For all the tall claims of reducing Pakistan into irrelevance in India’s foreign policy, there is a one-word counter. Politics. Pakistan is the perennially useful weapon in BJP’s domestic politics. In the last 24 hours, PM Modi and CM Adityanath have both called their opponents Pakistan-sympathisers. It’s BJP’s phantom limb.
US Fed rate cut should push RBI to follow suit. GDP growth has slowed, it’s time for change
US Fed’s 50bps rate cut should push RBI to follow suit. Its conservative stance on inflation has yielded results, but it’s time for a pivot. It’s true inflation has eased below RBI’s target, but GDP growth has slowed too. RBI can’t leave burden of demand generation on only the government.
Why blame only BJP?
Even reputed journalists like Shekhar Gupta are responsible for India’s addiction to Pakistan. Every second CTC episode is on Pakistan related topics. And he proudly proclaims “Pakistan is our internal affair.”
Very unfortunately, this absolutely unhealthy obsession with Pakistan, which many of our esteemed journalists have, has percolated down to the younger generation.
This will surely hurt us in the long run.
Inflation has fallen below 4% for the last two months. A good monsoon will help with food prices. Even so, while deciding on rate cuts, the RBI should also consider the interests of saving households. A major portion of bank FDs are held by senior citizens, in a country where there is no concept of Social Security.
The Indus Waters Treaty has now become a matter of dispute. It had required patient handholding by the World Bank over nine years to bring it to fruition. There is no official trade. No High Commissioners. Missions functioning at reduced strength. The UNGA session will see cross talk between the two delegations. The 2021 ceasefire along the LoC is coming under strain. Two nuclear armed neighbours not talking to each other cannot be regarded as normal diplomatic practice. Even as India advises nations involved in conflict that this is not the era of war, lasting solutions cannot be found on the battlefield.