'The entire Ufa fiasco was predictable and predicted. The Ufa venue had created international interest in the initiative and its failure may have implications for both Pakistan and India. What remains for Modi to do is to produce a prettier rabbit out of his hat next time to deal with the Pakistan imbroglio,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Hours after withdrawing from the Chumar region in Ladakh, Chinese People's Liberation Army soldiers were on Friday reported to have crossed into Indian territory again and stationed themselves on a hillock.
Among very few woman editors in Kannada journalism, she was a fierce activist, who openly expressed her pro-Naxal and Leftist views.
'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 brigade that conducted the drills was from the PLA's Tibet Military Command and is one of China's two plateau mountain brigades.
'Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will have to treat these militias for what they are: Criminals armed with deadly weapons. Otherwise, nothing will distinguish the National Democratic Alliance government from the ten-year long perfidy of the UPA in Assam.'
Against the backdrop of recent incursions by Chinese troops into India, the two countries are working to conclude a new border defence agreement with an aim of signing it when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travels to Beijing possibly in October.
A spirited turn at the mic by Mahua Moitra, first-time MP from Trinamool Congress, in which she listed the "signs of early fascism", has been hailed as the "speech of the year" on social media.
'China's growing nexus with Pakistan and the two countries' unresolved territorial disputes with India continue to pose a formidable national security threat to India,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Those who are upset by the current government's hard position against agitating Kashmiris should know it is exactly as hard as the position of previous governments.' 'Congress also killed as many, and actually more, but it spoke softly.' 'The BJP uses harsher words, but that is the only real difference,' says Aakar Patel.
'Often reviled, mostly ignored, sometimes venerated, he has taken it all in his stride.' 'He has stood by the nation through thick and thin,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'We don't know what the reasons were that we gave back the Haji Pir Pass which was strategically very important. Today the entire infiltration into Kashmir takes place from that area. If we had retained that post that we had captured, things could have been different.' 'A lesson we need to learn is if you start losing the gains of war at the negotiating table, they become a disincentive for future wars,' says Lieutenant General D B Shekatkar (retd), reviewing the lessons from the 1965 War.
'If Indian armed forces entered Pakistan and succeeded in inflicting major damage on the Pakistani army and occupied territory in the Pakistani heartland, there is reason to think the Pakistani military would use some nuclear weapons against the incoming Indian forces to compel India to stop.'
Beijing is clearly rattled by the Dalai Lama's visit. Unlike the 2009 visit, which was a four-day religious tour, the current visit is a high-decibel, 10-day affair, without the fig leaf of a "religious event", reports Ajai Shukla.
Claude Arpi salutes Lieutenant General Zorawar Chand Bakshi, India's most decorated general, who passed into the ages recently.
President Ram Nath Kovind presents the President's Colours to the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre today, August 21. These are normally presented to units that distinguish themselves consistently over decades. The Ladakh Scouts became a regular army regiment only in June 2001 after its stunning performance in the Kargil conflict, notes Ajai Shukla.
'Indira Gandhi, it appears, did not to consult her Cabinet colleagues, or diplomats, or civil servants when she decided to sign the agreement in Shimla.' 'We ruefully recall Bhutto's perfidy and the Indian prime minister's gullibility,' says Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd).
Though the prime minister did not make any direct mention of these issues, he noted that nationalism has been the party's identity, sources said.
"They call themselves the champions of speech and expression. But deny the same for the people of Kerala."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang displayed a photograph of Indian 'incursion' into Donglong area.
China also hinted that India was objecting to its efforts to build the road in Donglang area of the Sikkim sector on behalf of Bhutan.
'She preserved national unity against great odds.'
Fifty years ago, India and Pakistan fought a short but bloody war. The author finds out how Sainik Samachar, the defence ministry's journal, reported it.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar wants the Modi government and BJP to reap the profit of the surgical strikes. But electoral history suggests a political party's ability to exploit military successes for poll gains has a mixed record.
'The Gita was propounded on a battlefield and regards the use of force to establish Dharma or righteousness, as not only legitimate but one's highest duty,' says Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
India is on Saturday observing the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who played a major role in the country's struggle for independence and subsequently guided its integration into a united, independent nation.
'Intrusions by PLA troops in the Ladakh sector are more in number than elsewhere and this region is now likely to remain an area of enhanced Chinese interest,' warns China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
How will the Modi Sarkar's likely return affect other nations?
'Until India fully absorbs the fundamentals of international relations, it will continue to get evil for good,' says Brahma Chellaney.
Sanaya Dalal on feminism, France and the burqa
'It is very much a danger.' 'With Tibet following the India tradition of ahimsa and the global visibility of the Dalai Lama who embodies these values, he should be supported by India as a diplomat.' 'It would be in India's self-interest and instead of being embarrassed about his presence, India should recognise this (role).' 'By appeasing China, India does not get anything in return; they (the Chinese have not stopped) claiming Arunachal, part of Kashmir, etc.'
It is unconscionable to choose between Sardar Patel, who united India physically, and Indira Gandhi, who gave meaning, content and pride to the unity of the nation and became a martyr at the altar of national unity, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Friday night said he told Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expect sabotage by "vested interests", but stressed that talks between India and Pakistan should go on "uninterrupted".
'Vietnam has become an adjective as well as a verb -- the Americans, for instance, were driven by the passion to do a 'Vietnam' on the Soviet Union when that country invaded Afghanistan in 1979.'
An influential Hindu organisation in the United States has slammed a group of lawmakers for introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives on record of India's religious freedom arguing that it is grossly inaccurate and aims to provoke.
'Pluralism is a fundamental fact of Indian life,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) tells members of the US Congress. 'Indians created a secular/plural State because that is what the majority believes in and not the other way round.'
'Everything was sacrosanct when the BJP was led by Vajpayee and Advani.' 'That was a different culture. But with Modi and Amit Shah nothing is sacrosanct.'
'Gwadar has the potential to facilitate PLAN's operations in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.' 'Reports of China setting up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar to monitor US and Indian naval activity and shipping traffic through the Straits of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea lend credence to this,' says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
'I believe Modi mentioned Balochistan only to embarrass Pakistan and also divert attention toward the situation in Kashmir.' 'I think from now on, India intends to raise Balochistan whenever Pakistan brings up Kashmir or upsets them on the issue of terrorism.' 'Balochistan is the least developed of Pakistan's four provinces. It is the least educated and least economically developed. People are agitated that a region so rich in mineral resources and a sea-port is still so poor.' Baloch political analyst Malik Siraj Akbar on why the province wants freedom from Pakistan.
'For a long time Pakistan dreamt that India would break up and that it would be the predominant power in the region,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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