opinion Archive

  • Among the numerous viewpoints regarding India’s potential to make it to the big league, one of the most important opinions held by many analysts is that India has even failed to decisively counter the challenge of terrorism directed towards it from its neighbour, which is one-eighth its size. Experts opine that the defeat and humiliation at the hands of the Chinese in 1962 has been largely overlooked in the planning of future strategies. According to them, there is a lot of hype about India’s emergence as a great power. But as we take credit for limited successes against a small adversary, there is little or no public knowledge of a well laid out doctrine regarding future engagement with a superior power like China.

    Can India become a superpower?

    Posted on January 24, 2010 | 2 Comments
    Among the numerous viewpoints regarding India’s potential to make it to the big league, one of the most important opinions held by many analysts is that India has even failed to decisively counter the challenge of terrorism directed towards it from its neighbour, which is one-eighth its size. Experts opine that the defeat and humiliation at the hands of the Chinese in 1962 has been largely overlooked in the planning of future strategies. According to them, there is a lot of hype about India’s emergence as a great power. But as we take credit for limited successes against a small adversary, there is little or no public knowledge of a well laid out doctrine regarding future engagement with a superior power like China.

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  • On July 2, 1999 Sharif called President Clinton and requested him to intervene. The President also consulted with then Indian Prime Minister A B Vajpayee who clearly stated that India will not negotiate "under the threat of aggression" and that withdrawal of Pakistani forces was essential. Sharif again called President Clinton on July 3 and told him that he was ready to come to Washington. The President warned him that without agreeing to withdraw Pakistani forces behind the LoC, the visit will not yield any results. Sharif told him that he was coming to the US on July 4.

    Sharif’s US visit during Kargil conflict

    Posted on February 25, 2009 | 1 Comment
    On July 2, 1999 Sharif called President Clinton and requested him to intervene. The President also consulted with then Indian Prime Minister A B Vajpayee who clearly stated that India will not negotiate "under the threat of aggression" and that withdrawal of Pakistani forces was essential. Sharif again called President Clinton on July 3 and told him that he was ready to come to Washington. The President warned him that without agreeing to withdraw Pakistani forces behind the LoC, the visit will not yield any results. Sharif told him that he was coming to the US on July 4.

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  • An intelligence report by India's Intelligence Bureau in December 2006 states that ISI, in cooperation with Pakistan Navy, is imparting navigational training to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. The report further states that the training is for 12 to 18 months and is divided into three phases. The first phase deals with learning swimming. The second phase of the training involved tasks like handling large boats, laying of mines in coastal zones, and planting of explosives under dams, bridges, and ships among others.

    Pak finally admits role in Mumbai attacks

    Posted on February 18, 2009 | No Comments
    An intelligence report by India's Intelligence Bureau in December 2006 states that ISI, in cooperation with Pakistan Navy, is imparting navigational training to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. The report further states that the training is for 12 to 18 months and is divided into three phases. The first phase deals with learning swimming. The second phase of the training involved tasks like handling large boats, laying of mines in coastal zones, and planting of explosives under dams, bridges, and ships among others.

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  • Over the past two months, none of us has remained insulated from the public discourse that has ranged from faint-hearted defeatism accepting a rotting order to boisterous and repetitive calls seeking "action" and "change." These words, however, are deceptive devices; they invoke the images of a euphoric, bright destiny but fail to vanquish the darkness along the road that has to be endured.

    The choice we make…

    Posted on January 27, 2009 | No Comments
    Over the past two months, none of us has remained insulated from the public discourse that has ranged from faint-hearted defeatism accepting a rotting order to boisterous and repetitive calls seeking "action" and "change." These words, however, are deceptive devices; they invoke the images of a euphoric, bright destiny but fail to vanquish the darkness along the road that has to be endured.

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  • When Mrs Indira Gandhi again became Prime Minister in 1980, she recalled Kao from his retirement and appointed him as her senior advisor on internal and external developments. She used to consult him on political and intelligence matters. His professional guidance was of general nature. In one major development, when Mrs Gandhi wanted to go USA she was not getting her choice of appointment date with the US President through External Affairs Ministry channels. Kao through his friend George Bush Senior – who was then US Ambassador in China – arranged her meeting with the US President.

    Remembering the legendary Kao

    Posted on January 15, 2009 | 1 Comment
    When Mrs Indira Gandhi again became Prime Minister in 1980, she recalled Kao from his retirement and appointed him as her senior advisor on internal and external developments. She used to consult him on political and intelligence matters. His professional guidance was of general nature. In one major development, when Mrs Gandhi wanted to go USA she was not getting her choice of appointment date with the US President through External Affairs Ministry channels. Kao through his friend George Bush Senior – who was then US Ambassador in China – arranged her meeting with the US President.

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  • The declassification of vital CIA and US State Department documents relating to South Asia reveals that the American spy agency (CIA) had a vital source in Mrs Gandhi's cabinet. CIA's 'reliable source' leaked India's war objectives to the US, thereby compromising India's plan to teach Pakistan a lasting lesson.

    Did a CIA mole compromise India’s 1971 war plans?

    Posted on January 2, 2009 | 35 Comments
    The declassification of vital CIA and US State Department documents relating to South Asia reveals that the American spy agency (CIA) had a vital source in Mrs Gandhi's cabinet. CIA's 'reliable source' leaked India's war objectives to the US, thereby compromising India's plan to teach Pakistan a lasting lesson.

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  • Let the Government not forget that in Mumbai-like situation where the terrorists are in their aggressive best and the Government might in its fiercest form, the media presence cannot be blocked in any healthy democracy. And there were no operational details that we were privy to. We had disseminated only that which was in public gaze and was most obvious.

    State machinery succeeded in deflecting public anger from political class to TV media

    Posted on December 16, 2008 | No Comments
    Let the Government not forget that in Mumbai-like situation where the terrorists are in their aggressive best and the Government might in its fiercest form, the media presence cannot be blocked in any healthy democracy. And there were no operational details that we were privy to. We had disseminated only that which was in public gaze and was most obvious.

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