'Are we going to fight Pakistan with the US'
Raman Puri asks hard questions about India-US defense ties Arun Jaitley on what BJP expects of Obama
Arun Jaitley speaks exclusively on Indo-US relations and the Bhartiya Janata Party's expectations from US President Barack Obama's visit to India. View: Obama is no friend of India
'It is likely that when Obama is in India, Manmohan Singh will announce a new 'package' which would, shorn of marketing verbiage, hand over either all of Jammu and Kashmir or just the Vale of Kashmir to the stone-throwers and other separatists.' Obama visit will be less strategic, more economic
'The expectations on the two sides are so divergent that disappointment is inevitable for both.' The significance of the UP panchayat polls
About three months back when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati announced the government's decision to hold state panchayat elections without political parties, it was pretty evident that something big was cooking on her mind. Delhi and Tokyo need to get serious
Delhi and Tokyo need to urgently assess the implications of their lacklustre ties and get serious about remedying this situation. The Indian prime minister's visit is a step in the right direction but much more needs to be done to enhance regional and global stability, says Harsh V Pant. Why doesn't coporate munificence fund education?
Major corporate giants could, as part of their corporate social responsibility, set up educational institutions but does not seem to be the priority, says Mahesh Vijapurkar. Kashmir: Pakistan is the problem not the solution.
Pakistan has thrust itself into the equation, not by dint of moral virtue or legal principle, but by illicit force as epitomised by its shameless support of blatant terrorism. As long as Pakistan remains in the equation, a solution is impossible. Show Obama the benign face of Indian Islam
Obama's agenda has been prepared by the bureaucratic establishments in the two countries without imagination, without a sense of history, without understanding the benign face of Indian Islam totally different from its face in Pakistan and the Arab world, says B Raman. Why Nitish, Modi have an eye on 2014 elections
The shadow boxing by the Bihar and Gujarat chief ministers over the Bihar polls may be a precursor to a battle for the gaddi in Delhi, says T V R Shenoy. India needs new allies to deal with China
As the countries most threatened by China, India, Japan and Vietnam should put their heads together how to deal with it without unnecessarily creating a confrontation. What India must expect from Obama's visit
We should keep in mind that a deeper and reasonably balanced relationship with the US is in India's interest, says former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal. What India should do at the UNSC
If we want permanent membership of UNSC, here is our opportunity to lay all doubts to rest, says former foreign secretary, Shyam Saran. Headley revelations will add to distrust of FBI
The FBI moved against Headley seriously only after coming to know of his role in the planned attack in Copenhagen. It did not show the same seriousness in respect of his role in the Mumbai attack, writes B Raman Dr Singh's message from the CWG probe
Many will hope this is the beginning of a new phase in Dr Singh's tenure, when he lets his office, the government, his council of ministers, his party and coalition and the country know that he means business, that the buck stops with him, that his colleagues and officers must shape up or ship out, says Sanjaya Baru China engages Turkey to neutralise Uighur threat
According to Uighur sources, Pakistan had played an active role in bringing Turkey and China together despite the protests in Turkey last year over the suppression of the Uighurs. Why China training with NATO ally matters
It is learnt that Chinese Air Force planes had refuelled in Pakistan and Iran last month while on their way to Turkey to participate in a joint air exercise with the Turkish Air Force. On the way back, they refueled only in Iran. The air exercise preceded the recent visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Turkey. Why poorer India is still richer than China
India's respectability in the world, particularly the west, lies in its steadfast adherence to ideas and ideals for democracy such as the rule of law, freedom of press, judicial activism and the vibrant civil society -- unlike China, says Rup Narayan Das Study says Bengaluru water has radioactive gas
Radon is a carcinogenic gas and therefore is hazardous to inhale this element since it emits alpha particles. Radon in water may therefore present dual pathways of exposure for individuals -- through drinking water and inhalation of air containing radon released from groundwater, says Dr Nitish Priyadarshi Indians please note: Why are Brazilians so happy?
Brazilians don't read the international press and unlike us, they don't unduly worry about what others think about them. Nor are they concerned about their pecking order in the world, says B S Prakash. Rohinton Mistry's such a short journey in Mumbai
Why did the city's decision-makers take a book off the Mumbai University's curriculum without bothering to read it? Mahesh Vijapurkar wants answers and remedies Why Indians should fear the UID
'The Aadhaar project has grave civil liberty implications. It will enable the government to profile citizens and track their movements and transactions.' On China, India needs to think strategically
'The emerging security environment in the Asia-Pacific is likely to revolve around China and the US with India viewed as a critical balancer in the region. New Delhi will now have to demonstrate that it is capable of thinking strategically.' Nitish Kumar once more in Bihar?
With the Rashtriya Janata Dal combine taking on the Janata Dal-United-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and the Congress going on its own, Dorab R Sopariwala observes it is likely that Rabri Devi will continue to play the role of the Leader of the Opposition Kashmir: Why India has nothing to fear
BG Verghese believes that interlocutors should press ahead with a resumption of the peace initiative by Delhi and Srinagar Why Peace Nobel for Liu is badly timed
B Raman says that by giving the award to a dissident who has only limited following inside China and calling for political reforms, the Nobel Committee will only strengthen the hands of those opposing any political restructuring of the Chinese set-up Why the Ayodhya judgment is a landmark
'That there will be appeals is disappointing, because it means the status quo will be maintained. It is in the vested interests of many to keep the Ayodhya issue unresolved, a festering wound that annoys Hindus and rallies Muslims.' The strange destinies of Liu Xiaobo and Wen Jiabao
Clude Arpi salutes the Nobel prize committee for giving the peace prize to jailed Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo. How India is undoing China's string of pearls
New Delhi's defence establishment has quietly put in place India's own counter-measures to woo and bolster China's neighbours as a long-term strategy, says Nitin Gokhale. The onus for closure is on Advani
The Ayodhya verdict, far from legitimising the deeply divisive rath yatra Advani set out on, has tried to repair the damage he did to inter-community relations in India, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy. How India should look after its NRIs
Unless the ministry for external affairs and the ministry for overseas Indian affairs work together, many NRI problems cannot be ironed out, feel T P Sreenivasan. We have yet to learn to play the power game
Former external affairs minister K Natwar Singh believes that China will, in the foreseeable future, not agree to have India or Japan as veto-wielding permanent members. Ayodhya: 10 reasons why India cannot move on
'India does not possess the political leadership with the moral fibre or the necessary willpower among its key battling constituents to create a national reconciliation.' How the Ayodhya verdict plays out in Pakistan
Pakistani peacenik Hamid Mir's singular idea to ensure extremists in his country do not retaliate over the Ayodhya verdict. ASI is the handmaiden of Hindutva
The ASI's role in marshalling dubious evidence in support of the existence of a Ram temple at Ayodhya is the right occasion to assess its activities as a handmaiden of Hindutva, says Omar Khalidi August 2010 | July 2010 | June 2010 | May 2010 | April 2010 | March 2010 | February 2010