Behind the apparently sharp US response to the Soviet takeover in Afghanistan lies the search for a coherent and viable policy which can help it cope with the rapidly growing Soviet military power in a turbulent world with special emphasis on the oil-rich Gulf region. Such a policy does not … Read More
Elsewhere in this issue we carry an interview President Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan has given to American correspondents. It invites attention as much for its brazenness as for its glaring contradictions. The general has called the reported 400 million dollar US aid offer “peanuts”, as if he is not aware that … Read More
Strange, indeed, are the ways of US policy-makers. Iran is a case in point. Economic sanctions against it would not have made much sense even before the Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan. These would not have secured the release of the American hostages. If anything, they would have further inflamed … Read More
The new government in Kabul has accused the United States of “interference” in its internal affairs. The charge is untenable right now, though it could become valid in course of time if Pakistan continues to back the Afghan insurgents and if America supports Islamabad in this effort, as it appears … Read More
Mr. Devraj Urs has denied that Congress (U) ministers are likely to resign from the caretaker government in New Delhi. He may well be right. But since the government is not going to take any important decision in the next two weeks, it makes no difference whether they stay or … Read More
Only the naive could have expected a smooth transition to democracy in South Korea following President Park Chung Hee’s assassination on October 26. For they alone could have believed that the semi-dictatorial set-up was the handiwork of just that one individual, that he kept it going on the strength of … Read More
It can safely be said that in no previous election to the Lok Sabha has the Muslim voter been wooed so assiduously by major parties as this time. Several factors account for this development. Though Mrs. Gandhi is apparently more popular among the Muslims than any other political leader, no … Read More
Since the beginning of the insurrection in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s involvement in it has been common knowledge. It has repeatedly denied the charge. But that has not carried conviction in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It has allowed thousands of rebels to cross the frontier at will and … Read More
Ever since August 20 when Mr. Charan Singh failed to appear in the Lok Sabha to seek and secure a vote of confidence we have held that he was a caretaker prime minister and his government a caretaker government. We have also held that while he and his council of … Read More
No one who watches developments in Pakistan can be surprised that an Indian diplomat in Islamabad should have been waylaid, blindfolded, taken first to a police station and then somewhere else, badly beaten, denied access to his embassy for hours and then dumped at his residence well after midnight. Darkness … Read More
