'If the nub of India's sensitivity over the Chinese presence in Doklam is the enhanced threat to the Siliguri Corridor, a vital link to the northeast, does it serve the national purpose to have the districts along it, and then much of the tribal northeast, in turmoil?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP will focus on the dozen constituencies that eluded it in the 2014 assembly elections. A better performance in these seats could help it reach as close as possible to the halfway mark of 44 seats by the time the next elections are held and have its own chief minister.
When powers vested by the Finance Bill 2017 begin to get mildly used, fellow Indians living in the corporate bubble will get a faint whiff of what life can be like when you run a grocery store in the streets of Kashmir or the North East.
'Tibetans will participate in future conflicts with India (in all probability, some were already present in Galwan).' 'As nobody in India would like to have a deadly fight with Tibetan soldiers and officers, the issue needs to be closely followed,' observes Claude Arpi.
'Counter-insurgency operations cannot be conducted by following inflexible SOPs.' 'It is unwise to enter jungles with a large body of troops without precise intelligence,' asserts counter-insurgency expert Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
The president made a special mention of the threat to the environment and asked all citizens to take care of it for future generations.
''I heard from the Pakistani brigadier that Flying Officer Pradeep Apte had been killed after he ejected safely and tried to escape. This news sent a chill up my spine. I had been lucky so far...'
'The CPI-M workers first destroy houses of our people and then kill them.' 'There is anarchy in Kannur.'
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Abrogation of Article 370 is not legal because it is the legal basis of Kashmir's accession to India.'
We must repeal AFSPA to begin to heal Kashmir, and to enhance India's moral stature and that of the army, says Ajai Shukla
Prime Minister Modi felt there were too many silos with no arrangement to take a comprehensive view on national security. The PM has entrusted NSA Ajit Doval to evolve a comprehensive roadmap and get it implemented, reveals Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief, Strategic News International.
'It is purely based on real-time hard intelligence.' 'Timing is important. When you are attacking at 3.30 am, then everybody will be in the academy of terrorists.' 'If you attack at 10 am then someone will be out, so timing is very important.' 'Therefore, 3.30 am is the time when every terrorist is sleeping.'
India is worried about Pakistan getting the Taliban to ignite trouble in Kashmir, observes Ramesh Menon.
Pervez Musharraf's legal woes mounted on Friday as a Pakistani special court conducting his treason trial issued a bailable arrest warrant for the beleaguered former dictator and ordered his production on February 7.
Dubbing the next election a choice between governance and development on one side and chaos on the other, the prime minister cited the example of Karnataka, where the Congress-Janata Dal(Secular) alliance 'stole the mandate' to form government with 'development taking a back seat'.
Figures showed that the worst-hit was Mirpur with 24 dead, nine in Jatlan and one person lost his life in Jhelum.
An insecure political class, with little knowledge of the military, has unquestioningly internalised the fear that a powerful tri-service chief would threaten democracy, says Ajai Shukla.
The onus today is on China, but it also requires a little diplomatic finesse from India, backed by a modernised armed force, argues BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in this excerpt from his new book, Himalayan Challenge: India, China And The Quest For Peace.
The 'black cats' will reflect a dashing sheen to the parade as they will be dressed in their trademark black coloured overalls, balaclava headgear and special assault rifles MP-5 along with the iconic commando dagger.
'Since each chief single-mindedly pursues his service's interests in the competition for turf and in core matters such as budget share. The CDS, therefore, must act as an "honest broker" whose decisions serve the broader national purpose, rather than narrow service interests,' says Ajai Shukla.
The tension between the way the law views justice, and the way public opinion views justice, is the best reason not to make laws based on public opinion, says Mitali Saran
A total of 69.96 per cent of 28.13 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the Tripura assembly elections till 3 pm on Thursday, amid sporadic incidents of violence, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Gitte Kirankumar Dinakarrao said.
President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the nation on the eve of India's 75th Independence Day. Here's the text of what he said:
There are significant differences in the scope, jurisdiction, functions and personnel requirements of RPF and GRP.
When he was chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was able to blunt inter-regional and inter-communal tensions which Farooq and Omar Abdullah could not do. Whether he can repeat it with the BJP by his side would have to be seen, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
There is no better way to address the security threat emanating from ISIS and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan than by co-opting the Taliban, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Political parties were bracing for the assembly election results on Thursday in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and politically volatile Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, sending out feelers for possible post-poll tie-ups.
'The Chinese media was beside itself with rage that how can a country with one-fifth of its economic power and maybe one-third of its military power stand up to them.'
'The government is doing away with crucial laws such as the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act which had helped safeguard our forests.' 'The President has to show that she will stand in favour of tribal rights.'
Hydrography (underwater geography) prevents the Indian Navy for opting for an all-conventional, or all-nuclear submarine fleet.
Because of the treaty, no big dams or power projects can be built by India on Jhelum, Indus or Chenab.
'Savarkar was the closest the RSS had to a freedom movement icon, however flawed.' 'Indira Gandhi wasn't going to gift him to them.' 'And a non-career politician like Dr Singh understands it.' 'It is just that his party never listened to him,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The Assam-Mizoram violence is an outcome of BJP trying too hard to 'integrate' distinct northeastern states, explains Shekhar Gupta.
"I want to tell India that war is not a solution to any problem. The winner in war is also a loser. War gives birth to host of other issues," said the Pakistani prime minister.
Here's the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint session of the United States Congress, delivered on Thursday.
The army of the future needs a system of transparency and research. An open sociology of the army is a democratic necessity. An openness of information is a necessity of the army of the future fighting the next peace and next war on behalf of society, says social scientist Shiv Visvanathan.
From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
Why does the army remain embroiled in counter-insurgency, denying itself a peace dividend even after expending blood and treasure in imposing calm?
