National Security and Strategic Studies
Jammu & Kashmir
J&K Interlocutors, Indian Constitution and the Dustbin

Jammu and Kashmir is not a problem of the Kashmiris alone but of every ordinary citizen of this country. A closer look at the correspondence among Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maharaj Hari Singh and Sheikh Abdullah; file notings and government doc

Kashmir – A History of failed Interlocutors

If the Indian Home Minister is to be believed, then a solution to the Kashmir problem is at hand. Home Minister P Chidambaram told a Parliamentary Consultative Committee1 in early December 2010 that the “contours of a political solution

Knowing when not to talk

The ministry of external affairs press release of February 10, and our foreign secretary’s press conference of February 8, clearly indicate that the latter and her Pakistani counterpart agreed at Thimphu to resume the stalled India-Pakistan dialogu

Scoring Self-Goals with Pakistan

We have decided to resume the so-called composite dialogue with Pakistan, without admitting as much. Why not be frank about the change in our position? Why resort to word play to obfuscate? If we are going to discuss counter-terrorism, peace and secu

Kashmir–Deciphering Islamabad’s Signals

The message from Islamabad is gaining in decibel: the Generals want New Delhi to initiate talks with them on Kashmir. The latest in a string of couriers was former Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, who urged Dr Manmohan Singh to trave

J&K: Need For a Bipartisan Consensus

The full might of the Indian Republic was on display on this 26th January. No, not just in the Republic Day Parade but even more prominently at Lal Chowk in Srinagar! The BJPs plan to hoist the Tricolour in Srinagar was torpedoed by the central and S

Soft State Style Won’t Work In J&K

The turmoil in Kashmir continues and government’s nerve seems to be cracking. Curfews, police firings, dying protesters have not broken the momentum of the street protests. Pressure to find a “political” solution to the problem has increased, a

Lose-Lose Situation

The Jammu and Kashmir problem has blighted our existence since independence, draining us politically, diplomatically and militarily. Who should be blamed for this depressing balance sheet and in what measure? The actors have been Pakistan, India and

Getting ‘Stoned’ by the Stones

Since June, the stone-pelting in Kashmir seems to have left the Indian establishment stupefied. The government, both in the state and at the centre, has been reduced to a state of paralysis, almost as though they have been ‘stoned’ by the stones.

India is the Bigger Victim

The Jammu and Kashmir problem has imposed heavy political, diplomatic and military costs on India for the last 63 years. It has excessively conditioned our external relations, with much of our diplomacy occupied over the years with explaining to othe

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