Praful Bidwai

NEW DELHI – Before Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met last Friday in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations, no one could have forecast how their first-ever talks would turn out. As it happened, their scheduled 15-minute one-on-one meeting extended to an hour. The two men – … Continue reading “India, Pakistan Turning a New Leaf?”

NEW DELHI – After the first extended round of India-Pakistan talks on the eight issues they have identified as bilateral disputes or concerns, it is clear that their dialogue has entered a phase of stagnation. Earlier expectations that at least some issues would be resolved in a series of discussions – the latest being earlier … Continue reading “India-Pakistan Dialogue Moves Between Stagnation, Hope”

NEW DELHI – The atmospherics still exude cordiality as India’s Foreign Minister Natwar Singh rounded off his numerous meetings in Islamabad with Pakistani policymakers with a one-on-one conversation with Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. But the initial euphoria, optimism and effusiveness of last week are yielding to caution, worry, and fear that the two nations’ … Continue reading “India-Pakistan Hope Gives Way to Uncertainty”

NEW DELHI – Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan have returned in earnest to the negotiation table after a break that witnessed a parliamentary election and path-breaking political changes in India. On May 28, they wrapped up the first round of talks to be held in six years between their foreign secretaries. They said these were … Continue reading “Pakistan, India Try Peace”

NEW DELHI – Six years after they blasted their way into the world’s nuclear club, India and Pakistan have taken some welcome, if tentative, steps in recent days toward nuclear-risk reduction and confidence-building, which they say would “promote a stable environment of peace and security.” But the steps are small and may prove inadequate in … Continue reading “New Accord a Modest Step to Ease Nuke Danger”

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s major surprise this week – making Pakistan a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally of Washington – was greeted with enthusiasm in Islamabad, but with stony silence here in New Delhi. Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri exulted that with the new status, relations between Washington and Islamabad … Continue reading “Pakistan’s Reward Could Turn Into Liability”

Washington’s policymakers might believe they have scored a diplomatic coup of sorts in South Asia by reportedly reaching a deal with Pakistan to allow US troops to be deployed in Pakistan to hunt down Osama bin Laden. This deal with Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf is supposedly in return for the pardon that Musharraf gave … Continue reading “US Move Is Bad News for South Asian Security”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads India’s ruling coalition, has launched a new stratagem in its high-pitched election campaign to rake up its trademark issue of religious and ethnic identities. Starting Mar. 10, Lal Krishna Advani, the part’s best-known hawkish leader and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s deputy, will begin a month-long tour covering … Continue reading “Hindu Warrior Back in His ‘Chariot’”

President George Bush’s proposed curbs on the spread of nuclear weapons, outlined at his National Defense University address on Wednesday, and the continuing disclosures about clandestine nuclear transfers from Pakistan to North Korea, Libya and Iran, occasion a good hard look at the murky goings-on in the nuclear world. At the heart of Bush’s proposals … Continue reading “How Not to Curb Nuclear Proliferation”

Pakistan’s government clearly seems to be moving toward putting on trial some of the individuals allegedly involved in clandestine transfer of nuclear weapons technology and components from Pakistan to North Korea, Iran and Libya. This is the signal that Islamabad is sending after the latest official disclosures about the detailed ‘confession’ signed by the ‘Father … Continue reading “New Moves Underway in Nuclear Poker”