Confidence building steps the way forward in Indo-Pak talks

Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 2nd Jan 16



The frustrating saga of Indo-Pakistan
dialogue is widely regarded as an exercise that has yielded little success.



Yet, on New Year Day, New Delhi and
Islamabad exchanged lists of their nuclear installations, as part of an
agreement that prohibits both sides from attacking each other�s nuclear
facilities. This is the 25th straight year that

Modi seizes initiative on Pakistan policy with �impromptu� visit to Lahore

By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 26th Dec 15



On a busy Christmas Day for him, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi redefined the rules of Indo-Pak diplomacy with an unscheduled
visit to Lahore to personally greet his counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, on his
birthday.



The brief stopover at Lahore came on Modi�s
journey home to Delhi from Kabul, where he inaugurated Afghanistan�s new
parliament

S-400 missiles, Kamov-226 helicopters, Gen-5 fighters on Modi�s agenda in Russia

The Russian S-400 air defence missile that could feature in Modi's agreements with Putin in Russia today



By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 24th Nov 15



Why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi
visiting Russia on what much of the world considers Christmas Eve? Because it
will not be Christmas in Russia until January 7, according to the Gregorian
calendar, when Orthodox Christians --- Russia�s

Book Review: "JFK's Forgotten Crisis", by Bruce Riedel

Title : JFK�s Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the
CIA, and Sino-Indian War

Author: Bruce Riedel

Publisher: The
Brookings Institution, Washington

Pages : 231

Price : $30.67



By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 23rd Dec 15



Bruce Riedel is a Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) veteran, who has advised the last four US presidents on South and

MoD clears Rs 30,000 crore buy of Russian S-400 air defence system

By Ajai
Shukla

Business
Standard, 18th Dec 15



On
Thursday, the defence ministry�s apex procurement body, the Defence Acquisition
Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, cleared the purchase
of the S-400 mobile surface to air missile system (M-SAM), Russia�s latest and
most vaunted air defence system.



A Reuters
report, quoting a source speaking on condition of

At Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad, Swaraj calls for land access to Afghanistan

�The Heart of Asia cannot
function if arteries are clogged� says the foreign minister



By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 10th Dec 15



The bonhomie from freshly resuscitated
India-Pakistan relations, and from Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj�s arrival in
Islamabad to attend the fifth Heart of Asia Conference on Afghanistan, could
not hide the deep schisms that remain between New Delhi and

A return to dialogue

By Ajai Shukla

Business Standard, 8th Dec 15



The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led
government has proved as inept at dealing with Pakistan from atop a high horse
as the Congress-led one that preceded it. In less than 18 months, this
government has twice stomped off from the dialogue table only to shuffle back
chagrined both times. On August 18, 2014, less than three months after Mr Modi

A hammer blow for the military: it is the biggest loser in the 7th Pay Commission