54 PoWs and the shadow of Nehru

Ravi Shanker Kapoor The murder of Sarabjit Singh has brought the issue of 54 Indian prisoners of war (PoWs) to the fore. They were among the 400-500 PoWs captured in the 1971 India-Pakistan War. While many were allowed to come back, 54 soldiers became victims of the sadism of Pakistani authorities and the neglect of [...]

India should Contribute Troops for Afghan Peace

As an aspiring, though reluctant regional power, India must overcome its fear of overseas military interventions – occasioned by the ill-advised and unsuccessful foray into Sri Lanka in the 1980s – and stand up and be counted as a genuine rising power that is willing to discharge legitimate regional responsibilities.

Afghanistan’s Options

Ten years after the first Bonn Conference, the Bonn 2 Summit on Dec 5 is unlikely to yield any solution in absence of Pakistan. The various Pakistan based and supported Taliban groups may not be brought to the table. Pakistan was seen as the critical interlocutor during the summit because of its deep links with [...]

SAARC 2011- Optimism or Pragmatic Realism

To ensure a favourable neighbourhood, India needs to take proactive initiatives that combine good economics and astute diplomacy. A shortsighted approach vacillating between appeasement and coercion has not yielded the desired results. In the prevailing environment, smaller neighbours are not averse to India playing a lead role as long as their interests are well served.

Perspectives on Draw Down in Afghanistan

US began nominal withdrawal with pulling out of 1000 troops comprising two groups - the Iowa National Guard’s 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment soldiers from Parwan province in eastern Afghanistan, and the other group from the capital, Kabul. It is not yet clear whether the surge of 33,000 troops has yielded any tangible results but the pull [...]

The Afghanistan Draw Down

As President Obama took office he shifted focus from Iraq to Afghanistan. However two years down the line his promised surge and draw down have yet to reduce any tangible results. Training the Afghanistan Security forces(ASF) was the prime ticket for the draw down. The primary hypothesis for the ISAF troops to begin the withdrawal [...]

NATO Realigns

Group Profile Portugal Summit Redefining Threats NATO leaders on Friday adopted a new Strategic Concept that will serve as the alliance’s roadmap for the next 10 years and that reconfirms the commitment to defend one another against attack as the bedrock of Euro-Atlantic security. The document lays out NATO’s vision for an evolving alliance that will remain [...]

News and Analysis 18 October

Turning the Corner in Kashmir – Niki Shah, foreignpolicydigest.org: “[A] second component of confidence-building measures is to fully engage the Kashmiri peoplein the political process and advance the public diplomacy campaign from the perspectives of both the Indian and Pakistani government. Army Chief Ready to fight dirty (Tribune) As an Army, we are prepared to fight dirty which means not [...]

US Mid Term Elections and South Asia

The mid term elections in US have ominous portents for Obama ranging from the domestic to foreign policy issues. This post attempts at unraveling some of the the thoughts being proposed and debated by think tanks across the globe. The domestic issues are for US to take a call om. The real danger is from “New” ideas of military expansionism in South Asia.

News and Analysis Week Ending 17 October

A plan B for Obama (FP)   The US is severely handicapped by a significant lack of credibility that is a direct consequence of its own foreign policy incompetence in the Middle East in the past several decades, especially the past decade. Most people and political movements, and a few governments, in the Middle East [...]

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