While PM Modi has attacked previous govts for fighting terrorism with dossiers, its use was institutionalised by Vajpayee govt. Policy succeeded more than many can grasp.
Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia in 2019. Court convicted him of high treason for his actions on 3 November, 2007, when he suspended Constitution & imposed emergency.
His worldview was shaped by the foundational logic of Pakistan — that its people could preserve its purity only in a separate State achieved by mutilating India.
Delhi-born Musharraf served in 1965 India-Pak war & fought in 1971. When choosing him as Army chief, PM Nawaz Sharif had little inkling that Kargil war & dictatorship would follow.
An ailing Musharraf wants to ‘spend rest of his life’ in Pakistan, and Nawaz Sharif — whom he had ousted in a coup — wants to the government to facilitate the return.
Dictator Musharraf badly damaged Pakistan: Assassination of Benazir, 26/11 attacks in India and the US Navy SEALs raid that killed Osama in Abbottabad. But he believed he was a democrat.
In the capitals that will now be the unhappiest, a Kamala Harris victory was presumed, and a lot of actions and calculations were predicated upon that.
India-US trade in first 3 yrs under Biden was $122 bn, while it was $83 bn in Trump’s first term. Average trade surplus in India’s favour grew from $18 bn under Trump to $31 bn under Biden.
The Chinese aircraft has uncanny similarities to the American F-35 jet. There are claims that China copied the design. Cyber theft of F-35 design data was reported in 2009.
While we talk much about our military, we don’t put our national wallet where our mouth is. Nobody is saying we should double our defence spending, but current declining trend must be reversed.
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