Search results for : "firdaus ahmed"
  • A Roadmap for Kashmir
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   14 Sep, 2008    ·    #2677    ·    Commentary    
    The crisis having blown over, Kashmir is currently simmering. With the Hurriyat having tasted blood it is looking to exercise a spoilers' influence on the forthcoming elections to the state assembly. Both political parties, the PDP and the NC, ...
  • National Security Adviser: Reviewing the Institution
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   05 Nov, 2008    ·    #2719    ·    Commentary    
    The present National Security Adviser (NSA), MK Naryanan has often been in the news. He helped wrap up the nuclear deal with the US and went to China for border talks with his counterpart. In the wake of his trip to Srinagar, the Governor's pol ...
  • The Counter Narrative on Terror
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   28 Dec, 2008    ·    #2767    ·    Commentary    
    The Urdu press has a restricted readership in minority pockets in the country. It purveys the minority perspective on the news and as with other vernacular press, it is sometimes sensationalist and parochial. But it does serve as an interesting win ...
  • Not Quite an Empty Threat
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   29 Jan, 2009    ·    #2793    ·    Commentary    
    G Parthasarathy, a leading Indian realist and former High Commissioner to Pakistan, has written in an opinion piece (Times of India, 22 January 2009) that nuclear weapons constitute "an empty threat" for there is "little chance" o ...
  • A Strategy for ‘Af-Pak’
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   09 Mar, 2009    ·    #2828    ·    Commentary    
    The first colonial incursion into Afghan politics dates back to 1838 when the British embarked on what was to eventually end in a rout at the end of the First Afghan War. Just as the destiny of the region was then scripted by foreigners in Simla, tod ...
  • Rethinking Civilian Control
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   17 Apr, 2009    ·    #2847    ·    Commentary    
    Pavan Nair writing a commemorative article in the reputed Economic and Political Weekly on the silver jubilee of India’s militarization of Sachem, deplores the manner in which the Army was permitted to go ahead with its plans in the first pla ...
  • Agenda for the Next Government
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   23 May, 2009    ·    #2877    ·    Commentary    
    The electorate has spoken in favour of the Congress (I). This could be taken as an endorsement of the previous Congress (I)-led UPA government’s policies. Therefore, these can reasonably be expected to continue, bringing about the much desired ...
  • From ‘No First Use’ to ‘No Nuclear Use’
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   12 Jun, 2009    ·    #2892    ·    Commentary    
    ‘Resolve’ is cardinal to ensure nuclear deterrence. If the ‘will’ to use nuclear weapons is seen to be lacking, this would impact adversely on deterrence. The Draft Nuclear Doctrine encapsulated this principle thus, “2.6 ...
  • Kargil: Ten Years On
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   25 Jul, 2009    ·    #2915    ·    Commentary    
    While crises under the nuclear overhang have punctuated South Asian security, Kargil was the first after the two states went overtly nuclear. It has since been followed by standoffs in 2001-02 and 2008. This has ignited a debate between nuclear optim ...
  • The 'Vision Thing'
    Firdaus Ahmed   ·   11 Aug, 2009    ·    #2939    ·    Commentary    
    Leadership vision is what propels nations to greatness. Across the world, Roosevelt, Churchill, Deng, Mandela and Obama are considered examples of leaders with vision. Ashoka’s peace offensive, Akbar’s inclusivism, Nehru’s developme ...