PM Modi’s visit to Japan comes at the right moment to recalibrate a relationship long described as “natural” but left underutilised. We must free it from the warm and fuzzy comfort of nostalgia
Confronting only secular insurgents in Pakistan, while overlooking jihadist groups operating from Iran, will do little to change the broader strategic equilibrium. History underlines this point.
Under Nitish Kumar’s visionary Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Mission, Bihar became the first Indian state to launch the Gazetteer-cum-Atlas of Water Bodies, mapping over 550 rivers, 4,500 wetlands, and 1.06 lakh ponds.
Even without entering the debate on marriage equality, India’s laws are already punishing same-sex couples in small and large ways that are rarely discussed.
The Indian planning system did not encourage individuals based on ‘what they knew’, but on ‘whom they knew’. Many left for countries that recognised their talent.
The casualty list of the personnel killed or wounded during Op Sindoor has not been formally published. The public has been denied the opportunity to stand by and honour the families of the fallen.
India has the scale, talent, and civilisational ethos to become a trusted hub for manufacturing, technology, and services. We must deepen domestic capabilities to seize this opportunity.
Concerns around law and order or anxieties over religious conversion must be weighed against the developmental reality that the State cannot, on its own, meet the scale of India’s needs.
We now live in a world order that will keep shifting. India must use this window. This also means we remain disciplined enough not to be knee-jerked into reacting to what Pakistan sees as its moment in the sun.
Why does Mrs. Rao only single out China? She provides only a single source to back her claim of China helping Pakistan with nuclear weapons yet that same source also names the US helping Pakistan develop nuclear weapons. Similarly she only uses one source (that too Indian) regarding the quality of Chinese weaponry which infact has been battle tested in Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya. If it is so easy to defeat the Chinese in a conventional war, the US would have done so a long time ago.
She also fails to mention how Pakistan continues to have long standing strong ties with the US government and the military and intelligence establishment. American politicians continue to refer to PoK as Azad Kashmir. Pakistan ousted it’s own PM on the order of the US ambassador. Just a few years ago the Pakistan Army general had declared that the US Pakistan alliance remains the priority of Pakistan.
It is because of so called strategic thinkers like her that India finds itself surrounded and without great options. Over estimating it’s capabilities while underestimating adversaries and not having a durable, long-term plan in place.
As war clouds gather over the subcontinent, just a stray thought. India has excellent relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE, both important for Pakistan’s economy. Remittances. Direct financial support. Pakistan itself has so many domestic frailties, led by its economy. Could India have used the good offices of such common friends to stabilise its relationship with Pakistan. Whether that would have produced better results than the total cessation of a dialogue for a decade.
Mediocre write up.
Why does Mrs. Rao only single out China? She provides only a single source to back her claim of China helping Pakistan with nuclear weapons yet that same source also names the US helping Pakistan develop nuclear weapons. Similarly she only uses one source (that too Indian) regarding the quality of Chinese weaponry which infact has been battle tested in Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya. If it is so easy to defeat the Chinese in a conventional war, the US would have done so a long time ago.
She also fails to mention how Pakistan continues to have long standing strong ties with the US government and the military and intelligence establishment. American politicians continue to refer to PoK as Azad Kashmir. Pakistan ousted it’s own PM on the order of the US ambassador. Just a few years ago the Pakistan Army general had declared that the US Pakistan alliance remains the priority of Pakistan.
It is because of so called strategic thinkers like her that India finds itself surrounded and without great options. Over estimating it’s capabilities while underestimating adversaries and not having a durable, long-term plan in place.
As war clouds gather over the subcontinent, just a stray thought. India has excellent relations with Saudi Arabia and UAE, both important for Pakistan’s economy. Remittances. Direct financial support. Pakistan itself has so many domestic frailties, led by its economy. Could India have used the good offices of such common friends to stabilise its relationship with Pakistan. Whether that would have produced better results than the total cessation of a dialogue for a decade.