Return to hyphenation is dreaded because our successive govts have laboured for three decades to rid us of what we see as the equivalence big powers used to draw between us and Pakistan. Three things follow.
The Chinese use Pakistan as a cheap instrument to triangulate India between them. It is safer to presume that the Chinese now see Pakistan as an extension of their Western Theatre Command.
Asim Munir locked up Imran Khan, had his handmaiden parliament give himself an extended tenure. But the additional jingle of that fifth star will not change facts on the ground.
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.
‘Nationalisation of the Imperial Bank and recently nationalisation of life insurance have dealt further blows to Private Enterprise and made capital more and more shy', wrote AD Shroff in his 1956 essay.
Working paper invited backlash from several farmers’ groups including BKU & BKS who opposed recommendation for import of genetically modified soybean & corn for oil extraction.
Doval pushes back against foreign media narratives that suggested Pakistan inflicted damage on India, hails armed forces for precision of strikes, effectiveness of indigenous weapons.
BJP has no dynastic succession, at least not at the top. You can trace this back to Vajpayee-Advani era. This act of spotting, empowering younger talent is even more striking with the choice of BJP presidents.
If two countries are at war or very close to it ( Donald Rumsfeld or Donald Trump ) and a common friend douses the fire, we should not mind. Not one bit. If you stop all dialogue for a decade, a vacuum builds up. 2. Sphere of influence. That status has to be earned. Earlier, Monroe Doctrine, sheer predominance. Now, in a globalised world, through economic engagement, trade, investment flows as well. Which is what makes China a competitor, in South Asia, also South east Asia. Perhaps West Asia as well. 3. Even during the Biden administration, the bilateral relationship was under stress, undergoing reevaluation on both sides. More so now. 4. Indian foreign policy and its practise of diplomacy require many resets, radiating outwards from South Asia. Not in a sweet spot in any sense, in any part of the world.
If two countries are at war or very close to it ( Donald Rumsfeld or Donald Trump ) and a common friend douses the fire, we should not mind. Not one bit. If you stop all dialogue for a decade, a vacuum builds up. 2. Sphere of influence. That status has to be earned. Earlier, Monroe Doctrine, sheer predominance. Now, in a globalised world, through economic engagement, trade, investment flows as well. Which is what makes China a competitor, in South Asia, also South east Asia. Perhaps West Asia as well. 3. Even during the Biden administration, the bilateral relationship was under stress, undergoing reevaluation on both sides. More so now. 4. Indian foreign policy and its practise of diplomacy require many resets, radiating outwards from South Asia. Not in a sweet spot in any sense, in any part of the world.