As of now Al Qaeda and Taliban have not spread their tentacles within India because they are busy fighting Americans. But after the Americans leave they will not only physically enter India but recruit many Indians who may do it for ideology or money or both. And we all know that there are thousands if not lakhs who are just waiting for this opportunity. And don’t forget the Maoists who already have a support structure in the country and who may extend their support to Al Qaeda and Taliban to fight the govt. And no, this is not too far fetched. Maoists too do not believe in our democracy and want to overthrow our govt, like Pakistan, Taliban and Al Qaeda. It will then be nearly impossible for us to keep these terrorists in their defined physical spaces. The lines will keep getting blurred and will eventually vanish.

Posted on March 13th, 2010 under Best Articles, India calling. Tags: Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, attack, stakes, strike, Taliban, women. Comments: 5

Is there anything called the ‘good Taliban’? The answer to that question will depend upon whom are you asking this question from. If you ask Indians, well, all Taliban is bad. If you ask Pakis, most of them are good. If you ask an Afghan- on second thoughts, don’t. What Afghans think doesn’t really matter, unfortunately. If you happen to ask Americans, their answer will also depend upon when is the question being asked. Till some time back the entire Taliban, possibly along with their kids, women and cattle, was bad for Americans. But times have changed and they now say that some of them are indeed good. But this is not their final position on the matter either. Don’t be surprised if they revert back to their earlier position depending upon where their offer of talks with the so called ‘good Taliban’ leads to.

Posted on February 13th, 2010 under India calling, Track the world. Tags: Af-Pak, Afghanistan, good taliban, India, Kiyani, NATO, offer, talks. Comments: 8

There are some scenes of movies which remain etched in your memory long after you’ve seen a movie. They remain in your subconscious mind and come to the fore when you see or read something similar. The cold blooded murder of 13 people at Fort Hood by Major Nidal Hassan reminded me of one such scene from Guns of Navarone where Capt Mallory (Gregory Peck) was shown trying to convince Corporal MIller (David Niven) about the need for change of plans. They were both smoking and arguing with each other about their plans to successfully accomplish their mission. On the face of it there is not much in common in these two situations but if you look beyond the obvious there indeed is.

Posted on November 8th, 2009 under India calling, Track the world. Tags: Afghanistan, faith, Fort Hood, Iraq, Islam, killing, Muslim, Nidal, Terror. Comments: 4

The ’shoe throw’ on George Bush during his visit to Iraq was not just a shoe throw. It was a ’symbol’ more than anything else. It was a symbol of contempt with which the Americans are held in the Muslim world, especially in the Middle East. I’m not an enemy of America. In fact I appreciate the free spirit of the American system. But on this issue I feel that America has blundered and blundered big time.

Posted on December 20th, 2008 under India calling, Track the world. Tags: Afghanistan, america, attitude, Change, India, Iraq, muslims. Comments: 1

After all the euphoria dies down following Barack Obama’s election as the President of USA it is actually time for each one of us to try and understand the implications of this historic event. First things first. In the immediate future there is only one thing which will dominate the proceedings

Posted on November 5th, 2008 under Track the world. Tags: Abkhazia, active, Afghanistan, Ahmednijad, america, approach, Bailout, bilaterally, bonhomie, Bush, buyout, campaign, Change, clock, company, concern, countries, create, doubts, dramatic, economic, euphoria, fight, financial, Georgia, Hamas, historic, house, implications, India calling, intervention, iran, Iraq, Israel, issue, jobs, Kashmir, manner, measures, Middle East, nuclear, obama, opinion, Ossetia, outsourcing, Pakistan, Palestinian, policies, positive, President, problems, progress, results, role, Ruropean, South, success, svent, Terror, Union, USA, Wall Street, war, White, wish, world. Comments: 1

Yes, Obama won the debate because McCain did not win. That’s correct. McCain needed to win this one but he did not.

Posted on October 8th, 2008 under Track the world. Tags: Afghanistan, Ayers, debate, economy, elections, even, golden, impression, Iraq, McCain, obama, opportunity, Pakistan, Palin, personal, policies, poll, shaky, showcase, taunts, taxes, terrorist, unconvincing, wars. Comments: 1

If charms could work Sarah Palin would be President and not just VeePee. But the fact is that it doesn’t and so Palin would do well to pursue a career in Hollywood than politics. She can put her charms to good use there. What we saw today on TV was definitely not a potential [...]

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 under Track the world. Tags: Afghanistan, Americans, Biden, charms, debate, experience, general, Hollywood, inferiority complex, John McCain, match, naughty, obama, Palin, personality, Politics, smile, VeePee, Washington, wink. Comments: None

At last Baitullah Mehsud, the top Taliban commander in Pakistan has died, of all natural causes. The man commanded more than 20,000 militants from across the region. This was a man who once proclaimed to the world that “there would be no peace without jihad” and US and UK were his prime targets. [...]

Posted on October 1st, 2008 under Track the world. Tags: 9/11, Afghanistan, alive, army, assassination, Attacks, Baitullah, Benazir, Bhutto, Britishers, causes, execute, jihad, killing, life, Mehsud, militants, morale, NATO, natural, Pakistan, peace, plan, responsible, rumours, suicide, symbolic, Taliban, terrorists, troops, UK, US, world, Zardari. Comments: None

It is, if you believe Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I agree he’s no fortune teller or an astrologer for that matter. He cannot actually see the future. In all probability he was just kind of praying loudly. Or was he? What if he can actually sense the moment? What if he can read [...]

Posted on September 24th, 2008 under Track the world. Tags: $700 billion, 1912, 1914, 1991, 9/11, Afghan, Afghanistan, Amen, america, Americans, astrologer, Bailout, basis, Britain, British, chaos, China, Chinese, co-exist, course, critical, definite, demise, destination, devastation, downfall, econoy, elect, elections, empire, era, fate, First, First World War, fortune, Georgia, German, growth, Gustav, history, Hitler, Hong Kong, Hurricane, Ike, iminent, India calling, iran, Iraq, lost, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, maiden, major, McCain, modern, moment, November, obama, ominous, peace, peacefully, plans, power, pray, President, rapid, resources, right, Russia, safeguard, scare, Second, Second World War, significant, Signs, sink, Soviet, status, success, super, symbol, symbolize, symbolized, teller, Tienanmen Square, Titanic, truth, US, USSR, venture, victirious, victory, vigor, voyage, war, won, world, wrong. Comments: None