India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold war. We have to decide if global opinion matters to us or not. If it does, we must engage with their media, think tanks, civil society.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Recommendations appear in Niti Aayog’s Tax Policy Working Paper Series–II. It says there is a need to shift away from fear-based enforcement to trust-based governance.
In service with the British military since 2019, it is also known as the Martlet missile. Ukrainians have also deployed these missiles against Russian troops.
Education, reservations, govt jobs are meant to bring equality and dignity. That we are a long way from that is evident in the shoe thrown at the CJI and the suicide of Haryana IPS officer. The film Homebound has a lesson too.
I think you’re finding your voice again. The last few articles have been excellent. I felt the few before that had sentiments that were not entirely convincingly coming through in the articles.
Good to be looking forward to your articles each week again.
Have been reading Western media for over a decade now and having also lived in the West, the thing that stands out to me is how utterly corrupt they are. Half-truths and selective outrage is applied not just to India but even within their own countries. This applies to both right and left. This is all about controlling the public and access to power and money. They are also used by their governments as the occasion arises to promote narratives. So, no! Don’t bother to “engage” with them. The more you grovel, the more contempt they have for you. Instead, build your own credible, high-quality media, including streaming platforms. I also read the article on Mahmudabad in Swarajya. I think he worked cleverly and India’s dumb BJP politicians fell into the trap. Any line that “Muslims are so ill-treated in India” will always have takers in Western media. Where there is demand, the supply will follow.
We cannot have it both ways. Making a conscious choice of the West, led by the United States, as a long term strategic partner of choice, for both security and economic cooperation, and then run a parallel narrative ( not my favourite word ) of how they are conspiring all the time, most incredibly sometimes in collaboration with China, to run us down. Authoritative global media values its masthead, in a way many of our channels do not. One day at the height of the fighting was especially egregious. We must engage with it. Not as a lobbying or PR exercise but a serious conversation with a country whose global salience is increasing. We should also be very mindful of global indices and where India figures in them.
I think you’re finding your voice again. The last few articles have been excellent. I felt the few before that had sentiments that were not entirely convincingly coming through in the articles.
Good to be looking forward to your articles each week again.
Have been reading Western media for over a decade now and having also lived in the West, the thing that stands out to me is how utterly corrupt they are. Half-truths and selective outrage is applied not just to India but even within their own countries. This applies to both right and left. This is all about controlling the public and access to power and money. They are also used by their governments as the occasion arises to promote narratives. So, no! Don’t bother to “engage” with them. The more you grovel, the more contempt they have for you. Instead, build your own credible, high-quality media, including streaming platforms. I also read the article on Mahmudabad in Swarajya. I think he worked cleverly and India’s dumb BJP politicians fell into the trap. Any line that “Muslims are so ill-treated in India” will always have takers in Western media. Where there is demand, the supply will follow.
We cannot have it both ways. Making a conscious choice of the West, led by the United States, as a long term strategic partner of choice, for both security and economic cooperation, and then run a parallel narrative ( not my favourite word ) of how they are conspiring all the time, most incredibly sometimes in collaboration with China, to run us down. Authoritative global media values its masthead, in a way many of our channels do not. One day at the height of the fighting was especially egregious. We must engage with it. Not as a lobbying or PR exercise but a serious conversation with a country whose global salience is increasing. We should also be very mindful of global indices and where India figures in them.