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.
If the meeting of Indian and Pakistani officials—expected to take place next week as per a report in The Hindu– comes through, it will be a departure from the recent past as formal dialogue has remained frozen for almost two years, writes Shraddha Nand Bhatnagar for South Asia Monitor
The Amar Jawan Jyoti -- an upturned rifle with a helmet customarily marking a battlefield grave -- amounted to nothing short of a poor apology for a war memorial at India Gate
India’s position on the boundary issue is “well known, consistent and unambiguous”, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said, days after political parties in Nepal stoked a simmering territorial dispute in Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned road construction in Lipulekh at an election rally in Uttarakhand state
Even as most countries began slapping travel bans on African countries, India has offered support for Africa to combat the newly-emerged Omicron variant of the Covid-19 pandemic, including through supply of vaccines, life-saving drugs, PPE kits, gloves and ventilators
The Asma Jahangir Conference in Pakistan last week sparked a somewhat balanced and much-needed discussion on the issues concerning the country
In a country known for its traditional inter-faith tolerance and harmony, one of the headline news for the last few months has been how groups of right-wing Hindus, supported by local leaders of India's ruling BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been obstructing and protesting against the offering of namaz in public places by Muslim citizens in Gurugram, a satellite city of capital New Delhi
On 15 August 2021, the day the Taliban seized power militarily in Kabul, the world watched with trepidation the scenes of an ignominious end to the twenty-year-long efforts of the US to prop up a democratic government there
Within the new Middle East/West Asia Quad, there is space for trilateral economic cooperation between India, the UAE and Israel
India should assist Nepal and Bangladesh to obtain GI certification for their teas
Will this demonstrable assertion of sportsmanship lead to a revival of bilateral sporting ties, particularly cricket, in the near future?
The recent widespread anti-Hindu violence will not make any difference to the bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh, said Dinesh K Patnaik, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), calling the recent events “small incidents”
‘Bangladesh Finalizes Agreement to Build Buddhist Monastery in Lumbini, Nepal’ was the headline of the Hong Kong-based Global Buddhist Door’s news headline on October 11
Since the last decade, the US drone strike has caused numerous casualties worldwide, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia
Senior Indian Army sources asserted that the Pakistani youth's plea for surrender, as soon as his mate was killed, was a definite indication that he was not so convinced about the 'jihad' narrative but had taken on the cross-border 'task' out of financial compulsion
The SAU aims to bring together peacebuilders and particularly women from the region to work towards a political and economic South Asian Union, along the lines of the European Union, by 2030
