Islamic radicals have repeatedly attacked India. For 50 years, India and Pakistan have been battling over Kashmir -- and in 1965, the two nations fought a full-scale war over the religiously divided region. In December 2001, Islamist gunmen attacked India's parliament building in New Delhi. Islamist radicals consider Kashmir to be one of the holiest of holy wars. They seek to derail any Indian and Pakistani diplomatic rapprochement. Launching attacks in India stymies any peaceful resolution.

Mumbai attracts attention in India. The city is wealthy. It's a media center and the headquarters of the Indian "Bollywood" movie industry. In the early 1990s, Mumbai suffered a series of bomb explosions that Indian government later blamed on criminal gangs. In 2003, a bomb killed 11 people on a train there. In August of that year, two car bombs killed 60.

In the last decade, India's economy has grown -- at times spectacularly. As the world's largest democracy, India serves as a political example to other developing nations who confront ethnic divisions, illiteracy and poverty.

Terrorists of all stripes despise democracy, for democracy means having to respect the interests of human beings who are political opponents. Rattling India seeds doubt in the fragile nation-states of the developing world.

But don't expect India to waver. New Delhi is already an ally in the War on Terror. In fact, Indians argue that the United States is the Johnny-come-lately to the war against Islamo-fascists.

In a public statement following the attacks, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed to "fight and defeat the evil designs of terrorists."

Believe him.

(Read the whole thing)

India is a strategic partner in more than just the GWOT. They can balance China.

Posted by Ryan S. on Wednesday, July 12, 2006 at 2:21 PM | Permalink |