Pakistan’s policy of nurturing militias as strategic assets came home to roost on December 16 when Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)jihadis shot 148 persons, including 132 students, at the Army Public School in Peshawar in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. The victims, mostly offspring of military personnel, were killed as revenge for Zarb-e-Azab, the Army … Read More
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brief visit to India last week was a rewarding climax to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s international outreach this year, deepening ties forged at the BRICS and other summits, satisfying some national security needs, and aligning with Mr Modi’s signature project, Make in India. The visit was … Read More
In an reluctant admission that the brutish, well-funded, and well-equipped Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham (Daesh) or Islamic State (IS) cannot be defeated without the cooperation of Iran, the United States has tactfully shelved plans to oust Syrian President Basher al-Assad, a close ally of Teheran, and has since … Read More
Article 370 has been distrusted from its inception; but until now it could never be discussed seriously because the vested interests in favour of retaining it seemed invincible. Now, however, though it is far from being expunged from the Constitution, a serious debate has been joined. Last December, the then … Read More
An astonishing aspect of the Assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir is not the controversy over Article 370 but the revelation that the Bharatiya Janata Party may itself be conflicted over this constitutional provision. After sharply raising the ante, infusing life into the lacklustre National Conference and increasing the dogmatism … Read More
