Comment & Briefs

India and Pakistan have signed a visa liberalization agreement and reactivated the joint commission during the last round of foreign minister level talks in Islamabad. These are significant steps forward but lot more can be done to make the process of bilateral engagement irreversible.

Xi Jinping’s sudden disappearance, close to the date of the 18th Party Congress when he is to take over as the as the next President, has activated the rumour mill in China and the world. The unfolding political drama in Beijing resembles the climax of an action packed thriller.

The Japanese cabinet’s decision to purchase three of the five Senkaku islands has led to heightened tension in East Asian region. With China adopting an assertive posture on the issue, American unwillingness or incapability to come to the rescue of Japan would impair its ‘pivot’ or ‘rebalancing’ strategy in the region.

India-Sri Lanka relations appear to be reaching a phase of stagnation. The Govt of India has to adopt, perforce, a multifaceted approach on the cultural, economic and security fronts for stability of the bilateral relations in the overall interest of India.

The much-talked about Tamil Nadu factor in India-Sri Lanka relations has come to the fore recently again in the wake of strong reactions of the provincial government to the training of two Sri Lankan defence personnel in the state in August 2012

The much-talked about Tamil Nadu factor in India-Sri Lanka relations has come to the fore recently again in the wake of strong reactions of the provincial government to the training of two Sri Lankan defence personnel in the state in August 2012

The recent violence in the Bodo areas indicates the risks associated with the formation of exclusive ethnic homelands based on the demands of the majority population (belonging to an ethnic group) inhabiting a particular geographical area. Formation of such exclusive ethnic homelands may prove to be both an assault on the pluralistic ethos of our country and a nightmare for minority groups living in that terrain.

The Prime Minister’s address highlighted critical threats to internal security and expected counter-measures with the aim of refocusing the attention of the police forces on these vital issues.

Chinese defence minister’s visit to India assumes special significance in the context of growing Chinese concerns about American rebalancing strategy in the Asia Pacific and growing Indo-US relations. India should take note of Chinese anxieties and put across its views in a candid and uninhibited manner in its engagement with China.

Ershad’s recent visit to India seems to have whetted his political ambition. In the last election he was hoping for the post of president, a ceremonial position in Bangladeshi political set-up; now he has stated openly that he wants to be prime minister after the next elections.