Ficci Urges Streamlining Of Dispute Settlement Statutes

There is nothing more gratifying for a regular columnist than to be rung up and told that what he has written is complete nonsense and rubbish.

This column manages that feat about twice a year. This year, the second time it happened was last week.

I had asked in this column last Monday whether a mere five tests were enough to propel India into the senior league of the nuclear game. The calls were in response to that query.

This week I propose to ask another question. It is about the need for symmetry in the commitments which countries make to each other.

That is, if one country makes a de jure commitment, should not the other country too do the same? Or should it be allowed to get away with just a de facto one?

In the Indo-US context, if India makes a de jure commitment by sign