Home & Away

Indrani Bagchi The Gujarat police, NSG and our numerous intelligence and security agencies are currently on an all-India lookout for 10 terrorists who may have “sneaked” into India from Pakistan (terrorists always “sneak” in, though over the years, they may have found other less sneaky ways of coming across). Not only are the top metropolises on high alert – the alert has spread from Gujarat to Delhi, to Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Cyberabad. Smaller cities like Lucknow, Vijaywada, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, and the list goes on, are all on hyper alert. Some of the Mahashivratri celebrations in the Somnath temple were cancelled fearing that amidst the dancers celebrating Lord Shiva could be suicide bombers. For the past 48 hours the nation has been on tenterhooks. In other words, the nation has been terrorised without the terrorists having shown themselves. There are intel alerts and then there are intel alerts. Over the years, despite the ones that got away,...

Indrani Bagchi India’s Look/Act East policy is growing a new gateway. Conventional wisdom had Myanmar as India’s lean-in platform for Asia. Bangladesh may be hijacking that role. While India remains locked in a 1947 relationship with Pakistan and a 1950s one with Nepal, Bangladesh seems to have broken out and India and Bangladesh are taking simple but significant steps towards a new neighbourhood paradigm. The relationship is not problem-free by any stretch of the imagination, probably never will be, but dawn is breaking. A big reason for this is a settled land and maritime boundary. The virtually seamless implementation of the land boundary agreement (LBA) on both sides, including movement of people, resettlement, rehabilitation, etc was an enormous confidence booster. India in 2014 accepted the verdict of the international tribunal on the maritime boundary, giving Bangladesh a big chunk of the sea. Sheikh Hasina has invested in India as well – rolling up many extrem...

Indrani Bagchi The Kaladan multi-modal transit-transport system connecting India’s north-eastern states through Myanmar to its Sittwe port was intended to be a landmark project that would power India’s links to Asean region. Signed in 2008, the project was supposed to be completed by 2013. But it’s unlikely to get anywhere for at least another few years largely because the Indian government estimates of the entire project was wildly inaccurate. The project first envisaged 225 km of waterway on the river Kaladan, but this was later found to be incorrect, it has now been modified to 158 km. The road between Paletwa and Indo-Myanmar border was first thought to be 62 km, also incorrect, later corrected to 110 km. Nobody counted the shoals that had to be dredged in the river – there are 6 shoals, which if detected at the time the project was prepared could have altered the project. The cost, starting out at Rs 535 crore in 2008, now needs a massive Rs 2904 crore just to make amends for the...

Indrani Bagchi The South China Sea is several seas away from us. The NSG membership will happen some time after we (the people and government) have stopped hyperventilating about it. Instead, look closer home. India’s immediate neighborhood remains on its treadmill: furiously running through myriad crises, without actually getting anywhere. Can India get beyond firefighting as a foreign policy goal in its backyard? KP Oli in Kathmandu is fighting to save his seat, even as Nepal’s only charismatic leader, Prachanda waits impatiently to become Nepal’s 39 th prime minister. For the second time in a few months, Oli has played his extreme-nationalist card, blaming India for his predicament. He has a full-blown Madhesi crisis on his hands, he has barely moved on earthquake reconstruction, the economy needs help, tourism is struggling, but he’s busy laying the fault at India’s doorstep. Chinese diplomats have been rushing around Kathmandu trying to save him, even though almost six...

New Delhi, February 24, 2013 It was an “understanding” between India and Maldives that resolved an embarrassing political situation in the island country after former president Nasheed took refuge inside the Indian high commission drawing India into the heart of the ongoing political crisis there. The resolution, which showcased Indian diplomacy at its most effective, confirmed India’s position as the pre-eminent power in the Indian Ocean. Both countries have denied there was a “deal” __ and there wasn’t. Since the moment Nasheed became a refugee in the Indian mission, both India, Maldives and, after a while, even Nasheed himself, were looking for a way to end the agony. On the Indian side, the initiative was led jointly by NSA Shivshankar Menon and foreign minister Salman Khurshid. Khurshid spoke with his counterpart Abdul Samad Abdulla over three times in the past week to soften up the government there to the fact that a face-saving solution had to be found for all concerned. Men...

Indrani Bagchi New delhi, November 14, 2012 With the thinning down of NATO forces in Afghanistan a reality, Hamid Karzai, said they would use “all means available” to deter Pakistan from using terrorism against them. “We will use all means available” to convince Pakistan to abandon support to terrorism, said Afghan president, Hamid Karzai in an exclusive conversation with TOI. Karzai said, “terrorism and extremism is now causing Pakistan more danger than Afghanistan or in India. It is from this new situation, that I have changed my approach to Pakistan. I am much more conciliatory than the situation demands.” As if in response, Pakistan on Wednesday, agreed to release several Afghan Taliban leaders to begin a “reconciliation” process with the Afghan government. What will be the roles of the US and India in Afghanistan post 2014? Karzai said “India has a massive role in Afghanistan to educate and train Afghans and set up institutions.” India and Afghanistan, he said wou...