Go west

8226; Very provocative and thoughtful article by Maroof Raza 8216;Let ...

8226; Very provocative and thoughtful article by Maroof Raza 8216;Let Pakistan play the Great Game8217;, IE, April 14. Interestingly, it is exactly the same argument that Sisir Gupta used to make in the 1970s or earlier, with reference to Pakistan8217;s attempt to be a Middle Eastern state. He said that this would reduce its paranoia about being shut up in India, now that Central Asia is 8220;open8221;. The same argument can be applied today, as Raza has done. A moderate Pakistan that pursued its interests in Central Asia would not be a problem to anyone, but from what I know the Central Asians don8217;t particularly welcome a Pakistani presence.

8212; Stephen Cohen Washington, DC

A year late

8226; If RSS supremo K.S. Sudarshan had a problem with the governance of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then he should have said so when his government was in power 8216;Parivar told to hold fire, Vajpayee fears bad name8217;, IE, April 15. Now when the grand old man has almost retreated from active politics, why is he trying to gain publicity?

8212; Biswajeet Panda On e-mail

8226; The sustained and calibrated targeting of Vajpayee and Advani by RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan reinforces the opposition8217;s contention that the BJP is controlled by the RSS. But why did Sudarshan observe a stoic silence when the NDA ruled the country for six long years?

8212; V.E. Venkataramani On e-mail

Hurriyat8217;s signals

8226; This refers to your editorial 8216;Hurriyat in a hurry8217; April 15. What does the Hurriyat want? If there is something important that its leaders would like to discuss with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf prior to meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, let them use other means like e-mail/telephone. If this is just symbolism, then let them stay in the Valley and enjoy the spring.

8212; S. Yousuf Mumbai

Hidden dragon

8226; Your editorial 8216;Cluelessness as policy8217; April 14 was timely. You have rightly pointed out that China has already encircled India with defence/nuclear pacts with Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. China is the only country that has not condemned the takeover by King Gynendara in Nepal. China has also not changed its stand on a permanent seat for India at the UN Security Council. It has made no commitment for India8217;s entry into the Shanghai-Five group, although this group is for fighting terrorism. It has hinted that India could be an observer, provided China gets similar status in SAARC. This visit did not even touch upon India8217;s entry into ASEAN.

8212; S.C.N. Jatar Pune

Sit it out

8226; The six-game ban on Saurav Ganguly could not come at a more appropriate time for the Indian cricket. This is an 8220;honourable8221; rest for 8220;overworked8221; Saurav who has been woefully out of form for the past few months. The only other way he could have been 8220;rested8221; was by faking injury to himself.

8212; Kamalesh Sanghani On e-mail