How the CIA failed Iranian informants in its secret war with Tehran: In a series of internal cables last year, CIA leadership warned that it had lost most of its network of spies in Iran and that sloppy tradecraft continues to endanger the agency’s mission worldwide.
Here come the pious: Kerala’s radical turn
The Popular Front of India (PFI) is throwing up a curious test for India’s secularism. In classified central government reports, the PFI is accused of introducing an extremist pan-Islamist movement to India.
Why is India’s successful 1971 Sri Lanka intervention a forgotten story?
In April 1971, known only to a small group, an Indian Frigate sailed to guard the Sri Lankan coastline against "foreign" reinforcements to help the JVP or Sri Lankan National Liberation Front which had virtually taken over the island.
US’s Afghan terror “assets” will weaken New Delhi’s anti-Pak plaints
Which way will New Delhi turn when our best friend the US develops an abiding interest in its terror "assets" to destabilize Xinjiang, China, with whom we are enlarging our conflictual stakes? And China’s inseparable friend is Pakistan, our sworn enemy.
Afghan Betrayal: Interview with Ambassador B R Muthu Kumar – Part 3
In the 3rd and the last part of his first tell-all interview Ambassador Bharath Raj Muthu Kumar, India's most experienced diplomat on Afghanistan, reveals how a famous 'Bollywood baddie Ajit joke' led to huge strategic shift in India’s covert mission in Afghanistan, role of then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh's role in shaping India's mission, and the next war that the current developments would lead to.
Afghan Betrayal: Interview with Ambassador B R Muthu Kumar – Part 2
In Part 2 of his first tell-all interview Ambassador Bharath Raj Muthu Kumar, India's most experienced diplomat on Afghanistan, reveals how Kabul and Panjshir fell, the future of the resistance movement against Taliban, and what are the strategic interests of China, Turkey, Qatar, and the US in Afghanistan.
Afghan Betrayal: Interview with Ambassador B R Muthu Kumar – Part 1
In Part 1 of his first tell-all interview Ambassador Bharath Raj Muthu Kumar, India's most experienced diplomat on Afghanistan, reveals what's happening in the region, the old and new Taliban, and how Pakistan finds itself checkmated.
Chhattisgarh attack: Political backing of bad governance allowing Maoism to thrive
The pattern is so agonizingly similar - another Maoist attack; high death count; muscular political pledges to respond at an appropriate time; civilian outrage and shock flooding all forms of media. Yes, the pattern is now beyond fatigue levels - another cycle of condemnation; another cycle of some enquiry on what went wrong; another announcement of new SOPs.
Ladakh standoff: Target G219, deploy weapons of peace
First, India needs to call off the ridiculous military to military talks and if you must, then engage the Chinaman through the existing diplomatic channels–after all Sun Weidong is there for a purpose other than writing op-edit pieces in leading Indian newspapers, a sign that he perhaps has little else to do. Generals are not meant for talking and by exposing a corps commander to the enemy, we are doing ourselves a huge disservice.