Columnists

Nirupama Subramanian

Counter ‘one-sided’ world media narrative on govt’s pandemic ‘failure’, Jaishankar tells Indian diplomats

Fri, Apr 30, 2021

International TV channels have run visuals of waiting ambulances and patients outside hospitals, and cremations to underline India's lack of preparedness.

Explained: Up in arms against junta, the unquiet border states of Myanmar

Thu, Apr 29, 2021

On Tuesday, the Myanmar military bombed villages on its border with Thailand in retaliation for the loss of one of its outposts in the southeastern Karen (now renamed Kayin) state that the Karen National Union (KNU) had seized earlier in the day.

In build-up to ceasefire thaw, NSA Doval met ISI chief in UAE last year

Wed, Apr 28, 2021

This is one of the details to emerge from a four-hour-long interaction Pakistan’s Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had on April 23 with about 20 top journalists at an official iftar.

Explained: How radical outfit forced Pakistan hand in move to expel French envoy

Tue, Apr 27, 2021

Pakistan's decision to discuss in Parliament a resolution demanding the expulsion of the French Ambassador to Pakistan is the latest in a long series of surrenders to the group and its radical agenda.

Explained: What after US exit from Afghanistan?

Thu, Apr 22, 2021

President Biden has announced withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan by September 11. What are the implications of the move for the Afghan govt, the Taliban, and neighbours India, Pakistan and China?

Explained: On ‘refugees’ and ‘illegal immigrants’, how India’s stance changes with circumstances

Tue, Apr 13, 2021

India has welcomed refugees in the past, and on date, nearly 300,000 people here are categorised as refugees. But India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention or the 1967 Protocol. Nor does India have a refugee policy or a refugee law of its own.

Explained: A step in Pakistan’s ‘rational shift’, result of multiple pressures

Sat, Apr 03, 2021

In recent days, Pakistan had signalled a softening of its stand that it would not talk to India before a full rollback of the changes in J&K.

Explained: India at UN, on Sri Lanka

Tue, Mar 30, 2021

India has abstained from voting on a UNHRC resolution that flags concerns over human rights in Sri Lanka. A look at the ups and downs in India’s stand on UNHRC resolutions on Sri Lanka over the years.

Pakistan Army chief reaches out to India, says time to bury past, move forward

Fri, Mar 19, 2021

Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa seeks ‘conducive environment’ in Kashmir, does not mention UN resolutions, 2019 changes

Days after border truce, India hosts Pakistan equestrian team in Noida

Wed, Mar 17, 2021

A seven-member Pakistani team arrived Monday to participate in the qualifying matches for the International Tent-Pegging Federation World Cup Championship.

Sri Lanka’s war on terror: burqa ban, draconian Act, ‘deradicalisation’

Tue, Mar 16, 2021

In Sri Lanka, where Muslims comprise less than 10% of the 21 million population — they are mostly Tamil speaking and are mainly engaged in trade and commerce — the burqa ban comes ahead of the troubled second anniversary of the 2019 Easter bombings.

Beyond ceasefire along LoC: Pakistan signals statehood in J&K key to movement forward

Fri, Mar 12, 2021

In Pakistan's view, the ceasefire was something it had “talked about publicly” for nearly two years. It had been on the table, and for “whatever reasons”, India was reluctant all this time, and for “whatever reasons”, it had agreed now, the sources in Pakistan said.

India-Pakistan thaw faces early test: visas for T20 World Cup

Mon, Mar 08, 2021

An official source in Pakistan told The Indian Express that the PCB wants a "guarantee" from the BCCI that the government will grant visas to Pakistani fans to watch the T20 World Cup in India.

Hope for Indo-Pak peace, with caution

Sat, Mar 06, 2021

Given India’s investment in Bajwa and his “hand of peace in all directions” doctrine, understanding how an earlier phase of bilateral ties progressed and sputtered out may be instructive

Explained: Here’s why India is wary of the Sri Lanka-Pakistan tango

Thu, Mar 04, 2021

The relationship between Islamabad and Colombo is deeper than is sometimes apparent, with defence cooperation a key component. India does not yet perceive Pakistan as its rival in Colombo, but remains wary

Explained: Sri Lanka at the UN rights council, another test for India

Tue, Mar 02, 2021

Country-specific resolutions against Sri Lanka have regularly come up at the UNHRC in the last decade. New Delhi voted against Sri Lanka in 2012 and abstained in 2014. It was spared the dilemma in 2015, when Sri Lanka joined resolution 30/1.

Imran Khan in Sri Lanka: Multiple facets of a relationship India is watching

Thu, Feb 25, 2021

The Colombo trip is only Imran Khan's second foray in the neighbourhood since becoming Prime Minister. His first was to Afghanistan last November, two years after his election.

Northern Army Commander Lt General Y K Joshi interview: ‘Tanks at Rechin La, Rezang La turned tables on PLA, brought them to talks’

Thu, Feb 18, 2021

In the current understanding, both the sides have gone back to April 2020 scenario in which our last post remains at Dhan Singh Thapa Post and PLA goes back east of Finger 8. Both sides have accepted not to patrol the area between Finger 4 and 8

Getting China to pull back behind Finger 8 a huge success for us: Northern Army chief

Thu, Feb 18, 2021

Lt General Joshi said the purpose behind occupying the heights along Kailash Range on the southern bank of Pangong Tso had been achieved with the disengagement on the northern bank of the lake.

Asad Durrani’s new book is a thinly-fictionalised account of the Pakistani deep state

Sun, Feb 14, 2021

Honour Among Spies recounts how Durrani was summoned to the ISI, questioned about his motives for penning a previous book with the “enemy”, former R&AW chief AS Dulat

Israel wants India by its side against ICC ruling, Delhi silent

Thu, Feb 11, 2021

The Indian Express has learnt that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he described recently as a “great friend”, asking India to speak out against the decision, and to send a clear message to the ICC “to stop this assault on justice and common sense”.

China announces ‘synchronised’ Pangong disengagement, Rajnath statement today

Thu, Feb 11, 2021

The Indian Express has learned that ground commanders on the north and south banks of Pangong Tso met Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for the first steps towards disengagement.

Explained: The Colombo port setback for India

Thu, Feb 04, 2021

What was the 2019 India-Sri Lanka agreement to develop the East Container Terminal at Colombo Port? What went wrong, and why? What happens now?

Military coup in Myanmar: Full circle for Aung San Suu Kyi

Thu, Feb 04, 2021

Myanmar’s military coup recalls events from 1990. Then youth leader Aung San Suu Kyi went on to rise to political power, but because of the Rohingya crisis, she may not enjoy the same global support this time.

Explained: What has led to the coup in Myanmar?

Wed, Feb 03, 2021

Myanmar's democratic transition had been a work in progress. The results of the 2020 election, held during the pandemic, were being seen by the NLD as a mandate for its plan of constitutional reform, through which it aimed to do away with the military's role in politics and governance.