The Strange Case Of Manmohan Singh

In the abstract, it’s hard to imagine a situation under which a leader retires after a decade-long tenure under which more than 137 million people were lifted out of poverty and be generally considered a disappointing failure, but that’s exactly the situation facing Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who officially announced today, as had been widely expected, that […]

Rate this:

India-China Stand-Off: Sun Tzu In Action

Merely by sending a platoon of their troops to camp 19 km (upgraded after 10 days from 10 km reported earlier) inside our territory on February 15 near Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Aksai Chin region the Chinese have made the Indian government look weak and helpless […]

Rate this:

India And China: Is It About War Or Assertiveness?

China has so many other difficulties elsewhere around its perimeter—relations with Japan and the Philippines souring, for example; violent tension in its far-western province of Xinjing—it seems odd timing to choose to add another clash. Nor is it obvious that China could welcome the most likely domestic outcome in India: a stronger call for more […]

Rate this:

Can Rahul Gandhi Run India? Can Anybody?

Rahul remains a mysterious and deeply private figure. He gives infrequent speeches; rarely rises in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, where he has served since 2004; and virtually never holds on-the-record interviews with reporters, whom he plainly distrusts. Although fireworks lit up the sky on the day of his ascension and party […]

Rate this:

Is Pakistan’s Behavior Changing?

Islamabad has been trying to send signals over the last few months indicating that it is pursuing a new course of action, both internally and externally, that is more in line with international norms. Pakistan has tried to improve its relationship with India. It has also indicated a preference for a negotiated peace in Afghanistan […]

Rate this:

What China’s Transition Means For India

“Continuity” is a word that National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon is likely to hear often from his Chinese interlocutors during his visit to Beijing, which begins today. Mr. Menon, who is also the Special Representative on the boundary question, will meet State Councillor Dai Bingguo, his counterpart on the border talks, for what officials have […]

Rate this:

Afghanistan’s Fraught Future

President Hamid Karzai’s visit to India comes at a time when his nation’s future, more than at any point since 9/11, is shrouded in a fog of fear. This weekend, shells fired by his troops were reported to have killed five civilians in Pakistan’s South Waziristan agency, the latest in a series of cross-border skirmishes. […]

Rate this: