Our language has let us down in Pakistan talks
Apart from S M Krishna's performance in Islamabad, a perusal of the statements made in recent weeks by the Indian side reveals an unfortunate lack of precision in the use of language. Too many Indians... that is Joel Stein's problem
Indians, cosseted by stories about their success in America, often think they are the golden immigrants, the good ones, guests who can come for dinner. And stay. Perhaps now the blinders will come off, writes Sandip Roy S M Qureshi, then and now
'Shah Mehmood Qureshi also happens to be the Sajjada Nashin (family custodian) of the dargah of the Sufi saint Bahauddin Zakaria in Multan. In 2005, when a Delhi-Multan peace march on the initiative of civil societies of both countries reached the mazar for the culmination of the march, he said something which people in Pakistan would normally avoid saying.' Delhi's radioactive leak: The other side
The inputs collected from the victims by an Atomic Energy Regulatory Board scientist gave vital clues which helped to identify the source of Delhi's radioactive leak, points out Dr K S Parthasarathy, former secretary with the Board. Why India needs Myanmar on its side
'China has made rapid advances into Myanmar.... Radars have been reported to have been erected on Myanmar's west coast to monitor Indian missile tests.' Amid wanna-'bees': It's a family affair
Sandip Roy visits a flock of wanna-'bees' at an all-Indian spelling bee in Milpitas, California and is transported back to India. Forget the peace process with Pakistan!
'India can't be wasting its precious diplomatic capital on a project that despite its repeated attempts just refuses to gain traction.' India, China need each other to change the world
The simultaneous rise of China and India is phenomenal, but serious concerns also arise on the bilateral relationship. After all, the lingering border dispute, geopolitical mismatches, inevitable conflict of interests, and a huge trust deficit between the two nations could all trigger tensions and even confrontation, bringing about disastrous consequences to both countries and the entire region. Five reasons for China's nuclear nonchalance
China's reported move to construct two more nuclear power plants in Pakistan was expected to be discussed at the 46-member Nuclear Supplies Group's five-day meeting at Christchurch, New Zealand last month. Krishna has played into Qureshi's hands
By expressing his disapproval of Home Secretary GK Pillai in public, Foreign Minister SM Krishna has enabled his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to justify his raising the issue of the former's disclosure to the media in the obnoxious manner he did, says B Raman India's disappointing young leaders
'Ashok Chavan and Omar Abdullah owe the office in large part to Rahul Gandhi and that places a large question mark over the judgment of that Gen Next leader.' A Belgaumite's plea to all politicians
My request to all politicians is: Please don't make me choose between the two or burden me with an identity crises when I have none. More important, please don't make a mountain of a molehill. Our nation has more important issues to address, writes Vivek Gumaste Deliver the change, Mr Prime Minister
Will Manmohan Singh neuter the rapacious, brutal and greedy elements that thwart the people from getting their entitlements, asks senior journalist Mahesh Vijapurkar The sad part about peace with Pakistan
Peace can only be achieved when there is an understanding of each other's culture, heritage and values. That can only happen when genuine secularism takes root in Pakistan, says Pramod Kumar Buravalli Kayani's grand ambition behind talks' collapse
Given the repeated failures of such engagements, New Delhi should quickly accept the futility of talking for talk's sake with Pakistan, says Nitin Gokhale India sidelined in Afghanistan
'New Delhi still continues to believe that the US cannot afford to fail in Afghanistan and will not leave unless the problem of Af-Pak is fundamentally resolved.' A billion people, but where are the leaders?
'Vajpayee was the last of the national leaders. They do not make leaders of that calibre any longer. Maybe astute sociologists will undertake a study of the inverse link between a growing economy and a depleting leadership pool.' Indian Shining in Islamabad
'The Indian side -- S M Krishna, Nirupama Rao and Sharat Sabharwal -- was the picture of tranquillity, poise and perseverance. Krishna spoke in measured tones, but firmly and convincingly. Except for failing to defend the home secretary, Krishna's performance was faultless.' It would be an error to talk to Pakistan again
The major substantive lesson that we should draw from the foreign minister-level talks is that Pakistan is not serious about addressing our concerns on terrorism. This should have been clear to us long ago because we have been talking to Pakistan on terrorism ever since 1997, says former deputy national security advisor Satish Chandra. 'Maoists can't be judge, jury and executioner'
The attacks by the Communist Party of India-Maoist, whether opportunistic or pre-planned, are part of their strategy of an 'armed liberation struggle' and in furtherance of their goal of 'seizure of political power through a protracted people's war', says Home Minister P Chidambaram. War of words: Why India, Pakistan both lost
The foreign ministers' talks failed just when progress seemed on the horizon, says Sheela Bhatt Pak generals don't want the India talks to succeed
India's options are few. Can it drop its insistence on taking the 26/11 file to its bitter end? No elected government in New Delhi can adopt a policy of 'kiss-and-make-up' on the 26/11 file, given the public mood in the country regarding the horrendous nature of the crime that the ISI perpetrated. Lack of preparation hampered Indo-Pak talks
It was evident that no preparatory exercise for political and inter-departmental consensus-building in New Delhi before embarking on the trust-building exercise in Islamabad was undertaken. Can we move on from Pakistan, Mr Prime Minister?
'I wish somebody would tell the prime minister that peace with Pakistan is a good thought. Indians and Pakistanis can be friends, but India and Pakistan can never be friends in our lifetime,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy. India-Pakistan: Dialogue without direction
The trouble is that trying anything more than the routine CBMs to affect a paradigm change in the bilateral relationship is a bit of a catch-22 situation: without trust, bold initiatives are not possible; but how do you build trust without bold initiatives, writes Sushant Sareen. Kashmir: Protests are fine, not motivated ones
The current round of stone pelting in Kashmir is violent posturing that is provocative in design aided and abetted by anti-national elements. Let us not imbue these protests with even an iota of sanctity: they are undeserving of that, writes Vivek Gumaste. Why it's time to be blunt with Pakistan
Colonel Anil Athale (retd) recommends that Extrnal Affairs Minister S M Krishna should tell Pakistan that the current exercise in peace building is possibly the last chance for the country to avoid a second Bangladesh like situation. The Baloch State: A vision for the world
The Baloch freedom struggle is not at war with the Western alliance, even though the Western alliance headed by the US has always been helping Pakistan murder innocent Baloch women and children and to occupy Balochistan and is directly responsible for the crimes against humanity committed by the Islamabad regime, says Dr Jumma Khan Marri India, Pakistan must go the 3 plus 3 way
'If the ministers spend their time throwing Indian dossiers on terrorism and Pakistani dossiers on Kashmir and river waters at each other, they will miss an opportunity for creating a possible and much-needed turning point in Indo-Pakistan relations.' India-Pakistan talks: Futile quest for trust
The strongest argument for the creation of Pakistan was that Hindustan, the undivided India, could not be trusted to take care of the Muslims of the subcontinent. If trust breaks out between them, the whole rationale for the existence of Pakistan will be called into question, says T P Sreenivasan. Uganda attacks show Al Qaeda is still lethal
The deaths in the drone strikes of many Al Qaeda leaders such as its No 3 Sai'd al-Masri and Saleh-al-Somali from Somalia have not weakened the capability of Al Qaeda to plan and mount terrorist strikes, writes B Raman. View: Sushma & Brinda, Mamata & Sonia
A Left-Right tactical unity is emerging as the Opposition's strategy to deal with a resurgent Congress, writes Sanjaya Baru Why the Foreign Secretary met the Dalai Lama
Was the visit connected to China's recent actions vis-a-vis Pakistan? 'The idea of representation is thinning'
Does the current electoral system encourage a politics defined by 'who you are' and 'where you live' rather than 'what you believe in' and 'what you want to achieve'? What can be done to address the grievance of under-representation and unequal access to political power emanating from the Muslims, asks Hamid Ansari This is the plight of the honest govt official
'It is an open secret that the mining lobby wields immense clout both in Karnataka and in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. It is no surprise that millions of tons vanished without a trace. (As did thousands of crores of rupees in lost revenue.) But it should be a cause for worry when the power of the mining lobby seemingly leads to the disappearance of honest officials.' A village at the mercy of the Bagmati, officials
Dinesh Kumar Mishra narrates the travails of a village uprooted by the mighty Bagmati. Official insensitivity breeding violence in J&K
The anger of the youth might have been pacified initially if the governments at Srinagar and New Delhi had shown some understanding of the anger and initiated measures to defuse it, writes B Raman Zardari in Beijing: Dilemmas of a nuclear world
The Sino-Pakistan nuclear pact highlights the growing assertiveness of China in global politics and its willingness to take on Washington. It also showcases China's penchant for viewing Pakistan as an important asset in countering India, writes Harsh V Pant. The messages from the Bharat bandh
The biggest message is: the country is rather tired of the price spiral which has remained quite high for a long spell. The pocket is pinching and that counts, writes Mahesh Vijapurkar. Talks with Pak: Why India looks beyond terror
When Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna visits Pakistan on July 15, he would be taking the next step on the road to reducing the trust deficit between India and its terror-vexed neighbour. Pak leaders pass the buck as Lahore burns
After the suicide blasts of July 1, there has been a slanging match between Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik, of Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party, who accuses the Punjabi Taliban of being responsible for the terrorism in Punjab, and Shabaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz, who is the chief minister of Punjab Controversy dogs Narasimha Rao even in death
Though he called his autobiographical novel Insider, P V Narasimha Rao was forever the Outsider. In death even more than in life, writes Sunanda K Datta-Ray Border talks: How India plays into China's hands
By staying engaged in the useless border talks, knowing fully well that Beijing has no intent to settle territorial issues, India gives greater space to China to mount strategic pressure and gain leverage, notes strategic expert Brahma Chellaney. Will young India react to Bhopal outrage?
Why was there so much public and media outrage over the Bhopal disaster - a 25-year-old issue? Why did the national media focus on this story which so far had been confined to the back rooms where only noisy environmental activists live? June 2010 | May 2010 | April 2010 | March 2010 | February 2010