The US also termed the release of Mumbai-terror attack accused Hafiz Saeed as "a step backward" in that direction.
Sher Shah Suri ruled for only a few years, but his huge influence on India continues six centuries later, reveals Farhat Nasreen.
Jauhar is a recurrent theme in the history of that period. And Khilji was hardly the only Muslim invader whose onset forced women to self-immolate. Nearly the entire Mughal clan, including the benevolent Akbar, forced jauhar on the defeated, says Vikram Johri.
The four-year-old Labrador and her handler Bashir Ahmed War laid down their lives to prevent an infiltration bid by terrorists in north Kashmir.
'Through his conversation with Yama, Nachiketa helped society grapple with a bunch of knotty issues, just as many of the ongoing conflicts could do today,' says Arundhuti Dasgupta.
'Pakistan has no strategic depth and is vulnerable to Indian military power without even crossing the border,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'In India, China's capacities to conduct new types of warfare is critically underestimated,' says Claude Arpi.
Amid snow-capped mountains and on board warships, India's armed forces demonstrated their impressive yoga skills. Let's take a bow!
While we have to hiss loudly and do the lunging bit to keep our foes on their toes, that's only a tactical matter. What is the strategic goal? What is the end game? In my opinion, there is only one possible end game: the unwinding of Pakistan into several pieces: Balochistan, Sind, Balawaristan (Gilgit, Baltistan, the rest of PoK), the Pashtun area Khyber Pakhtunwa which will merge with Afghanistan, and the rump Punjab, says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Beside the defence forces in India, the start-up has shipped around 350,000 units to 12 countries -- the United Kingdom, France, Poland, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kenya, South Africa, Romania, Indonesia, Qatar and Oman.
Modi isn't going to voters on his track record but on the fear of the terrorist across the border and the Muslims within. It's a battle on his terms, says Shekhar Gupta.
Anti-conversion laws are needed since thrusting the idea of a competitive battlefield of religion onto India's pluralistic traditions can only lead to greater communal conflict, says Sankrant Sanu
Mattis attracted controversy in 2005 when he said 'it's fun to shoot some people'.
Here's a collection of some of the best photos from around the world shot in the last 24 hours.
What Saisuresh Sivaswamy learnt about the election from television and the newspapers. A must read column, folks!
'As far as acquisition of Russian equipment is concerned, with about 70% of Indian military equipment being of Russian origin, a sudden decision to abandon imports from Russia is not feasible,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'The death certificate which I once read even states the date, 6 August, but I know that already.' 'Every year, we observe paath at the local gurdwara for which we need to take leave from school. The leave form always says 'attending father's death anniversary'. 'I always dread this day -- the long walk from my desk to the teacher's table with my diary in hand and in it a handwritten note dripped with sadness despite its curt language.' 'What generally follows is pity on my teacher's face, a deep sigh of sympathy and a sad pat on the back.' A moving excerpt from Gurmehar Kaur's memoir Small Acts Of Freedom.
'There will be no more lapses in vigil. Not for the men who will now have to guard these frozen heights.'
'Captain Haneef-ud-din, pulling his sinewy body forward, crawled, rifle in hand, in the snow on 6 June 1999. He died on this craggy mountainside exactly two years after he had passed out of the IMA...'
A bearded, axe-wielding warrior known as "Iraq's Rambo" is being feted as the hero of the battle to reclaim Tikrit.
'They were the leaders of my country and the children of Mother India, but they didn't die as martyrs.' 'They were killed, most unfortunately, by a well planned enemy plot, and they were victims of political violence,' states Sudhir Bisht.
If he doesn't, two things are guaranteed: Failure for him, and continued slide for his nation despite its talented people, strong nationalism, the gift of geography and a formidable army, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Soldiers fighting the enemy will receive state-of-the-art assault rifles, other soldiers will get 'Make in India' rifles.
'While US officials understand and accept India's desire for retaliation, they still don't want to encourage steps that would likely lead to war.'
Lieutenant Colonel Desmond Hayde was awarded the Mahavir Chakra, the second highest honour in battle, for winning an epic battle in Pakistan. In a brilliant and gruesome assault, what he and his men achieved that September 50 years ago had never been seen before.
Amid Russia's escalating military activities in Syria, the White House has warned it not to interfere in the United States-led international efforts to destroy the Islamic State in the strife-torn region.
The death of 10 soldiers earlier this year in an avalanche in the critical Sonam post, located close to the Line of Control with Pakistan, was due to global warming.
'Let us not, with all our drive for modernisation of the armed forces, send the forces to battle this time with second rung leadership,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The United States has offered rewards amounting to USD 20 million (around Rs 127 crore) for tips on whereabouts of four top leaders of the Islamic State, a day after the terror group claimed responsibility for its first attack on American soil.
'The biggest struggles are in the human mind.'
Like the Vietnamese, maybe we too will survive bombs and disasters to see a better day.
The election seem to have been conducted without any major security lapses. However, in the coming weeks, the military situation in Kandahar could tilt in the Taliban's favour, notes Aveek Sen.
Pathan brothers turn down Congress ticket; Rahul's impersonal ways; Modi on DD; RaGa's loss, NaMo's gain. All this and more from the election battlefield.
For the first time, the Islamic State terror group has released its propaganda song in Mandarin calling on Chinese Muslims to wage Jihad, escalating pressure on security forces battling Uyghur militants in volatile Xinjiang province.
'The Indian medical mission travelled thousands of miles to assist us and fought shoulder to shoulder with people of my father's generation against Japanese fascists. The fine representative, young Dr Kotnis gave his precious life in China,' Xi noted.
'Offensive operations to capture objectives across the LoC to eliminate terrorist launch pads and deny the use of the most dangerous routes of infiltration, are likely to be limited to brigade-level attacks.' 'These limited operations are unlikely to escalate to war across the international boundary,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'As the film progresses, you tire of the been-there seen-that spectacle.' 'You want a story. You want good dialogue, not the corny words you are hearing.' 'You want an emotional connect. You want a tighter film.' 'Sadly, with Padmaavat, that's not what you get,' says Savera R Someshwar.
Indian policymakers must incorporate in their nuclear doctrine a realistic response to tactical nuclear warheads, says Ajai Shukla.
There's still little indication of forward movement in Indo-US defence relations.
As Raazi hit theatres, Harinder Sikka -- author of Calling Sehmat, the book on which the film is based -- reveals the thrilling real life story of an Indian spy named Sehmat.
