While it is true that “socialist” and “secular” were inserted in the preamble by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act during the Emergency, which remains a dark chapter in the history of free India, it is not true that the values go against the grain or the spirit of the constitution. These are effectively the only parts of the amendment that sit today 50 years down the line.
However, a point will come soon when he has to make a choice and that choice is not necessarily the BJP even in the unlikely event of him being offered the position of India’s foreign minister in place of Subramanyam Jaishankar. The choice is also not necessarily leaving the Congress Party even if it means being treated cavalierly. The problem with him is that his entire appeal comes from his seemingly defiant equidistance from both the main parties.
What stands out amidst this global indifference is the Dalai Lama’s unwavering grace. He harbours no ill will—not even towards China. In a world increasingly defined by conflict, coercion, and fractured diplomacy, the Dalai Lama remains an embodiment of moral strength and compassion, committed to the principles of non-violence and interfaith harmony.
There is increasing evidence that Trump has offered Pakistan advanced military equipment and financial aid in exchange for strategic cooperation—particularly access to airbases and logistics. How this plays out remains to be seen. India, meanwhile, finds itself once again let down by the U.S. Trump appeared unable to tolerate that India succeeded in neutralising Pakistan’s military and terror assets without American help and refused to validate his false claims of mediation.
The fact that the bulk of whatever aid goes to Pakistan is grabbed by the military and used for terrorism is of little consequence to the US, as is the fact that it was Pakistan that engineered the humiliating withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
The Canadian government is doing a very big mistake by thinking that such separatists and terrorist groups operating in Canada will not harm Canada but only other countries.
It is possible to use the numbers to argue in many ways but what should be reasonable to note is that there is no conspiracy among a certain set of people to grow their numbers. Demographics tells us that as the level of education (particularly of the woman) and the standard of living of the family moves up, the number of children per woman generally comes down.
A mere look at the map of Tripura showed that the insurgents were operating from the hills where there was no police presence as all the police stations and posts were on the main roads. I was convinced that we should move into the hills.
The statue has cost substantial money but is fully funded by the public through a charitable trust managed by a number of Indians residing in the UK. The chair of an advisory group that oversaw the project was former Pakistani-origin mayor and minister Sajid Javed.
An increase in support of free food means cutting back on maybe health, education, infrastructure, military or pension benefits. The government cannot escape these difficult fiscal tradeoffs.
Thus the mantra of development should be spirituality with high technology. Both these things allow us to reduce our greed for resources and live in harmony with nature – something that Gandhi preached intuitively all his life.
But for Gandhi, India's political destiny would have been vastly different and her moral stature vastly inferior.
Clearer commitments and standards on access and quality, making oversight and redressal mechanisms more participatory, and allocating adequate financial resources alone would make the right to healthcare to all citizens a reality.
The book is a must-read for all policymakers, diplomats, academics and civil and military personnel who have an interest in Siachen.
In a world slowing down due to a recession, even if our share of trade goes up from 3 to 4 per cent, that would be a huge boost for the Indian economy. And that is eminently feasible only if we are less afraid of open and free trade.
The book, in many ways, is the last word on the tragic and defining years of Punjab’s turmoil that took a large number of lives.
There are currently 41 ships and submarines under construction, 39 are being built in Indian shipyards, while in-principle approval is there from the Defence Ministry for 47 ships to be built in India.
The author’s prognosis of a major contestation in the not-so-distant future is situated in the South China Sea. The compelling logic portends China’s proclivity to fight one or possibly two major wars before 2035, either with Taiwan or India before the major US-China war.
Riding the global strategic shift in manufacturing, India is on the cusp of attractive large-scale domestic and foreign investors by incentivizing supply chain manufacturing
