'When the war against Ukraine that Putin started is not going the way he was expecting it to and his military options are getting onerous, a bit of nuclear sabre rattling is what he hopes will turn things around for him and Russia.'
We see none of the euphoric build-up customary to India's encounter with US presidents in recent times. This gives Modi wriggle room to work on the much-needed reset of India-US ties.
'We are witnessing a spectacle of breathtakingly creative diplomacy at work, riveted on the firm foundations of the country's strategic autonomy,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
With Beijing having had a profound rethink on India's admission as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the tectonic plates of the geopolitics of a massive swathe of the planet stretching from the Asia-Pacific to West Asia are dramatically shifting. That grating noise in the Central Asian steppes will be heard far and wide -- as far as North America, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A 'Hindu India' would not be Hindu at all, but a 'Sanghi Hindutva state', which is a different country altogether, says Tharoor in his new book The Battle of Belonging that was released on Saturday.
The biggest success of Nawaz Sharif's visit to India is that it will lessen mistrust between the two countries, writes Amir Mateen from Islamabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said his government has carried out major reforms -- including labour reforms and reforms in insurance and defence sectors -- 'in less than 100 days' and stopped reversals Indian economy had been facing.
'Secretiveness and the element of surprise in announcing decisions marks the Modi style of diplomacy. From being a voluble politician, he became a reticent statesman... But the diplomatic dance is performed on thin ice and his adroitness is still to be proved,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Secularism as a principle and practice in India is in "danger", but "forces of hatred" cannot alter the country's secular character, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said during an interview on his new book 'The Battle of Belonging'. In the book, Tharoor makes a stinging critique of the Hindutva doctrine, asserting that it is a political doctrine, not a religious one.
The ministry's year-end review is silent on the continued occupation by Chinese troops of territory that India has always claimed and patrolled.
'That the two sides allowed such a situation to arise exposed the level of inaction and inefficiency in China-India border management.' 'The Modi-Xi meeting in Xiamen initiated a process to to avert such contingencies in the future.'
Sorabjee had been honoured with Padma Vibhushan in 2002 for his defence of the freedom of expression and the protection of human rights.
Dattatreya Hosabale and Manmohan Vaidya have been invited as speakers at the event starting tomorrow.
'Pakistan's negativism should be seen as the reason for India losing interest in SAARC.'
The new government must initiate a comprehensive review of India's nuclear weapons doctrine and posture. Ajai Shukla explains
China will flood direct flights to India with wholesale takeaways of the authentic stuff; Indian businessmen will fight for the commission and the consumers for the cuisine, predicts Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Former external affairs minister, K Natwar Singh, shares his critique of the Narendra Modi government's foreign policy in this e-mailed interview with Aditi Phadnis. Edited excerpts
'There is no such thing as ultimate survivability.'
'It's all comparative -- who outperforms, who uses tactics, who optimises technology to the best is what makes the difference.'
The op-ed ends with a call to the world to work shoulder to shoulder to end hate, violence and suffering.
The organisation established its electoral presence post-Independence in states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Assam, with West Bengal being its main stronghold, but eight decades down the line, the party, now limited to just some pockets of the country, has no MP or MLA in its kitty.
'The trick in a democratic battle is to highlight those aspects of one's personality which are the opposite of the 'enemy's',' argues Amulya Ganguli.
He said the 'toxic combination of deep distrust, pervasive fear and a sense of hopelessness in our society' is stifling economic activity and growth.
'But you cannot encroach upon the spaces that belong to the public.' 'For this new Parliament building, we envisage a minimum of 400 trucks, the huge long trailer trucks will be coming in day in and day out right into the heart of the national capital.' 'It will completely destroy Delhi's peace.' 'The beautiful sylvan surroundings of the quiet, beautiful, New Delhi is going to be destroyed for all time to come.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party, if voted to power, will "revise" the country's nuclear doctrine to make it "relevant to challenges of current times", said the party manifesto while talking about maintaining the credible minimum deterrent in tune with the "changing geostatic realities".
Only on Wednesday, in his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Modi said he wants to resolve the Kashmir issue through Vajpayee's doctrine of "Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat" - a testimony to the former PM's lasting legacy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday visited the Sivagiri Mutt, a revered spiritual centre established in Varkala, Kerala by the renowned 20th century saint-social reformer Sree Narayana Guru, and paid respects at his samadhi.
He said the country now possesses the capability to strike satellites in outer space with centimetre-level accuracy and precision.
In its manifesto, the party made a string of promises, including expeditious construction of a Ram temple, doubling farmers income and the scrapping of Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
'Blanket protection to MLAs, who are driven not by ideology but by far baser concerns, is unheard-of'
US-India defence cooperation must not adversely affect the India-Russia interface, which has its own strategic meaning and content, asserts Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'It is crucial today to realise where we have reached in this 15 year-period in order to fully and properly assess the profundity of what General Rawat has said,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'India cannot allow Beijing's policy of stabilising and destabilising the border at will to perpetuate its own ends.' A riveting excerpt from Manish Tiwari's 10 Flashpoints; 20 Years National Security Situations That Impacted India.
'The attacks made clear to all the Gulf States that Pakistan was the nursery and sanctuary of extremist violence and that this violence threatened all the countries in the region.'
'As of now, it seems like they want to tread the Vajpayee line, but the central government has to create trust.' 'It has to be vibrant and unambiguous.'
Indian agencies have been engaged in countering Pakistani cyber-attacks on social media platforms for a very long time. But just like the fight against the coronavirus, only through the active participation of ordinary citizens that this war on fake news can be won, suggets Colonel S Dinny (retd).
The army chief said that India needs to broaden its understanding of national security and must examine non-traditional threats like pandemics "de-novo" as they have the potential to inflict severe damage on the country. "We need to act and prepare ourselves accordingly."
Dhanteras, the prime minister said, has become even more special.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said resumption of talks with Pakistan was to "try and turn the course of history" and to bring an end to terrorism, but made it clear that the neighbouring country would be judged by its commitment on terrorism.
'Mr Modi's next challenger/s will need to invent a new politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
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