May 11, 2012
The recent flurry of activity involving Bangladesh — US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s and Indian finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visits there last weekend, and the trip to Delhi of Bangladesh’s impressive foreign minister Dipu Moni — have drawn attention once again to one of the most important relationships in
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May 8, 2012
NEW DELHI – One of my favorite photographs shows a Hindu sadhu right out of central casting – naked body, long matted hair and beard, ash-smeared forehead, rudraksha-mala around his neck, the works – chatting away on a mobile phone. The contrast says so much about the land of paradoxes
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May 8, 2012
DEAR Farida, I find myself writing, even though I know she will never read this. Dear Farida, I have just seen your daughter, and she is marvellous. You would have been so proud.
Farida Pedder was a joyous gazelle of a woman, an actress, model and dancer, long and lithe, with
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May 4, 2012
In a couple of days, the voters of France will elect their President, and if opinion polls are to be believed, they will pick a new Head of State: the Socialist challenger, Francois Hollande, who won more votes than the incumbent, Nicholas Sarkozy, in the first round, is expected to
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April 28, 2012
I’ve just returned to Parliament from a brief visit to Istanbul, Turkey, and I must say I’ve come hugely impressed. Istanbul (the legendary Constantinople) was, in many ways, the centre of the old world, and it’s now thrusting forward again into the new. Istanbul is famously where Europe meets Asia
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April 21, 2012
The recent brouhaha over defence issues has brought welcome attention to the state of our armed services.
Just a couple of years ago, in 2010, India's National Security Annual Review unnecessarily averred that India was now the world's fifth most powerful country, outranking traditional powers such as the UK, France and
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April 11, 2012
By Shashi Tharoor
India and Pakistan are enjoying one of the better periods in their turbulent relationship. Recent months have witnessed no terrorist incidents, no escalating rhetoric, and no diplomatic flashpoints. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari just made a successful, if brief, personal visit to India (mainly to visit a famous
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March 16, 2012
NEW DELHI – April might be the cruelest month, but, for India’s major political parties this year, March was fairly brutal. On March 6, following an American-style “Super Tuesday” of its own, India announced the results of five state assembly elections, which confounded pollsters, surprised pundits, and shook a complacent
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March 10, 2012
Shashi Tharoor's article in the Hindustan Times Brunch Magazine on using Twitter as a means of mass communication by politicians:
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March 3, 2012
By Shashi Tharoor:
The recent kerfuffle over British aid to India is now off the news pages, which may be a good time to look at the broader context.
During an earlier elimination round for India’s multi-billion dollar multi-role combat aircraft deal, the Americans and the Russians were miffed that we
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