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Countering the Chinese threat

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is right in his diagnosis of China being the big threat. But his prescription is flawed

Lakhimpur Kheri to Kashmir, via Punjab

Crisis in Lakhimpur Kheri, anger in Punjab, violence in Kashmir can become a dangerous cocktail. India can't risk relighting fires that have burnt it in the past

Modi's Yogi conundrum

No one will challenge Modi in BJP. But Yogi is emulating him, making UP a mirror image of what Gujarat was under Modi, and making sure he isn't a pushover

3 questions for Modi's rivals

Can Modi be defeated? If yes, how? Is anyone trying to defeat him? These are key questions opposition leaders hoping to take on Modi in 2024 need to answer

Joe Biden: Sheep in sheep's clothing

Long ago, George Bush said he would smoke the terrorists out of their holes. In Kabul, the only thing that's been smoked out is Biden's true form

History over geography

India shouldn't be paranoid about a weakened Pakistan creating a new 'Terroristan'. This is the best chance to focus on maritime power and opportunity rather than overland threats

Another Afghan tragedy

This time, America didn't just fight a war in Afghanistan but also invested a great deal of time, money and emotion in nation-building. Only to leave it like a possible Syria in South Asia

Star caste of hockey

It's impossible to field an Indian hockey team that doesn't reflect the diversity, the united colours, better than any other. Shows that a sport, or a nation, will prosper with growing inclusivity

Af without Pak & Islam

India doesn't have to see the Taliban as a hostile political force just because it is Islamic or Pakistan's friend. Modi govt can befriend it if BJP resets its domestic politics of polarisation

Made in Bharat

Mocking new health minister Mansukh Mandaviya's English underlines the political elitism Modi's India has rejected.

Politics in diversity

PEW survey of Indians' religiosity tells you why Modi's rivals have failed to challenge him: Confused secularism that's ceded religion to the BJP

Thaw on the western front

Talks with Taliban, J&K leaders, thaw with Pakistan are strategic imperatives for Modi govt. It can't covet US as Quad ally in the east and work at counter-purposes with them in the west

The virus unravels

The hunt for the origin of coronavirus shows science, democracy and sense of inquiry can overcome politics, ideology and omerta codes

Sub-African India

Much of Africa is doing better than India while our mis-governance, lousy identity politics, corruption, self-congratulation, empty triumphalism, are threatening to catch up and ruin our self-image

Death & journalism

The last 3 months have been the gravest period of national tragedy & there's definitely an undercount of Covid deaths. But doing that at a mass scale is tougher

Eye on 2024

Can Modi's third bid for power be made more challenging? If so, who will do it? And how? Especially if Gandhis and Congress fail to rise to that challenge

Floating bodies, sinking states

Politics and economics are at the heart of the Covid tragedy in UP and Bihar. The misery is a result of voting in the name of religion, caste and nationalism

Shekhar Gupta: Flailing state in Covid storm

Modi government didn't strengthen the foundations of basic governance in the last 7 years. Now, the PM has retreated, ministers failing and the government is in denial

Shekhar Gupta: India calling Mayday, Mayday

Triumphalism, premature declaration of victory meant no one checked if India had enough vaccines, oxygen, remdesivir, bringing us back to a crisis where we need foreign aid after four decades

Holding up a mirror to Modi govt

Between premature victory mood that allowed Kumbh, elections, and lack of urgency on vaccines, Modi govt has walked into its biggest crisis. The way out needs realism, humility and one Ram baan weapon