'The fabric of democracy is fraying,' says T V R Shenoy. 'It is being attacked not just by terrorists in Kashmir or by zealots in the North-East, but is being ripped apart even in Allahabad, in the Hindi heartland.'
The Geneva agreement is a signal, which at least Saudi Arabia and Israel are so reading, that normalisation of relations between US and Iran is not merely about the nuclear fuel cycle, says K C Singh.
The Middle East's power house is about to get a new ruler who is only 31 and he may lead Saudi Arabia for decades, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
These Indian companies truly defined the essence of entrepreneurship.
Top 21 images of all the events of the week that was.
'I have noticed how a certain country wants to establish the presence of ISIS in Bangladesh.' 'Are these terrorists working under some religious inspiration or they are being lured by an obnoxious amount of money?' 'For some mysterious reasons, no action is taken by the government against suspicious organisations.'
Director of Intelligence Bureau Syed Asif Ibrahim on Sunday said effective intelligence sharing with neighbouring countries like Nepal, Myanmar, and Malayasia, Saudi Arabia would go a long way in helping the country tackle the threat from global terror groups like the Al Qaeda and ISIS.
'Obedience, service and an over-glorified stress on keeping the family's honour intact keep Muslim women from focusing on their own happiness. So they stay joyless and 'pious,' with an ever-present hint of bitterness for the fun-loving women,' says Zoia Tariq.
The main culprit in vitiating the inter community/caste/class relations has been the so called 'targeted' approach. This is nothing but discrimination on the basis of faith/caste/class. When an equally poor and deprived child is denied scholarship, despite equal merit, resentment begins to brew, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
'The surge of Saudi nationalism is the last thing Washington wants,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The EU is likely to intensify sanctions if the situation remains tense.
With the situation showing improvement, curfew was relaxed for five hours on Wednesday in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar while Baghpat witnessed a communal clash leaving a constable injured.
In an address that was telecast live on national broadcaster Doordarshan, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday patted the Narendra Modi government for initiatives on national security, economy and international relations in a short period of four months.
'The year in pictures' treks across the globe, looking back on the moments that shaped 2016. From the United States presidential race, to demonetisation in India to the refugee crisis, the news has kept pouring in. Here are our top 50 moments from the world.
China's growing concern over the existence of terror training camps in Pakistan, establishment of an energy corridor and firming up of nuclear energy cooperation will come up for discussion during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's talks with the Chinese leadership in Beijing.
The White House said it has 'a large body' of evidence indicating that the Assad regime was responsible for the April 7 chemical attack in Duma.
'Against the backdrop of difficult administrative, political and economic problems, Imran's temperament and staying power will be the subject of intense expectation and public scrutiny,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Girls in the Kashmir valley hurling defiance at the security forces will detract from the legitimacy of India's response and its standing in the world, says Ajai Shukla.
'If push comes to shove, Pakistan does have the capability to make it difficult for the US and NATO forces to make even a withdrawal of troops out of Afghanistan in orderly fashion,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'China might soon have to seriously consider whether it prefers an Indo-US hyphenation to a Sino-Indian one.'
'Terrorism is merely a symptom of a deeper disease in Pakistan's body politic,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
According to a report by the Institute for Economics and Peace, an independent, think tank dedicated to shifting the world's focus to peace as a positive and tangible measure of progress, India ranks 143rd
The subcontinental man has a better record of fighting than Arabs, and what the Indian soldier has always needed is good leadership, says Aakar Patel.
India-Israel relations are at a crossroads. Simply chanting old hackneyed mantras on terrorism, secularism, democracy, et al, won't suffice. There is danger of stagnation setting in, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
A round-up of our favourite photographs of the week gone by.
'If the BJP wants to build a minimally inclusive and secure society, in which vulnerable groups and religious minorities don't feel persecuted, then the Sangh Parivar, the party and its government must change their ways. Or else, they risk dividing India further -- violently and irreparably -- for narrow political ends,' argues Praful Bidwai.
'We could quibble with each other whether there were 25 terrorists killed or 250 killed.' 'The message is more that India undertook such an aerial attack and this attack has actually changed the paradigm.' 'The change in paradigm is that India has shown by the surgical strike in 2016 and the aerial strike of 2019 that we will not just sit back and tolerate terrorism which killed so many of our people.' 'We will hit back and by hitting back we will raise the costs of such activities.'
Iranian President Dr Hassan Rouhani Tuesday talked about the greater need for South-South cooperation, an issue closer to India's heart and expected to be addressed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during his speech at the United Nations General Assembly this Saturday.
Michael Knights, a Boston-based Lafer Fellow of The Washington Institute who specialised in the military and security affairs of Iraq, Iran, and the Persian Gulf, spoke to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa about power of the ISIS and the reasons behind its growth
'As matters stand, Russia and Saudi Arabia, two of the world's biggest oil producers, are set for a hard landing as they didn't diversify their economies as much as they should have when the oil prices were booming.'
'She is a genuine, real, person who wants to be with girls who are suffering the way she suffered.'
Bearing in mind how full India's pitcher is with ethnic and communal complexities, only the greatest circumspection can hold this country together in a willing union.
'In a country like India, it is clear that respecting religions -- in politics or in the kitchen -- is disastrous,' says Amberish K Diwanji.
'The onus is now on China to explain to the world why it feels Pakistan should accompany India on the question of NSG Membership!! China's not so covert help for Pakistan's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes will stand exposed,' says former ambassador G Parthasarathy.
Substantial gains can still be made with good policies and initiatives.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's historic Lok Sabha election success in Uttar Pradesh has influenced its two main rivals in the state, the Samajwadi Party and Congress, to field fewer Muslim candidates for the 11 assembly seats that go to the by-polls on Saturday.
A Seattle man has been sentenced to over three years in prison and ordered to pay damages for brutally assaulting a Sikh taxi driver last year in a racially-motivated hate crime during which he used "the most disgusting and ugly" racist language against the victim.
'Even if it is difficult to replicate Bangladesh, India can cause sufficient turmoil in Pakistan to keep it off balance,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The strong Modi wave, disillusionment with the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in the state and the division of the anti-Modi vote will help the BJP leader edge closer to the PM's chair, observes Sharat Pradhan.
Centuries old religious conflicts may be nearing an inevitable end with the addition of nuclear warheads to their arsenal, says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
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