'General Bajwa is believed to consider the internal threats to Pakistan's security as far more serious than the bogey of the Indian threat.' 'This doesn't mean that he is soft on India, only that he is more rational and sensible than his predecessor who had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about India,' points out Pakistan expert Sushant Sareen.
'The Mansoor Taliban is really an extension of the Haqqani Network which in turn is an instrument of the ISI. With Ashraf Ghani ready to dance to Pakistani tunes and with the Haqqani Network becoming part of the Afghan government, Pakistan is all set to see the fruition of its strategic policy,' says Sushant Sareen.
The tragedy is that, at least on social media, the narrative that was being lapped up by many Indian Muslims was that Yakub Memon was being victimised. The purveyors of this poisonous line of thinking of course want this sentiment to grow since communal polarisation is the primary pillar of their political strategy, says Sushant Sareen.
''The avoidance of the 'P' word had less to do with reality and more to do with the politics -- domestic and international -- of Mr Modi and his efforts to both appear statesman-like (vis-a-vis Pakistan) and rid himself of the taint of being some kind of Muslim-baiting hardliner.'
How will India respond to an attack which keeps haemorrhaging India but stays below the threshold of tolerance?
'There are all sorts of characters moving around acting as unofficial representatives of the government and engaging in their own personal foreign policy initiatives. Clearly, the government needs to shut these characters down if it wants to continue enjoying any credibility, both domestically and internationally,' says Sushant Sareen.
To be sure, Modi is no Vajpayee; at least that is the impression he gives. However, this doesn't mean that he will be looking for a fight. All it means is that if Pakistan seeks a fight, he will not back down. What it also means is that the pusillanimous approach of the previous governments to ceaseless provocations from Pakistan will probably change, says Sushant Sareen.
'ISI mouthpieces in the media have been quick to blame India for the attack. Clearly, the intellect and worldview of these characters (which includes fairly senior retired military officers) is based on Bollywood movies like Ek Tha Tiger and Agent Vinod... More seriously, the fact that ISI touts have been using this opportunity to train their guns on India raises serious questions about all the talk of the army being on the same page as the civilian government on the issue of improving relations with India,' says Sushant Sareen.
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Pundits in Pakistan and also some western diplomats are predicting that the next army chief will be forced, partly by institutional pressure and partly by circumstances, to indulge in some tough talking with the civilian leadership. How the civil-military equation settles in this sort of a situation is something that will determine the future of Pakistani politics, and also Pakistan's relations with rest of the world, says Sushant Sareen.
India can stay relevant in Afghanistan not by being a bystander but by actively bolstering anti-Taliban forces monetarily, militarily and politically, say Lt Gen R K Sawhney and Sushant Sareen
If Pakistan's new government lives up to the commitments given by Nawaz Sharif that he will not allow Pakistan's soil to be used against India and will put the jihadist networks out of business, it will create a lot of space for the next government in India to move forward on the bilateral track, says Sushant Sareen
Sarabjit's murder will certainly add bitterness in relations and serve as a setback to efforts to promote people-to-people ties between the two countries, says Sushant Sareen
What Musharraf doesn't understand is that deposed dictators are like used toiler paper: No one has any use for them and hence, they are best discarded, says Sushant Sareen.
It remains to be seen how this phenomenon of public activism will translate in the political sphere. Unless this outpouring of outrage over the Delhi gang-rape can be channelised politically, the change that many of us hanker for will not come. The crowds might be politically alive, but they are not politically aligned or active, says Sushant Sareen.
With Sushil Kumar Shinde as the new home minister, Rehman Malik probably felt he could force his way into India and get away with saying the sort of things he said on Indian soil without any fear of being put in his place, says Sushant Sareen
With an opposition party so compromised and so complicit in the rampant loot and corruption that we have witnessed in recent years, isn't Roberrt Vadra quite on the mark when he calls India a 'banana republic', asks Sushant Sareen
While Indian officials never stop berating the Americans and Europeans for mollycoddling Pakistan despite its rank bad behaviour, the Republic of BCCI and the Republic of India have gone ahead and done something similar to what the West does, says Sushant Sareen.
If India's nuclear and missile capability before Agni-5 was not enough to deter China, then it is unlikely that Agni-5 will, argues Sushant Sareen
Other than the satisfaction of seeing a US bounty on Saeed and Makki, India shouldn't expect anything much at this stage, certainly not any concrete action against either of these two terrorist chieftains, says Sushant Sareen
The arrest of Inter-Services Intelligence agent Ghulam Nabi Fai has left many red faces in India, some out of embarrassment, others out of anger.
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