Comment & Briefs

Given the hostility of Assamese society to indiscriminate violence and the sullied image of the ULFA leaders due to their amassing of wealth through extortions, the anti-talk ULFA faction would not be able to make a determined come back.

US President Barak Obama recently signed a tougher sanctions law against Iran in a continuing bid to coerce Tehran into abandoning its nuclear programme. This Backgrounder discusses the reactions of the emerging powers to the new sanctions and their implications.

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is so dependent on the vagaries of the US political and electoral system that any change in administration in November 2012 would certainly make or delay the implementation of the steps necessary to secure lasting peace.

Although law enforcement agencies have been receiving timely reports about growing Maoist activities in Assam, it appears that they do not pay much attention to the issue.

Overthrowing Bashar is likely to result in an Islamist regime, which might turn out to be far worse for the country’s Kurdish, Christian, Druze and Armenian minorities.

Strengthening defence ties and broadening defence engagement between India and Saudi Arabia was the principal objective of Antony’s visit to Riyadh.

The growing violence and regional unpopularity of the Assad regime forced India to give up its erstwhile silence on Syria and vote against it both in the Security Council and General Assembly.

Knowing how slippery the democratic playfield can be and having a sense of who actually has fouled, as a sort of friendly referee, India should award a free kick to the player who has been knocked down.

India will have to take a call on whether the pivotal position of Iran for reaching Afghanistan and Central Asia outweighs the benefits India derives from its relationship with the West and the Arab world.

In the wake of the selection of the Rafale the offset clause currently in force must be used to revamp India’s domestic aerospace industry, making it more technologically current and capable of taking on advanced design and development tasks in future.