Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'America spying on other countries – nothing new' that was published in Newsband

America spying on other countries – nothing new

As per the National Security Agency documents, the United States spied on 35 heads of state. NSA’s surveillance programme has been considered as just a “routine” espionage. The thing is America has been able to sustain its virtual global hegemony for over half a century.

Many countries of the world did protest against such spying exercise conducted by America. But India has chosen not to join the chorus of protests emanating from the international community. The UPA government is disinclined to allow this issue to cast a shadow on its emerging strategic equation with the U.S. New Delhi’s response has been that “there is no concern” and the Prime Minister’s office has been spied on because Manmohan Singh “does not use a mobile phone or have an e-mail account.” The thing is if India had to have the same technology which America possesses, India would then do the same thing.

America has made it clear that its sole purpose was to counter terrorism activities and not to develop bitter relations with other countries. There is a feeling that US has spied on Indian politicians, scientists and other persons related to nuclear programme. But US considers India as strategic partner and hence both Indian government and Media are silent.

America has justified its mass surveillance program by saying that it was to fight terrorism, dismantle the terrorist infrastructure that has been built overtime by likes of Al Qaeda, Lashkar-E-Toiba, Taliban etc. While the terrorism still exists and continues to haunt the world, America in the name of surveillance have got it hands to the strategic information, security information of various countries around the world that it has used to its advantage to consolidate its position as a powerful nation and has also strengthened its security

All the other countries should be sporting in the sense that either you beat technology with technology or you take it lying down, even if you are a German, who were the forerunners in technology.

USA is the lone super power in the world and so they can do what they want to do. The political leadership clearly understands our limitations so they are silent and there is nothing wrong in it. Why to make a big deal of something which usually happens? We too spy on our citizens. The only credit to US is that it is the only super-power in unipolar world. In India we have booth capturing, in US they are just a bit more "sophisticated" and "educated". Spying is a continuous game all governments play, irrespective of the status of the other countries, as friends or foes. Only thing new here is that this time it came out in the open.

One of the strengths of the superpowers is their ability to keep a constant monitoring of countries, all over the world. USA controls the internet communication and also the GPS satellite systems. This is the price nations have to pay for enjoying these benefits. It is not spying alone; countries conduct espionage activities like sabotage in unfriendly countries, at all times.

If countries have to protect their secrets, they need to develop their own internet systems and servers, launch their own GPS satellites and location services and develop their own efficient search engines and email systems like google and yahoo. Till that time, we will be at the mercy of superpowers and they will keep snooping.