26th
May 2014 is a very important day in the annals of the Nation.... the day Narendra
Modi is to be sworn in as the Prime Minister of the Nation. His swearing-in could
well serve as a kick-off point for a new foreign policy regime for South Asia;
that is, if he desires to make a break with past precedents. By inviting the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) leaders to his swearing-in ceremony, Prime
Minister-designate Narendra Modi has sent out a powerful message on foreign
policy. Away, Mr. Modi faces the perils of the past — terror
groups for example, and some within the establishment in Pakistan who will
attempt to sabotage any plans for peace talks with an attack.
Way
back on this day in year 17 BC, Germanicus Julius Caesar, commonly known as
Germanicus, a member of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire
returned to Rome after avenging the defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg
Forest and retrieving the legion's eagles lost during the battle. As a
conquering hero; he celebrated triumph of his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti and
other German tribes west of the Elbe. In
1783, on this day, a Great Jubilee Day, was held in North Stratford, Connecticut, commemorated the end of fighting
in the American Revolutionary War. This celebration included feasting, prayer,
speeches, toasts, and two companies of the North Stratford militia performing manoeuvres
with cannon discharges and was one of
the first documented celebrations following the War for Independence and continued
as Decoration Day. In 1969 on this day, Apollo
10 returned to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components
needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing.
Reports
state that in a goodwill gesture, Pakistan on Sunday freed 151 Indian
fishermen, a day ahead of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to India to
attend Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony. Syed
Nazir Hussain, the superintendent of the Malir jail in Karachi, told PTI that
the Indian prisoners were released on written directives of the interior and
foreign ministries. “Most of these prisoners are poor Indian fishermen who were
arrested and brought here for trespassing into Pakistani territorial waters,”
he said. The freed prisoners were taken in an air-conditioned bus from Karachi
to Wagah border in Lahore from where they will be handed over to Indian
authorities.
We look
forward to lot of good things happening for the Nation.....
With
regards – S. Sampathkumar
25th
May 2014.