From overseeing planning of Pokhran tests to mending ties with the US, Pakistan and China, Brajesh Mishra implemented the foreign policy sketched out by the Vajpayee government.
The whole truth regarding the 1991 reforms is that India was in the process of revamping its industrial and trade policies from the last years of Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure.
The irony with PC Alexander was that when Indira Gandhi returned to power in 1980, she handpicked him as Principal Secretary and he became her political adviser, conscience keeper and administrative trouble-shooter.
The Morarji Desai PMO was divested of the IB, the R&AW, and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. But the civil servants still looked up to V Shankar for guidance and advice.
PN Haksar emerged as Indira Gandhi's ideological beacon and moral compass, playing a pivotal role in ‘Garibi Hatao’ and transformed her image from a 'goongi gudiya' to an 'Iron Lady'.
It’s ironic that the PMO, often accused of giving India a de facto presidential form of governance, was created by one of the most consultative prime ministers, Lal Bahadur Shastri.
The US and Israel’s assassinations of Iranian leadership ended up bestowing martyrdom on those killed. Shias saw the deaths as a continuity of martyrdom from the Battle of Karbala.
India’s fast-growing data centre sector may strain state electricity networks; Central Electricity Authority has urged Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu to boost capacity.
Indian Navy chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said that the ongoing conflict in West Asia illustrates that speed is no longer merely an enabler of warfare but a distinct capability.
China patiently invested capital, skill and technology in coal gasification. Unlike it, we won’t move from words to action. As crude prices decline, we lose interest.
COMMENTS