Courtesy: Kash_if/Flickr
In the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, the Pakstani deep state role was highlighted. The U.S. has come to realise this reality too. Bilateral information sharing could prove to be vital to combat terrorism - both regionally and globally.
Courtesy: *_*/Flickr
Amidst the ongoing blame game between India and Pakistan, Masood Hasan, a Lahore-based columnist, explores the complex range of Pakistani reactions to 26/11 – from denial to defensiveness to even apathy, and the ramifications of this tenebrous environment.
Courtesy: isafmedia/Flickr
Last May, U.S. citizen David Headley confessed to being a spy for the Lashkar-e-Taiba. What no one has tackled yet is whether there are other Headleys out there whose actions threaten India, or any other country. Even with thousands of intelligence agencies scouting for terrorist activities, are we really safer?
Courtesy: PMO
Creating a neighbourhood of compatible interests in South Asia isn’t easy, especially when intra-regional trade accounts for only 5% of total trade in the region. However, the region has seen considerable progress in the past year. India is well poised to lead the change, starting with the upcoming SAARC summit.
Courtesy: U.S. Navy/WikimediaCommons
In the context of security and sovereignty, India is involuntarily Pakistan-centric and Sino-deferential. India must deal with China with deference without degradation, firmness without confrontation, and raise the threshold of its defense posture in physical and policy measures, without upping the ante.
Courtesy: PMO
NATO’s poor strategy in Afghanistan has failed to quell the Taliban. Now, India will begin to train the Afghani military, and has proven with its light force tactics in Kashmir that it is better suited for the role than NATO forces.
Shortly after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka, Gateway House interviewed the Bangladeshi High Commissioner to India, Tariq Ahmad Karim, who commented on the prospects of enhanced relations between the two nations, and the opportunities that lie ahead.
Courtesy: PMO
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s speech at the UN General Assembly has put Indian perceptions on the record and clearly outlined India’s independent foreign policy. India came out unequivocally in support of the Palestinian struggle & reiterated its traditional stance of respecting countries’ sovereignty.
India’s relations with Russia have to be set against the broader strategic landscape of India’s security issues and geopolitical priorities, especially in Central Asia and Afghanistan, where Russia is a key player. An increase in private sector initiatives can also ensure greater cooperation in the years to come.
Corruption has become a galling global phenomenon: structured, vertically-integrated networks, whose objective is the extraction of resources, are forming in countries around the globe. And strikingly, these structures are masquerading as democratically-elected, seemingly-open governments.
