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National Interest

What is Asim Munir thinking?

Kashmir’s return to normalcy, for Pakistan Army Chief Gen Asim Munir, had to be reversed. Pahalgam wasn’t plotted in the week between the speech. It must have taken several weeks, if not months of planning.

Caste census is a bad idea whose time has come. Much worse lies ahead

One of the reasons we call the caste census a bad idea is that so far, nobody has figured what to do with the data, except Rahul Gandhi.

Pakistan ISI is killing Hindus for 45 years. To turn India into a nation at war with itself

At some point, Pakistan’s calculation has been, Hindus will rise in reprisal against their own minorities. That’s a crisis ISI has been conjuring up in India. A nation at war with itself.

Abki baar 75 paar—Modi isn’t going anywhere & the Opposition is all out of ideas

Are freebies the way forward for the Opposition? Anything they promise, Modi will improve on the offer. And since he has the power of the incumbent, his promise will be taken more seriously.

US and China are 2 clashing elephants. India can’t be the grass under their feet

Donald Trump brought clarity on his trade war with a 90-day hiatus for the rest of the world while he upped tariffs to 145...

Manoj ‘Bharat’ Kumar sang so Sunny Deol could yell—journey of Bollywood patriotism

This isn’t an obituary of Manoj Kumar. It's about the influence he had in defining patriotism for two generations of Indians across our most perilous decade, say from 1962 until the run-up to the Emergency.

Thank you Trump for putting tariff gun to India’s head. That’s the only way we’d be forced to reform

Trump threatening to pull the trigger might be just what is needed to wake up India’s self-congratulatory establishment from its headline-managing fantasies.

One prime minister’s 19-month legacy is bigger than another’s Emergency

Shastri’s legacy is unfairly overshadowed by peace he made at Tashkent and a visit that also took his life. Among his contributions were Green Revolution and talent-hunting Dr Swaminathan.

Trick or retreat: There’s a grand deception behind Indian military shortfalls, and in this column

It is fashionable to curse Rajiv Gandhi for Bofors and more, but the truth is that 1985-89 was the only period in our history when weapons acquisitions were proactive and futuristic.

Minimum Trump, Maximum Modi—US is gutting bureaucracy, India is turbocharging it

Trump is the insurgent, who sees career civil servants as evil. For Modi, the career civil servant represents continuity, change and loyalty.

On Camera

Trump tariff forces India to shed illusion. Stop conflating status with power

India’s future lies in pragmatism. Protectionism must be phased out gradually, not in disruptive shocks.

Trump’s new trade tariff will have an impact not just on India but also South Asia. Here’s how

India's $86.5 bn in exports to US could be significantly impacted but it is expected to remain a preferred country for manufacturing.

India to get last of Spain-built C-295 next month, focus now on 1st India-made aircraft

New Delhi: The last of the C-295 transport aircraft that is replacing the ageing Avro fleet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be...

Modi’s Bharat vs Indira’s India: 11-yr report card of politics, diplomacy, economy, nationalism

As Narendra Modi becomes India’s second-longest consecutively serving Prime Minister, we look at how he compares with Indira Gandhi across four key dimensions.