IDR Blog
An Extraordinary Indian: The Pilot who is a Fighter
MP Anil Kumar was a dashing MiG-21 pilot in the Indian Air Force. He was paralysed neck below due to a motorcycle accident on his way back from the squadron after night flying on June 28, 1988. The accident confined him to a wheelchair for life. He was just 24. For the past 19 years he has lived in the military’s Paraplegic Rehabilitation...
Pakistan - On a treadmill, going nowhere
There are not many in Pakistan or outside who can confidently describe the situation there. Far too many contradictions have surfaced. Maybe no-one is really in charge. There are peace talks, but no real peace talks. There are anti -terror operations, but no real anti-terror operations. The former Army Chief and self-appointed President Pervez...
Calling a spade a spade in dealing with China
A friend recently asked me: “In your opinion, how should the new government deal with China?” I answered that first of all, I do not know who will be the next Prime Minister and then, perhaps more importantly, who will the PM’s choice to look after Defence and External Affairs. …whoever ‘deals’ with China will have to be frank and...
India-Pakistan: Distancing the spark from the nuclear tinderbox
In a speech for the Subbu Forum Society for Policy Studies at the India International Center last April, Ambassador Shyam Saran, currently chair of India’s National Security Advisory Board, reiterated India’s nuclear doctrine stating: “…India will not be the first to use nuclear weapons, but that if it is attacked with such weapons, it...
What Pakistan Knew About Bin Laden?
With advent of the internet, reading of books went on the decline especially with the young and modern generation, not that this is applicable to all across the board. In the process veritable pieces of multiple jigsaw get missed out because generally books are written after plenty research. Of course, excerpts, interviews and write-ups by...