Critics of the Indian government see inconsistency in its apparently contradictory posture over the WTO agreement and relations with Pakistan, but observers of Indian foreign policy and strategic thinking must pay closer attention to the underlying message emanating from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, writes Sanjaya Baru Read Here – Indian Express
The legacy of tension has persisted for nearly seven decades, but one thing people on both sides of the India-Pakistan border have shared is the memory of partition’s trauma. Now, though, people who were children in 1947 are in their seventies and eighties, meaning that these common memories are fading. Read Here – The Atlantic
Russia’s decision to go ahead with the sale of Mi-35 attack helicopters to Pakistan, even in the face of official Indian concerns, is being seen by some quarters as evidence of a “major” regional re-alignment in the wake of the American drawdown in Afghanistan. Read Here – The Diplomat
The arrival of Hamid Karzai, on the heels of the U.S. invasion in 2001, promised Afghans a break from the recent bloody past. Karzai’s lack of involvement in the long, brutal civil war that followed the Soviet retreat in 1989 raised the possibility of a unified country after a decade of battling fiefs. Read Here […]
The Pentagon’s annual report on China says that the scale of the PLAAF’s modernization is “unprecedented in history.” Read Here – The Diplomat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured Bhutan of India’s support during his first trip abroad, a move seen by many as an attempt to assert his country’s influence in South Asia where China has steadily made inroads. Read Here – Reuters Read More – Hindustan Times
The SAARC summit in Kathmandu this November will see all countries give another push to SAFTA, the free trade agreement, while they will discuss cooperation on everything from power distribution and roadways to the welfare of overseas workers. At a book launch in his house, Mr. Modi told journalists that “What happens in the countries […]
The hoped-for peace process (between India and Pakistan) could turn to war—with huge implications for the United States—if militant actors in Pakistan attack India in hopes of provoking Modi to overreact. Something like this happened in 1999. Read Here – The National Interest
“The water in Afghanistan,” General Zia-ul-Haq had told his spymaster in December 1979, “must boil at the right temperature.” India still has time to learn from the lessons of the war that was lost 25 years ago, and work to make sure the pot doesn’t boil over, writes Praveen Swami Read Here – The Hindu
At the turn of the century Afghanistan was economically comatose. The arrival of international forces in 2001 also marked the start of unprecedented international support. After 12 years of conflict, Afghanistan remains a burden for the international community. Read Here – The Diplomat
looking beyond borders 