeply corrupt government," it said.

The daily said that for the past two weeks, everyday the Indian parliament has been adjourned as the opposition demands Singh's resignation over allegations of waste and corruption in the allocation of coal-mining concessions.

"The story of Singh's dramatic fall from grace in his second term in office and the slow but steady tarnishing of his reputation has played out in parallel with his country's decline on his watch.

"As India's economy has slowed and as its reputation for rampant corruption has reasserted itself, the idea that the country was on an inexorable road to becoming a global power has increasingly come into question," said the daily.

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