'How does one get to weaken all those pillars on which the Deep State of Pakistan and the Separatists rely to prevent the situation reaching that point; how must this stage of the proxy war be countered? In many ways the strategy being followed by the adversaries is a smart one, acting within threshold and avoiding overpitch,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The Kartarpur corridor was an excellent opportunity for the Congress to seize centre-stage in Sikh religious affairs. After all, the Akalis never achieved this in their years in power, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'As far as acquisition of Russian equipment is concerned, with about 70% of Indian military equipment being of Russian origin, a sudden decision to abandon imports from Russia is not feasible,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
'If the strength of foreign terrorists can be brought to negligible levels there will be few takers for militancy.' 'That is why it is important to neutralise the terrorists at their launch pads,' advises Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
He said the Congress party might give a surprise or two in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh 'about what the party is capable of doing and to mobilise people'.
'The strategy has to be restoring order in one part and countering the very effective propaganda through a very nimble monitoring and response system,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain, who retired as the General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps.
'Islamist terror groups have never been challenged ideologically. As long as their ideology survives, like cancer, these groups will sprout somewhere else, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'It is important to destroy, to undermine, to debunk the narrative of ISIS,' Olivier Roy -- one of the world's leading experts on radical Islam -- tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel in an exclusive interview.
Five persons, including founder of local terror group Tehreek-Ghalba-e-Islam Viqaruddin Ahmed, were on Tuesday killed in an encounter with the police in Telangana's Warangal district.
Did an officer in the Tamil Nadu Intelligence Bureau deliberately keep mum about the plot to target BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani during his October 2011 Rath Yatra? Was a police informer behind the failed operation?
'The Pakistani game plan in making its envoy in India to perform the last rites of a fledgling peace process is madness with a method.'
'Imagine for a moment that the Coast Guard was unable to stop the vessel and it reached Porbandar with its cargo/personnel and targeted the event at which the prime minister was present,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Though it is a little too neat and a little too light, Rubaru Roshni is important because it is telling us stories of people who have experienced an 'Inner Migration' in their lives, notes Sreehari Nair.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of indulging in political exploitation of the sacrifices of soldiers in remarks that come in the wake of cross-LoC surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
'Three security challenges could emerge shortly. The possibility (almost bordering on certainty) is as certain as the fact that night follows day: A terrorist attack by a Pakistan-based group. Chinese intrusion on the border.Communal tension/riots.' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) explains what the Modi Sarkar needs to be prepared for.
The waving of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria flags in Kashmir is a matter of concern and "deserves the highest attention of the security agencies" so that the Valley youth are prevented from being lured into the ranks of the jihadist organisation, a top army official said on Wednesday.
'The government has sent a clear message to Pakistan: It is no longer business as usual.' 'The rules of the game have changed and a new game is at play,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Award-winning lawyer, Claire Montgomery, the Queen's Counsel, is likely to fight the Indian government's attempt to extradite him to India.
'These ISIS terrorists want to smash Western civilisation, smash India. For the time being though, their main target would be the US and Europe.'
In the absence of a conducive environment, India should not show any "hurry" to hold talks with Pakistan when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits New York later this month, BJP president Rajnath Singh said.
'This is a movie made with this gaze fixed on its immediate well-wishers, while at the same time it squints hard looking for those swaying back and forth on the fence,' notes Rohit Sathish Nair.
India needs to have a re-look of whole gamut of its relations with major powers and also prepare for a more turbulent neighbourhood. But such is the tyranny of Indian status quo mindset that any talk of re-look at nuclear doctrine or foreign relations is treated as blasphemy, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
'Irrespective of their politics, people feel happy.' 'One of the best compliments I have received is that I have made it from Kashmir to Karnataka.'
'What we need from the civilian and military authorities are clear strategies rather than an emotional decision to hang terrorists on death row.'
Rahul Gandhi thinks his imaginary Congress is the silver bullet; Narendra Modi thinks he himself is the silver bullet; Arvind Kejriwal seems to think that neighbourhood councils are a silver bullet. But none of them is right, says Mihir S Sharma.
A white powder was found wrapped in a paper close to the seat of the Leader of the Opposition Ram Govind Choudhry.
How to deal with a country that has made export of terror a reason to make the world notice and fund it? Rediff.com contributor Sanjeev Nayyar offers a few suggestions
'India is a major target for ISIS and Al Qaeda because it has a very large Muslim Diaspora, regular conflicts with a Muslim country and experiences violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims on a regular basis.' 'This provides for a very stable breeding ground for jihadist radicalisation and recruitment.'
Sanjeev Nayar offers some ideas on how Indians can help in improving the lives of those living in border areas and in the process help the Indian Army.
Rediff.com reproduces the translation of the remarks made by President Ashraf Ghani at a press conference.
Members of all parties condemned the killings in the name of cow.
Shiv Sena activists threw ink at me and smeared my face. They abused me, Kulkarni alleged.
Why does the army remain embroiled in counter-insurgency, denying itself a peace dividend even after expending blood and treasure in imposing calm?
India and China on Wednesday signed in all nine agreements, including the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement and one on strengthening cooperation on trans-border rivers, after restricted and delegation-level talks that lasted over two hours as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Li Keqiang met for the second time this year for talks which the Indian leader described as "fruitful and productive".
'While economic ties are making incremental progress, it is in the security and strategic domains that the India-Japan synergy is more compelling,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
Two organisations tracking tax violations and money laundering worldwide identify totally different sets of countries for lack of financial transparency.
'Worryingly, intelligence assessments indicate that growing disaffection amongst the youth is ceding ground to fundamentalist Islamist groups like Islamic State,' reports 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.
