China's demand for the removal of two Indian Army bunkers from its outpost at Batang La near the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction in August 2007 can be seen from two angles. Firstly, the entire episode can be dismissed as a case of highhandedness of a few Chinese border officials who entered Indian territory inadvertently and came face to face with these Indian bunkers. Oblivious of where their actual position on the ground is, these officials then raised objections about the bunkers.

A new trend in terrorism has emerged in India involving the targeting of places of worship. Fifteen such incidents have occurred across the country between 2000 and 2007, resulting in the deaths of about 130 people and injury to several hundreds more. The October 11, 2007 terrorist bombing of the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer in Rajasthan is the latest incident in this pattern. Initial reports suggested that at least two worshippers died in the attack while some 20 others were wounded.

Hyderabad has been reeling under deadly terror strikes. Three months after the serial blasts at Mecca Masjid on May 18, 2007, another pair of coordinated attacks rocked the city on August 25. Repeated attacks by outfits with support from foreign covert agencies have made Hyderabad an epicentre of terrorist operations in India. The twin blasts on August 25 and the subsequent recovery of unexploded bombs from different places pointed to a security lapse as well as a delayed government response to demands for beefing up the city's protective measures in the aftermath of the May explosions.

Overseas energy being a key factor in India's economic development, it is necessary to think whether we need to treat the country's global quest for energy resources as a purely commercial interaction with the energy market or as a larger strategy involving diplomatic activism. While not ignoring the importance of nuclear or alternative sources in the country's energy landscape, we need to understand that petroleum sources would continue to be indispensable for India's fuel economy in the foreseeable future.

The latest Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) Performance Report on Defence Services (No. 4 of 2007) has once again exposed the problems involved in Indian defence acquisition. The report has been critical virtually of all the processes of the acquisition cycle, from planning to the formulation of Qualitative Requirements (QRs), vendor selection, conduct of trial and evaluations and processes of induction.

Even though the Indo-US nuclear deal has passed one more hurdle with the completion of the 123 Agreement to the satisfaction of both governments, the remaining hurdles include the signing of agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) before the Agreement can go back to the US Congress for its final imprimatur.