There are no shortcuts to good governance. Certainly not negative ones A group of well-meaning citizens and organisations came together in Mumbai on 11th January and “discussed strategies for networking, shortlisting common activities and adding value to each others’ core competencies”. Among those present were members from Youth For Equality, Yuva, Association For Democratic Reforms ...
Not quite In Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha’s now famous interview to Der Spiegel, he defends the Taliban’s right to "freedom of opinion" although the question itself related to Mullah Omar’s presence in Pakistan. However, it is worth listening closely when the general explains why he too is unwilling to apprehend the Taliban leadership, even ...
A parting shot of wisdom Lasantha Wickramatunga, editor of Sri Lanka’s Sunday Leader was murdered in Colombo last week. The Leader published a posthumous editorial that appears to have been written by the late Mr Wickramatunga before his death (linkthanks Anand Sampath). Neither should our distaste for the war be interpreted to mean that we ...
Selective outrage In his piece on the readiness with which people come out on the streets to protest against Israel, Mark Steyn writes: Only Israel attracts an intellectually respectable movement querying its very existence. For the purposes of comparison, let’s take a state that came into existence at the exact same time as the Zionist ...
The farce is with him Yousuf Raza Gilani, who became Pakistan’s prime minister before he knew what was going on, and remains prime minister without knowing what is going on (and, is likely to still not know what is going down even after not remaining the prime minister) has upstaged the Pakistani foreign office spokesperson—historically, ...
The solution is staring at Barack Obama’s face—if he has the audacity to grasp it It is good to hear General Petraeus acknowledge that Iran “had common interests with the United States and other nations in a secure Afghanistan.” Although he hinted that such interests might make talks with Iran feasible, he said he would ...
Buying arms from big trading partners is a good idea From the geopolitical perspective, the Boeing P8I “Poseidons” that India has contracted to purchase are very good deal. India should ideally purchase military equipment from countries with whom it has broad and deep trading relationships. The current situation is quite the opposite: India has next ...
The Pakistani government is tying itself in knots merely on account of the extremely trivial matter of having to accept that Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman "Kasab" is a Pakistani national. They already sacked the national security advisor. Now imagine the upheaval if the matters they will have to accept are not that trivial. Tweet ...
The idea of ‘surgical strikes’ has gained popularity in drawing room and public house conversations after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai. Srinath Raghavan & Rudra Chaudhuri explain why they are not such a good idea (linkthanks Dhruva). ‘Surgical strikes’, we are told, could go a long way in destroying terrorist camps and infrastructure located in ...
India must not allow the Nepalese government’s anti-India moves go unchecked For 275 years, the priests at Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath Temple have come from "south of the Vindhyas", often from the Udupi and the Dakshina Kannada regions of Karnataka. The temple is one of Nepal’s most important religious institutions, not to mention a major tourist attraction. ...