An aggressive Pyongyang is likely to force Seoul and Tokyo to build nuclear deterrents and thus thwart Beijing's ambitions.
'Trump's desecration of all that Obama represented can be seen at different levels: Personal, political, systemic and structural,' explains Ambassador B S Prakash.
A combative Rahul Gandhi on Saturday signalled an aggressive campaign against the RSS soon and declared that a reinvigorated Congress alone can "smash" the BJP and its ideological mentor.
Addressing the plenary session of the 11th Asia-Europe Meeting Summit here in the Mongolian capital, Vice President Hamid Ansari said, "all our societies today face unprecedented levels of threat from terrorism in all its manifestations. The most recent example is what has happened, most unfortunately in France."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's spin doctors are on an overdrive these days to project him as a "tough talking" leader following a spate of critical media reports about his sudden silence on key issues, says rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.
'As he has no executive track record, so far, he is all talk and hence essentially a braggart and a bigot.' 'That he is described as the 'Trump of the tropics' should give a shorthand summary to what he stands for on issues in general,' points out Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former envoy to Brazil.
Separatists and their wide network must be neutralized for peace in the Valley
'Too much energy these three years has been invested in turning the party into an election-winning machine.' 'To recover its mojo, the Modi government needs a more impressive set of economic figures to flaunt,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The Congress said arrogance of the BJP has touched its zenith as it turned 'blind' to farm distress.
Why Dalit leaders cross over to the BJP
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.
If Narendra Modi wants to become prime minister, he needs to do better, argues Amberish K Diwanji.
'Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of Hindutva.' 'He just cannot think of reining in the hoodlums raging, marauding and killing in the mohallas,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
'There is a design of fundamentalists that the north east must become an Islamic country.'
Those who have studied Assam elections say the high turnout has the Congress worried.
Rediff.com lists 10 new countries that were formed over the last two decades
We take a look at Time magazines top world leaders.
A group of retired civil servants also called upon the PM to reach out to the families of the victims in Unnao and Kathua and "seek their forgiveness on behalf of all of us".
Why not agree that, yes, India is a Hindu country though not all Indians are Hindus? And that for those who are not, our Constitution is sturdily secular and always will be, says Karti Sandilya.
'Bhagwat, aware of the advantages of keeping the BJP in power, is wary about the RSS taking steps that would undermine the popular standing of either the PM or the party.'
'If you are in Punjab, Modi is omnipresent as if he is going to be chief minister of Punjab.'
'If he is in Uttarakhand, he presents himself to be the chief minister of Uttarakhand.'
'When he is in UP, he is touted as the chief minister of UP.' 'There is a personality cult which is being built around a person... that he is the panacea of every democratic exercise in India, from panchayat to Parliament.' 'Modi at some point will pay the price for trying to build a very ambitious personality cult.'
For the family and supporters of blogger Avijit Roy, who was hacked to death in Dhaka in February, it is a time to reflect on where Bangladesh is heading, says Indrani Roy.
Since the US and India broadly share similar interests in Sri Lanka, they should coordinate closely to ensure that the country preserves its democratic institutions, says Lisa Curtis
'The wheel does not need to be reinvented.' 'The question is whether we are prepared to put our shoulder to it to make it turn.'
'The original dream of people like Faiz was that Pakistan would be something different from the old India: Progressive, forward looking, democratic (if not socialist), tolerant, diverse and pluralistic.' 'I don't think anyone foresaw the catastrophe that Partition was to become.'
52 world leaders, including Narendra Modi, will attend this week's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC. Obama will meet separately only with the Chinese president.
'Our prime minister manifests a vision for India to be great and powerful, but the modernity required -- of thinking, attitudes, behaviour -- seems alien, if not abhorrent, to his constituency and associates,' says Ambassador K Shankar Bajpai.
'She was once asked what the secret to political leadership was and she said it was the ability to like all kinds of people.' 'I don't think Rahul fundamentally likes people -- that's probably why he can't deal with them and it shows.' 'Sonia is a more talented political mobiliser than her son, but I think the decline of the Congress set in in 1969...'
'The CBI and its independence was discussed in great detail. We invited and sought the views of the CBI director as well as several government officials. But the ingenious solution to the problem came from within the committee. The effort was to somehow find a solution. It would not have been possible to draft this Bill if members had not been liberal in their views and if they had not been prepared to rid themselves of their political bias.' Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi, who headed the Parliamentary committee which proposed the recommendations for the Lokpal Bill, speaks to Anita Katyal in an exclusive interview.
The writers, artistes, thinkers and academics had gathered for a "resistance" meet (Pratirodh) against what they described as "attack on reason, democracy and composite culture".
'If ISIS was popular, they don't need to use violence.' 'The strategy of violence is a false interpretation of Islam.' 'The main victims of ISIS violence are Muslims.'
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel glances at the life and political career of Alexey Navalny who has been banned from challenging Vladimir Putin in Russia's presidential election.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji turns 90 on December 25. I wish him all the best. The nation has honoured him and Pt Madan Mohan Malaviyaji with the Bharat Ratna.
'The book was NOT banned. There were NO book burnings. There were NO riots. The author was NOT sent death-threats. On the contrary, the plaintiffs pursued due process. The case is a textbook example of how to proceed with civilised, democratic dissent,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'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.'
'Tilting at the Government in English in front of India may make him feel like Joan of Arc, but without a feel for Bharat he will merely be Don Quixote,' says S Muraleedharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
As political rivals clamour to retain their pan-Tamil credentials, the BJP may use the 'nationalist' card to even the odds in its favour, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Here's the full text of President's address with a word cloud.
There is speculation that China released the White Paper on Tibet in a hurry after a Spanish court agreed to hear charges of genocide against former Chinese president Hu Jintao. Ajai Shukla reports
The futures of thousands of undocumented Indians who were taken to the US as children are in danger after Donald Trump's repeal of the DACA program.
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