Former US Ambassador to India Robert D. Blackwill awarded Padma Bhushan

Blackwill service of high order got him the award. 

By Dileep Thekkethil

Former US Ambassador to India Robert D. Blackwill received the prestigious Padma Bhushan award from President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday for his distinguished service of high order.

The other U.S. personalities to receive the Padma awards this year but who were not present during the ceremony held on Tuesday are Avinash Dixit (Padma Vibhushan), Salman Amin Sal Khan (Padma Shri), and Ajaypal Singh Banga (Padma Shri).

The Padma awards are conferred by the Indian government to distinguished people in various disciplines and fields of activities.

Blackwill, a retired American diplomat and author, is a Senior Fellow at the Council of Foreign Relations. He served as US Ambassador to India during 2001–2003. A strong supporter of India, the former diplomat is also the recipient of the 2007 Bridge-Builder Award for his role in transforming U.S.-India relations during his tenure.

After receiving the Padma awards, Blackwill on Tuesday said that the US policy towards Pakistan is a “dramatic example of the failure of American foreign policy”.

The comment of the former US ambassador to India comes in the wake of the ongoing visit of the US defence secretary Ashton Carter and the US going ahead with the F-15 deal with Pakistan justifying it saying that it would help Pakistan to counter terror operations.

Blackwill, during a short interaction organized by Carnegie India ahead of the launch of his latest book War by Other Means: Geoeconomics and Statecraft, said, “I am against the sale of F-16s by the US to Pakistan… I am bewildered by the US policy towards Pakistan. (Albert) Einstein said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. (The) US has been doing the same mistakes again and again, and expecting different results, in Pakistan.”

He added: “Every time a new administration in Washingtom comes to office, they get worried about Pakistan, which has a stockpile of nuclear weapons. The US Secretary of State then visits Pakistan and meets the top leadership. He is systematically lied to by Pakistan’s leadership, and this goes on for about two years. In the third year, he tells his colleagues at the (US) State Department that Pakistan’s leaders have been lying to him. Then they think about how to deal with the situation, and the elections come in and a new administration takes charge. The same thing is (then) repeated.”

Padma Awards is one of the highest civilian Awards of India and are conferred in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in various disciplines/ fields of activities, including- art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, and civil service.