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

The basic difference between India and Pakistan is not religion alone. The basic difference is the perception of identities of it’s citizens of these two countires by these very people. When Indians talk of Pakistanis they are actually referring to Pakistanis only and not Muslims whereas when Pakis talk of Indians they imply Hindus. That’s the basic difference between the people of the two countries. More often than not during debates on TV channels we see the Paki speakers invariably switch from talking about Indo-Pak relations to Hindu-Muslim relationship or lack thereof. By extension since Islam is so deeply ingrained in their psyche they see the problem as being a Hindus versus Pakistan issue whereas this is not the case. As a result there is no meeting ground for the two of us.

Posted on January 17th, 2010 under Best Articles, India calling. Tags: Bollywood, India, Movies, nuclear, Pakistan, Terror, terrorist, war. Comments: 12

If you go by a poll conducted in Pakistan, despite the kind of ‘investment’ Obama has done in Pakistan, America is still perceived as the number one enemy in that country. Let me tell you for a fact that this will not change for at least the next few generations. If that be the case is there any assurance that the govt in Pakistan will keep overlooking the general public opinion? Remember, how the strong public opinion forced even a president like Musharraf to quit? Actually Obama can thank the fundamentalist parties in Pakistan who have not yet whipped up this very strong emotion prevalent amongst the populace of that country. But things can change very fast in case they actually do.

Posted on November 23rd, 2009 under India calling, Track the world. Tags: India, obama, Pakistan, PM, Terror, US, visit, war. Comments: 8

What the Pakistani people and their govt fail to understand is that terror attacks within Pakistan which are killing hundreds day in and day out have got nothing to do with Kashmir or India for that matter. These attacks are however a direct fallout of America-Pak relations or lack thereof. This visit which could have been utilized by Pak to gain more trust and favor with Americans did exactly the opposite forcing Hillary to say

Posted on November 1st, 2009 under India calling, Track the world. Tags: attack, Clinton, India, Kashmir, Pak, Taliban, Terror, US. Comments: 3

Pertinent to mention here that players like Dhoni, Gambhir & Sehwag etc have indeed been nominated by ICC for individual awards for their performance. But please note that these are individual contributions and it implies that though these people may have done well individually but their fine performance has not come together as a team. They may have done well but not in the same match. And that’s the whole point. At this juncture our team looks like it is individuals who matter more than the team itself.

Posted on October 1st, 2009 under India calling. Tags: Cricket, Dhoni, Gambhir, India, Sehwag, team, trophy. Comments: 1

The first and foremost thing we need to understand is that, as George Fernandes had said long time ago, it is China which is our number one enemy and not Pakistan. Yes, we need to get this straight up front. And so our military policy has to shift from being a Pak centric one to being a China centric one. In effect what this implies is that China has to be dealt with even before we sort out the problem of Kashmir with Pakistan. Yeah, that is the crux of this statement. And yes, there are many ways in which we can deal with the Chinese, effectively.

Posted on September 14th, 2009 under Best Articles, India calling. Tags: border, China, dispute, India, Pakistan, pressure, Tibet, Uyghur, Xinjiang. Comments: 11

Tell you what? It is just fine with me that we were partitioned because I’m not so sure whether we would have remained as one nation even for a few years more after 1947. We would have encountered resistance from Balochis, SIndhis, section of Punjabis, may be even Bengalis, Tamils or Kannadigas and God only knows who all. And take it from me there would have been many more riots between various religious and regional groups.

Posted on August 26th, 2009 under India calling. Tags: Gandhi, India, Jinnah, nation, Nehru, Pakistan, partition, Patel. Comments: 8

There must be justice for 26/11. That’s what Hilllary Clinton said in Mumbai. Quite naturally, it’s the top news for our newspapers here in India, at least for Times of India. Alright, now that makes something clear. It clearly shows that America supports India in it’s fight against terrorism and wants Pakis to act against the perpetrators at the earliest. WOW!!!! What a revelation!! Is this what she came all the way to tell us?

Posted on July 19th, 2009 under India calling. Tags: Clinton, Hillary, India, Pak, Terror, US, visit. Comments: 2

Apart from their white skin stuff there is another reason why they don’t like Indians. It’s because we as a nation are doing much better than these people in these difficult times, and quite possibly at their cost. They are all going down while we are going up. That’s the main reason why they feel stuck up with us. Go on India, give these guys a

Posted on May 13th, 2009 under India calling. Tags: airline, Bhookha Naan, Buchanan, French, India, IPL, Jadeja, KKR, racism, treatment. Comments: 7