India Rejects NSA Leaker Snowden's Asylum Request

[Vikrant]

India has rejected NSA leaker Edward Snowden's request for political asylum, the External Affairs Ministry said Tuesday.

The Indian embassy in Moscow had received a request for asylum from Snowden, ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters.

He said India carefully examined the request and decided to turn it down.

The government has "concluded that we see no reason to accede to that request," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said India "has a very careful and restrictive policy on asylums."

"We have given asylums in the past but we are not an open house for asylums since we have a careful and objective policy," he said in Brunei, where he is attending a regional security forum.

India has not ratified a 1951 international convention on refugees and has no regular procedure for granting asylum to people fleeing persecution.

The anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks has said that Snowden has applied to more than 20 countries for asylum, including India and China.

Snowden has been on the run since he exposed highly secret National Security Agency surveillance programs. He is believed to be staying in the transit area of Moscow's airport since arriving there from Hong Kong on June 23.

India Rejects NSA Leaker Snowden's Asylum Request - ABC News

 

[Vikrant]

India defends US surveillance programmes


NEW DELHI (AFP) – India's foreign minister on Tuesday defended the vast US surveillance programme of phone logs and Internet data revealed by intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.
"Some of the information they got out of their scrutiny, they were able to use it to prevent serious terrorist attacks in several countries," Salman Khurshid told reporters in Brunei in a broadcast interview.
"This is not scrutiny and access to actual messages. It is only computer analysis of patterns of calls and emails that are being sent... it is not actually snooping on the content of anyone's messages or conversations," he added.

The comments by Khurshid, who met US Secretary of State John Kerry in New Delhi last month, contrast with India's initial reaction when a foreign ministry spokesman warned that any privacy violation would be "unacceptable".
He is attending an Asian security forum in Brunei, along with Kerry and regional foreign ministers.

Based on documents provided by Snowden, The Guardian newspaper reported at the weekend that US intelligence services were also spying on 38 embassies and diplomatic missions of its allies including India.
Snowden, whose US passport has been cancelled, remains holed up in Moscow airport where he has sought asylum from 21 countries.


Read more: India defends US surveillance programmes | Fox News

 

[Gracie]

Looks like Snowden judged poorly. His initial "ratting" was supposedly for the good of americans to know what is being done. But his TRUE agenda came out pretty fast..and now nobody wants him.
Good.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Which would be better? Freedom in India or Prison in America?

 

[Vikrant]

Looks like Snowden judged poorly. His initial "ratting" was supposedly for the good of americans to know what is being done. But his TRUE agenda came out pretty fast..and now nobody wants him.
Good.

I think he will get his asylum not in India though. There are plenty of countries out there who have combative relations with the US.

India's asylum system is genuinely reserved for political refugees. The most famous example of that is India giving asylum to Dalai Lama even under intense pressure/threat from China.

 

[Katzndogz]

China never turned down an asylum request and Russia already offered asylum with conditions if you want to believe that claim.

We could be getting nothing but misinformation. For all we really know, Ed Snowden left the airport long ago and we are now getting window dressing.

 

[Kondor3]

Looks like Snowden judged poorly. His initial "ratting" was supposedly for the good of americans to know what is being done. But his TRUE agenda came out pretty fast..and now nobody wants him. Good.

 

[Gracie]

Which would be better? Freedom in India or Prison in America?

Being young? Freedom in India. Since he is male. Once he gets old and needs medical help? He is up shit creek.

I myself would rather be in prison here. Not in a foreign country.

 

[Gracie]

Looks like Snowden judged poorly. His initial "ratting" was supposedly for the good of americans to know what is being done. But his TRUE agenda came out pretty fast..and now nobody wants him.
Good.

I think he will get his asylum not in India though. There are plenty of countries out there who have combative relations with the US.

India's asylum system is genuinely reserved for political refugees. The most famous example of that is India giving asylum to Dalai Lama even under intense pressure/threat from China.

Maybe al queda will take him. Then once they get all they think they can get, off with his head. Or he gets stoned to death. Or he is strung up on a crane.

 

[SteadyMercury]

Which would be better? Freedom in India or Prison in America?

Being young? Freedom in India. Since he is male. Once he gets old and needs medical help? He is up shit creek.

I myself would rather be in prison here. Not in a foreign country.

There are some outstanding medical facilities in India, it is a common destination for medical tourism for westerners. The problem in India isn't the existence of good medical care, it is access to it for most of their population.

I cannot imagine anyone rather being in prison here than free in a foreign country.

 

[Vikrant]

Looks like Snowden judged poorly. His initial "ratting" was supposedly for the good of americans to know what is being done. But his TRUE agenda came out pretty fast..and now nobody wants him.
Good.

I think he will get his asylum not in India though. There are plenty of countries out there who have combative relations with the US.

India's asylum system is genuinely reserved for political refugees. The most famous example of that is India giving asylum to Dalai Lama even under intense pressure/threat from China.

Maybe al queda will take him. Then once they get all they think they can get, off with his head. Or he gets stoned to death. Or he is strung up on a crane.

The country with the strongest Al Queda support base is Pakistan and Pakistan is famous for handing over wanted people to U.S. for a price. I think Snowden knew that. That is why he avoided seeking asylum in Pakistan.

 

[Vikrant]

NEW DELHI (AFP) – The Indian government expressed concern Wednesday over reports US intelligence services spied on 38 diplomatic missions including India's embassy in Washington, saying it would take up the issue with US authorities.

Read more: India concerned at US spying on embassy reports | Fox News

 

[R.C. Christian]

Sounds like the state department has already put their tentacles all over the throats of our trade partners wherever this kid might go.

The CIA and it's lackeys all over the world will catch up with the man one day, and he'll die of natural causes. The OA is very vengeful. Just ask that 16 year old American kid in Yemen who was droned. Oh wait, you can't because he's dead. That was personal.

 

[Vikrant]

It looks like Indian foreign minister is coming under fire for defending US spy program.

The US programme rests on five eyes, consisting of the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. These are points used for tapping into the international flow of cyber data through fibre optic cables. It is alleged that over 80 major global corporations, consisting of telecommunication companies, producers of network infrastructure, software companies and security firms, are actively assisting the US.

The question that should have occurred to the Indian external affairs minister is whether some of these are in India or even Indian-owned. A thorough internal investigation is needed to ferret out wrongdoers on Indian soil if any. The Indian home ministry has been focused only on Chinese companies entering India and perhaps not paid enough attention to US or Western ones.

http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-india-needs-to-speak-up/20130705.htm

 

[Katzndogz]

Looks like Snowden judged poorly. His initial "ratting" was supposedly for the good of americans to know what is being done. But his TRUE agenda came out pretty fast..and now nobody wants him.
Good.

I think he will get his asylum not in India though. There are plenty of countries out there who have combative relations with the US.

India's asylum system is genuinely reserved for political refugees. The most famous example of that is India giving asylum to Dalai Lama even under intense pressure/threat from China.

Maybe al queda will take him. Then once they get all they think they can get, off with his head. Or he gets stoned to death. Or he is strung up on a crane.

He wouldn't be strung up on crane unless he was gay. That's how they deal with homosexuality.

Iceland is willing. So is Russia. Bolivia is mightily pissed that the presidential plane was diverted and would be happy to take Snowden in. China hasn't said, but then we really don't know if Snowden ever left China.

If it were me, I'd hold out for Russian citizenship and a Russian passport. The Russians would be happy with a very public declaration that Vladimir Putin had been peacemaker and stopped the further expose' of wrongdoing against his "American partners". Then the leaking would continue. Of course we really don't know if Snowden already has citizenship and a passport.

Putin met Gerard Depardieu at the airport with his citizenship papers and Russian passport over taxes in France. There's no reason why the same kind of strings can't be pulled for Edward Snowden.