Commentaries & Articles
Special Laws to Counter Terrorism in India: A Reality Check

A National Convention held recently in New Delhi on ‘Politics of Terror’ has brought to focus the need to re-look into provisions of special laws that are currently in use to counter terrorism. When confronted with armed militancy, democracies fa....

At the Army’s Helm: A General Speaks

The battle hardened Indian army, the fourth largest in the world, has been led by many able Chiefs, but few of them have made the effort to record their experiences for posterity. Nor have many naval and air force chiefs done so. As a result, the sho....

India and The South Asian Neighbourhood

India’s relations with its neighbours need to be analysed frankly and unsentimentally, without recourse to the usual platitudes when pronouncing on the subject. It is fashionable to assume that there is some larger moral imperative that governs rel....

Constitutionalism Versus Adventurism

The Constitution of India, despite the amendments which have been introduced from time to time, has a high degree of immutability, partly because its basic structure is sound, partly because it establishes a balance between public good and the const....

Reviewing India-Afghanistan Partnership

The implementation of India-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership, signed more than a year ago, is all set to gather momentum in coming months in the wake of a successful India visit by Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai earlier this week. While Kar....

Don’t Hold Up US System as Ideal

US elections are a spectacle and attract enormous media attention. Barring countries like China that have no political interest in exposing their public to such a democratic extravanganza, the media in most others revels even in the trivia of this el....

Building a Self Cleansing Environment

One of the defining moments in my life was when I was on deputation to Princeton University for a mid-career course. It was the height of the Vietnamese War and the United States was in ferment because many people, especially students, opposed the wa....

Tracking Talks - India Continues to Fumble in its Engagement with Pakistan

We are constantly reviewing the state of our relations with Pakistan in think tank discussions and in the media even when progress in the relationship is inordinately slow. Many think that as a society we pay exaggerated attention to Pakistan, almost....

JPCs must have The Power to Summon Ministers

Archaic rules and deep divisions along political lines within the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probing the controversial 2G Spectrum sale has affected the efficacy and sanctity of parliamentary investigations. While the controversy over the co....

Obama in the White House: What’s in it for India

President Obama win in 2008 was a truly historic occasion as the election of a non-white to the presidency represented the far reaching social change that had occurred relatively undetected in the American society over the years. His second win conso....

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