'The cooperation of Yakub with the investigating agencies after he was picked up informally in Kathmandu and his role in persuading some other members of the family to come out of Pakistan and surrender constitute, in my view, a strong mitigating circumstance to be taken into consideration while considering whether the death penalty should be implemented,' B Raman had written in August 2007.
To bolster its arsenal amid recurring incidents of incursions by Chinese troops, India has sought the latest versions of unmanned aerial vehicles -- both the armed and surveillance -- from the United States.
Notwithstanding its public denouncements against US' "unilateral" drone attacks, Pakistan approved the controversial strikes by the CIA for years under a secret deal with America, a damning media report said on Thursday.
India cannot aspire for great power status unless our leaders truly understand the meaning of national security. Cricket can wait and so can people to people contacts, book launches and Bollywood camaraderie. Let us get down to brass tacks on our counter-terror mission, says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
An ex-Navy SEAL, who claims to have shot Osama bin Laden, has slammed a controversial new article on the 2011 raid as "full of lies" and asserted that Pakistani officials were not taken into confidence for the fear that they would tip off the Al-Qaeda chief.
'Trump's stated strong stance against Islamist extremism and terrorism could play into the Indo-US relationship.' 'It could mould US attitude and exert pressure on Pakistan.' 'In the event of US military presence in Afghanistan increasing, however, Pakistan could gain an opportunity to again emphasise its importance.'
Much of the pre-2014 peace in our hotspots is diminished. Kashmir is on the boil and the Northeast is anarchic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday sharpened his attack on the Congress in general and party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi in particular at a rally in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
'To re-establish the writ of the State and resume governance, frayed tempers in the streets and in the media need to be calmed.'
The government told the apex court that the decision whether or not to allow refugees to settle in the country was best left to the Executive.
How the two South Asian neighbours will interact with each other in the coming months will be decided by the two prime ministers in Washington.
Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz brings to New Delhi a newfound Pakistani confidence, stemming from its leverage in Afghanistan, says Ajai Shukla
'By beheading an Indian soldier, the Pakistan army has demonstrated its proclivity for barbaric medievalism.' 'The strategies adopted and the punishment inflicted by India must be made progressively more stringent with every new act of terrorism till the cost becomes prohibitive for Pakistan,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'NSA Doval and the PM are known to admire Israel's tough response to cross-border terrorism.' 'However, New Delhi's situation is far more complex than Tel Aviv's, which enjoys military superiority over all its neighbours,' says Ajai Shukla.
The LRs are being despatched notwithstanding indications from the Pakistani side that it was not yet ready to receive Indian investigators to carry forward the probe in the January 2 attack that left seven security personnel dead.
'Headley's testimony indicates to what extent the Pakistan government and its proxies can go to destroy not only Indian scientific talent but also international expertise.'
The Devyani Khobragade row, India-Pakistan bickering over Afghanistan and a nightclub act by two diplomats were some of the issues discussed at one of the sessions at Jaipur Lit Fest, reports Sanchari Bhattacharya.
Cops revealed that the staffer Mehmood Akhtar was sharing sensitive defence documents and deployment details of the BSF along the Indo-Pak border to the ISI.
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Throughout a quarter century of proxy war, India has shown tremendous restraint in the face of grave provocation. It is inconceivable that any other nation would have refrained from launching trans-LoC operations to eliminate terrorist training camps and interdict known routes of infiltration, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
India will be informing Sri Lanka about an official working with the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo who was allegedly playing a key role in planning terror strikes at the behest of ISI on the US and Israeli consulates in the southern part of this country.
'The military in Pakistan is capable and self critical, but intelligence is stuffed full of lifers who resist change, which is why career soldiers in Pakistan try with all their might not to be transferred into the ISI.'
Terror operative Abu Jundal's trial on December 9 is likely to open a new war of words, for his claims on another LeT operative Sajid Mir, who, Jundal has claimed that was a 'khaas aadmi' of the ISI. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The Pathankot terror attack sparked a fresh round of political slugfest with the Congress questioning the Modi government's handling of Pakistan affairs and the Bharatiya Janata Party hitting back, accusing it of trying to "politicise" the incident while ally Shiv Sena sought a befitting response.
China will be the nuclear threat of most concern to New Delhi for at least another decade, the latest report by the Arms Control Association says.
'It is best that an amicable solution to the dispute is found outside the precincts of the courts of law,' says former Union home secretary Dr Madhav Godbole.
'There is need to invent another enemy.' 'If you can add Maoists to Muslims, the tukde-tukde thread will tie in nicely.' 'You might even have a 'nation in grave danger' story by the summer of 2019,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
India and France on Monday inked an Inter-Governmental Agreement on the sale of 36 French fighter jets, Rafale, but were unable to sign the final deal due to some "financial" aspects, which are expected to be sorted out in "couple of days".
Usman Majeed, a MLA from north Kashmir's Bandipora, claims that Tiger had told him during a meeting in 1993 that he was responsible for the Mumbai blasts and that Pakistan had ideated and helped him carry out the attacks.
2.3 million people are opioid-dependent. 860,000 people are opioid users. 123,000 people are heroin-dependent.
Ending weeks of speculation, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday appointed Lt Gen Raheel Sharif as Pakistan's new army chief and Lt Gen Rashid Mehmood as the chairman joint chiefs of staff committee.
'What is the ISI doing and why can't they understand for their own interest that bringing stability to the region will help all the countries become prosperous, whereas a continuation of incitement will only lead to misery for all.'
'If India is already involved in helping the insurgents in Baluchistan and Karachi, as Pakistan says, it is but one step for New Delhi to bring Dawood or Hafiz Saeed into its sights,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Former Pakistani military dictator Pervez Musharraf possibly knew about slain Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his place of hiding, an eminent British journalist who reported for years from Afghanistan and Pakistan for the New York Times has claimed.
The United States has increased security at all its major airports and railway stations, and has taken a number of measures, that include temporary closure of its 22 diplomatic missions, following a "very specific" Al Qaeda threat emanating from the Arabian Peninsula.
The magnitude of atrocities inflicted by the Pakistani establishment on the Baloch people is unimaginable, says Dr Abhay Jere.
How can a State be so criminally neglectful towards the safety of its citizens, asks Tarun Vijay.
It has been over two years since Husain Haqqani was forced to resign from the coveted post of Pakistan's envoy to the United States.
Through its early days to the 1980s, Pakistan sought to expand its sphere of Islamic influence through Afghanistan to Central Asia and got Pakistani citizens recruited in the Afghan government institutions in the 1990s when the Taliban were power. Now, it is looking eastward through India to Bangladesh and Myanmar to establish an imaginary caliphate.
While inaugurating the projects, Modi said highways construction has reached 27-km a day from mere 12-km a day during the Congress regime.
Pakistan's holy trinity -- its government, military establishment and the ISI -- differ on Pakistan's domestic and foreign policy issues. So when India talks to Pakistan's political leadership it can't be sure that the promises can be delivered, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
