Afghanistan is turning into a horror show
The recent 21st Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit meeting in Dushanbe has once again brought to the fore the unresolved imbroglio in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his short but focused virtual address flagged challenges of terrorism and the need for theological correctives to promote moderate and inclusive regime. Notwithstanding these very relevant concerns, the […]
Making sense of the many layers of fauji secularism
There has been an ongoing debate on perceived dilution of secular practices in Army. The catalyst has been video footage of attestation parade, later described as Shastra-Puja, where new religious practices and music were included. It is learnt that former chiefs raised this issue in Army chiefs’ conclave, which was underway, and they were assured […]
Lopsided public discourse in social media era
India has recorded phenomenal mushrooming of think tanks, with a 120% increase in their numbers in the last three years. According to global rating agency, India currently has 507 think tanks, narrowly surpassing China. USA with 1,871, tops the list. Notwithstanding the quantitative growth, we lag in qualitative terms, particularly regulatory frameworks for discussion and […]
Regaining a sense of relevance in Afghanistan maelstrom
Afghanistan is reeling under ever worsening humanitarian maelstrom with harsh winter, pandemic and famine. The disaster is compounded by inept Taliban government, struggling to find even basic international acceptance. The stark reality festers, in form of plight of significant number of refugees in the western and the gulf countries. It has also triggered in Europe […]
Pak’s 1st National Security Policy doesn’t spell out cogent road map
Pakistan has announced its first-ever and much-touted National Security Policy (NSP). The document spells out national security vision with vague guidelines for goals. It has been projected as citizen-centric initiative and document is liberally peppered with phraseology like — whole of nation, inclusive national dialogue, unity in diversity, normalisation, pluralistic anti-terror strategy etc. One typical […]
Pakistan stands at crossroads
The geostrategic environment around India has indeed become very murky and chaotic. Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Afghanistan are embroiled in flux and turbulence. Lankan imbroglio has geoeconomics dimension with China being the main catalyst for fiscal abyss and looming humanitarian crisis. Kathmandu is headed for elections under court-mandated caretaker government. Naypyidaw is still grappling […]
Why Beijing hit the reset on BRI & CPEC
President Xi Jinping, during the recent 20th National Congress of CCP, announced that China has achieved its first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society. This assertion is validated, in lifting 770 million out of poverty. An internationally peer-reviewed study has inferred that most important driver for astounding Chinese progress is development of transportaion […]