Digital Desis or Giant Managers? #156

Actually lately Mizoram is one of the success stories in the Northeast. The problems are currently due to the eternal Naga-Maitei (Manipuri) conflict and in Assam.

Balochistan Militancy -- An Insider\'s View #191

Really? does the FC operate Huey-Cobra attack helicopters now?

Balochistan Militancy -- An Insider\'s View #119

``If diplomacy is giving in Aziz is very good at it.``

The ``giving in`` (or bending over :-)) is already done, Shaukat`s job is to get the most mileage out of it.

Balochistan Militancy -- An Insider\'s View #119

even Charlie Rose himself probably understands 20% of the issues. Spent 1/2 his time trying to get Zawahiri`s name right and apologizing for the US.

todays show should be more interesting as they will have the ``talking heads`` discussing the Paki PM`s visit.

Balochistan Militancy -- An Insider\'s View #119

that`s your perspective because you know more. It was a performance targetted at the ordinary viewer of Charlie Rose, think in that context.

Balochistan Militancy -- An Insider\'s View #116

``paki diplomats and establishment have always worked towards a rent-seeking position in international scheme of things``

That is a more fundamental issue, the one line foreign policy is a fundamental worldview shared by most of the Pakistani elite (including civil servants, diplomats, military leaders ...). No diplomat has the ability to change it. At this (any?) point in time I doubt ANYBODY has the ability to chage it dramatically. Pakistan remains a hostage to its neuroses.

I ment ``far-sighted`` in a more narrow sense as applicable to diplomacy i.e. of judging the international climate and executing one`s countries policies in its context.

Balochistan Militancy -- An Insider\'s View ``I think that Maliha Lodhi was more effective than all of them combined``

more effective at grating nerves?

Balochistan Militancy -- An Insider\'s View #103

Diplomacy is the art of the possible. For what little they had to work with Pakistani has a tradition of excellent diplomacy. This was often indequtely backed up due to lack of competence of the Pakistani foreign ministry, but at the very top they had some very capable a far sighted individuals.

People like Sahabzada Yakub Khan, Agha Shahi, Agha Hilaly, Jehangir Kramat are people to learn from.

Read Dennis Kux`s ``Disenchanted Allies`` (even though Shaukat Aziz may not have heard his name :-))

Balochistan Militancy -- An Insider\'s View #93

I agree Shaukat Aziz was very slick on Charlie Rose, though when he said he didnt know who Dennis Kux was it sounded a bit disingenous.

A proud inheritor of the fine traditions of Pakistani diplomacy.

Encore Soft Hindutva? #63

thank you hasan-ji, in time we Indians will come to understand how much we owe Nehru.

Encore Soft Hindutva? #50

``tu aadmi hai yeh pajama??``

no doubt there definitely pajama.

Pervez Musharraf Ko Peace Do #494

Exactly, its easy to see the writing on the wall, but when on the other side of the balance lies the weight of generations worth of history, home and hearth its difficult to make rational choices.

As an example let me give you the two branches of my family. My paternal grandfather was educated and the family did not have much property. He saw the writing on the wall in 1946, got a job in UP and had moved the family by early 47. He was smart.

My mothers family had property and less education. They dilly-dallied through 47 with some brothers sent on exploratory visits to Calutta to look for a home etc. It took till the middle of 48 till everyone made up their mind and moved, by then they got pennies for their land, they were ousted by muslims from their house, lost members of their family to violence and literally fled with the clothes on their back.

Sharon’s Legacy #86

What Indian diplomacy forgot (specially during Indira Gandi`s time) was the art of balance. A foreign policy controlled by ideologues (like this author) went overboard with the whole Palestinian thing. This was over above what was in India`s best interest. Images of Arafat sharing a stage with other NAM leaders damaged India`s foreign policy to some extent and damages NAM irrepairably.

In retrospect it was not that India should have abandoned the Palestinian`s but that we should have not gone overbaord with it. Foreign policy stopped being conducted with India`s interest at heart.

Pervez Musharraf Ko Peace Do #412

That is the Paki`s and US working in concert. They will lull India into a false sense of complacency by Pakistan asking for the deal and US refusing.

This will cause India to purse the deal with vigor hence falling into the US trap.

man, HP here has been educating you time and again, aren`t you ever going to learn?

Sharon’s Legacy One day of Indian common sense cooperation with Israeli`s does more to enhance safety and security for common Indians than a decade of kissing-hugging of the Palestinians.

Sharon’s Legacy Younger people may not remember but Arafat was always treated like a head of state when he visited Indian. He got a place of prominence at NAM meetings and there was alwyas a lot of hugging-shugging and declaration of mutual love and affection between Arafat and Indira G*ndhi.

All this when the western world considered Arafat a terrorist.

What did India get out of it: Zilch, Nada

(btw: why is G*ndhi an objectionable word?)