ED must carry on with Bengal investigation

January 11, 2024

What’s going on in West Bengal? What explains the attack on the Enforcement Directorate team at Sandeshkhali last week, where they had gone to investigate Trinamool muscleman Shahjahan Sheikh in the PDS (ration) “scam” case? According to the ED, over a thousand people attacked their team and the Central forces...

Muizzu taking Maldives down perilous path

January 9, 2024

It was the height of the first wave of Covid in 2020 and Maldives had to go on a lockdown for a few months like the rest of the world. A near-zero tourist footfall in a country whose tiny economy of around US$6 billion is totally dependent on tourism, it...

India-U.S. ties: Let substance prevail over optics

January 4, 2024

Looking ahead into 2024, there is a need to bridge the gap between perception and reality when it comes to India’s relations with the West, particularly the United States. In terms of optics, the brouhaha in media and social media is creating the perception that things between the US and...

Irresponsible statements are best avoided

December 28, 2023

What has come upon Farooq Abdullah? For that matter, what has come upon the politicians from the DMK? Why do they think that making irresponsible statements is the right way to establish their political relevance? Some DMK politicians have cultivated the habit of putting both their feet in the mouth...

The need for discretion in diplomacy

December 26, 2023

French President Emmanuel Macron will be the chief guest at India’s Republic Day parade on 26 January 2024. The announcement made last week is proof of the growing strategic partnership between the two countries and is a fitting reciprocation following the honour France bestowed on India earlier this year by...

Democracy is failing in America

December 21, 2023

News coming from the United States says that former President and next Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has been banned by judges in Colorado from participating in the state’s primary ballot ahead of the Presidential elections next year. The verdict was given by judges appointed by the Democratic governor of...

Congress loses bargaining power ahead of I.N.D.I.A meeting

December 19, 2023

What is on the agenda of the meeting of the I.N.D.I.A bloc scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday? It seems the selection of a convener for the alliance has been ruled out. So what will be discussed: finalising coordination committees, setting of the agenda, or will the...

An information warfare against India

December 14, 2023

A full-fledged information warfare has been launched against India by elements inimical to its interests. Suddenly news reports are popping up internationally about how the Indian establishment has been wanting “to sort out” the Gurpatwant Singh Pannun problem. The latest media report is about a “leaked” “Ministry of External Affairs...

Article 370 is history, gone for good

December 12, 2023

With Monday’s historic Supreme Court verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370 as valid, a sordid chapter in India’s history has been closed for good—a chapter that had put a question mark on India’s territorial integrity, thus impacting India’s security; a chapter that discriminated against certain sections of the people...

I.N.D.I.A’s internal contradictions are a drag on its ambitions

December 7, 2023

A question that is baffling a lot of people is: which way is the I.N.D.I.A bloc headed? The meeting of the alliance partners that was called by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, has been postponed, with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin expressing their inability...