A retreat has been sounded in Anna vs govt battle
'The public perception at this stage of the battle is that the victory thus far belongs to Anna and his followers, but in reality it may turn out to be a victory of mixed proportions.' Strategic review of national security management
Unless one is able to convince the serving officers of the need for changes, reforms, new thinking and new concepts and ideas, even the best of task forces would fail to meet the objectives for which it was set up, says B Raman on the new task force set up to review our national security. Why the Karmapa issue could hurt Indo-China ties
The controversy is a sensitive issue which could have an impact on relations with China and could hurt the feelings and sensitivities of the followers of the Karmapa, say B Raman.

Will history repeat itself in Arab nations?
What happened in Iran post-1979 could happen in Tunisia, Egypt and the rest of the Arab world in coming months, warns B Raman

What the RAW's new leadership must do
The new leadership will be to have such an introspective exercise. The RAW has done great work in the past. It is capable of similar great work in the difficult years to come with the right critical approach and self-correcting action, says strategic expert B Raman.

Will the next Wikileaks expose India's corrupt?
While Wikileaks did not say in its message what the third instalment of their release would cover. However, a Reuters despatch from Washington DC said that classified US diplomatic cables reporting corruption allegations against foreign governments and leaders are expected to feature in the official documents that Wikileaks plans to release.

2 years later, we remain helpless against Pakistan
'The lack of vigorous action by the US against Pakistan for its involvement in the 26/11 strikes and its disappointing cooperation with India in the Headley case have shown that any high expectations of US cooperation with India against terrorism of Pakistani origin would be an illusion.'

What the Obama visit means for India and China
While Obama's visit to India has a strategic and economic dimension, what the visit portends for the US's relations with China is a big question, says strategic expert B Raman.

Pak's blackmail makes US pay up again
The Pakistan army's present confidence -- that the US will not act against it for its inaction against Al Qaeda -- will encourage more acts of terrorism against the US.

India needs new allies to deal with China
As the countries most threatened by China, India, Japan and Vietnam should put their heads together how to deal with it without unnecessarily creating a confron.

Commonwealth Games: Salvaging national honour
'A disastrous failure of the Games would not be just a failure of an incompetent India. It would be the failure of an emerging India and the damaging of its image as a democratic nation worthy of emulation.'

What India needs to do to make the CWG safe
Strategic expert B Raman examines the possible threats to the Commonwealth Games and how the various security agencies can tackle them.

IM mail hints at act of suicide terrorism
B Raman decodes the email sent allegedly by the Indian Mujahideen after the attack on tourists outside Jama Masjid in New Delhi.

Don't dismiss the Jama Masjid firing lightly
While there is no need for any panic, B Raman states that any casual approach to the firing outside the Jama Masjid in New Delhi would be unwise.

By criticising Pillai, Krishna has played into Qureshi's hands
By expressing his disapproval of Home Secretary GK Pillai in public, Foreign Minister SM Krishna has enabled his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi to justify his raising the issue of the former's disclosure to the media in the obnoxious manner he did, says B Raman

Lack of preparation hampered Indo-Pak talks
It was evident that no preparatory exercise for political and inter-departmental consensus-building in New Delhi before embarking on the trust-building exercise in Islamabad was undertaken.

India, Pakistan must go the 3 plus 3 way
'If the ministers spend their time throwing Indian dossiers on terrorism and Pakistani dossiers on Kashmir and river waters at each other, they will miss an opportunity for creating a possible and much-needed turning point in Indo-Pakistan relations.'

Why the Foreign Secretary met the Dalai Lama
Was the visit connected to China's recent actions vis-a-vis Pakistan?

Afghanistan: US should change tactics not generals
President Obama had been justifiably angered by McChrystal's irreverent remarks which appeared in Rolling Stone. His irreverent remarks caused considerable embarrassment in the Pentagon and the White House. His dismissal was inevitable.

Bhopal gas tragedy should be minutely documented
A major worry for the international community has been the danger of terror groups like the Al Qaeda using a chemical weapon to indulge in terrorism. Studies have been made of the possible scenarios and how to prevent and counter them. Dealing with a chemical disaster--deliberately caused by terrorists or other criminal elements or due to the criminal negligence of those producing and storing them for industrial and other purposes.

Why Dantewada's key to the battle against Maoists
Just as the Yenan model of revolution led to Mao Zedong's success in China, Dantewada in Chhattisgarh is similarly looked upon by Mao's Indian disciples as an ideal base for exploiting tribal discontent and capturing political power.

Obama attempts to impart momentum to Indo-US ties
The current Indo-US Strategic dialogue has given the Obama administration a fresh look at Indo-US ties and has helped focus attention on the traditional strengths between the two democracies, says strategic expert B Raman.

Why Headley's interrogation is a charade
A delay of eight months in giving India limited access to David Coleman Headley reduces the entire exercise to a charade. Should the Manmohan Singh government have literally colluded with the Obama administration in playing a fraud on the Indian people by creating an illusion of US cooperation? asks strategic expert B Raman.

Dr Singh's blind spots: Pakistan and Maoists
The prime minister's remarks on relations with Pakistan and on the Maoist issue do not bode well for our success in dealing with these two challenges to our national security in an effective manner, writes B Raman

US addressing intelligence gaps in Pakistan
The US may re-look its human and technical intelligence apparatus in Pakistan following the attack on seven CIA officers in Khost and the failed New York bombing plot, writes security expert B Raman.

Terror in Big Apple: A Pakistani hand?
The claim made by Qari Hussain Mehsud of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan taking responsibility for the attempted incendiary attack in the Times Square is now being taken a little more seriously by the FBI because the message making the claim had been recorded before the incident, writes security expert B Raman

Kasab is living proof of Lashkar's role in 26/11
'While Kasab was helpful in the investigation of the 26/11 terrorist attack, he was of no use in detecting and neutralising Lashkar's sleeper cells and the Indian Mujahideen.'

Is US okay with China supplying N-reactors to Pak?
By choosing to keep mum over China's plans to deliver two new nuclear reactors to Pakistan, the Obama administration has once again enlisted the co-operation of China in strengthening Pakistan's capacity in various fields. Indian policy-makers ought to take this seriously, writes B Raman

Madhuri case: Making an ass of ourselves
The government and our officers who have been talking to the media do not realise the importance of keeping the Pakistani intelligence guessing as to what Madhuri Gupta has been telling her interrogators. As for the media, it has converted the case into a slapstick serial, writes security expert B Raman.

Pakistan's IB is back in action
The Madhuri Gupta episode shows Pakistan's Intelligence Bureau is back from a relatively long hibernation, writes security expert B Raman.

A mole in an Indian mission can do great damage
Madhuri Gupta, the indian diplomat arrested for spying in the Indian mission in Islamabad, may not have access to sensitive information, but she has access to the high commission and could have planted transmitting devices and tapped phones, writes B Raman.

UN report on Benazir silent on Rehman Malik
What was the role of Rehman Malik, the present interior minister and a close confidante of Zardari, who had been nominated by Zardari as her security officer on behalf of the Pakistan People's Party? He was responsible for liaison on behalf of the party with the officials of the Musharraf government who were co-ordinating the security arrangements.

An urgent plan to deal with Maoist insurgency
Set up an auxiliary intelligence corps like the territorial army or the auxiliary air force. It should consist of part-time volunteers for intelligence collection by people in other professions who want to or are willing to help the intelligence agencies. Their links with the intelligence agencies must be protected by making the training course a short one and on an one-to-one basis, instead of holding it in a class where everyone becomes aware of the identities of others.

Why Naxals can easily set-up deadly ambushes
The CRPF and local police on anti-Naxal operations perform a thankless job but a few basic counter-insurgency measures could have prevented the deadly Dantewada attack, writes B Raman

Attack on US consulate: The Afghanistan of Pakistan
The available details regarding the fidayeen attack on the United States consulate in Peshawar, the capital of the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan on Monday, are still confusing.However, certain aspects of the attack are clear: It was a single target swarm attack, meant to penetrate the US consulate in a manner similar to the penetration of the General Headquarters of the Pakistan army in Rawalpindi in October last year

Al Qaeda-backed Chechen separatists behind Moscow terror
Al Qeada-backed Chechen separatists may have been behind the Moscow suicide blasts. Security expert B Raman examines the surge in terror in Central Asia.

Pak-US: An opportunistic tactical dialogue
The Pakistanis play quid pro quo diplomacy better than India does. They know how to promote their national interests while taking advantage of the needs of the US in the Afghaistan-Pakistan region, notes B Raman.

India should now focus on Tahawwur Rana
Now that David Headley has pleaded guilty, it is settled that he will not be extradited to India and that India will not be allowed to interrogate him.

It's futile to expect Saudi help on terror
It would be futile to expect that Saudi Arabia could be of assistance to India in dealing with jihadi terrorism emanating from Pakistan or Bangladesh. There has been a long history of links between jihadi terrorist elements in India and Saudi Arabia ever since the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December, 1992.

Revamping the internal security machinery
India needs to evolve a comprehensive security machinery with clearly laid down concepts, carefully defined leadership roles and a workable co-ordination drill.

Indo-Pak dialogue: Time to expand basket of issues of concern
While re-vitalising these interactions, it should be our endeavour to expand the basket of issues of concern to India, which have arisen since the format of the composite dialogue was agreed upon when Atal Behari Vajpayee was the prime minister and which are not discussed specifically now, writes B Raman.

The Taliban is down but not out
The relentless US drone attacks and the Pakistan ASrmy operations in the tribal areas has affected the Taliban's to carry out spectacular terrorist strikes in the non-tribal areas. They seem to be a weakened, but not a defeated force, writes security expert B Raman.

An open letter to the new NSA
Previously, for nearly a decade, we had no body for analysis, assessment and follow-up action. Today we have three --- the JIC of the old vintage, the NSCS of the 1998-99 creation and the National Security Advisory Board, which came into existence in 1999 as a body of non-governmental analysts and advisers on national security. From a state of practically no analysis, we have gravitated to one of a plethora of analysis.

Narayanan: A titan of the intelligence community
His human relationships were and are legendary. He was easily accessible in his office to anyone wanting to see him. He never stood on formalities in meeting people.

Gates' Delhi visit: Strategic course-correction
During Dr Gates' just-concluded stay in Delhi, one saw the transition in adjusting himself to Obama's vision of India as the pre-eminent power of South Asia, whose role will be important for the success of Obama's Af-Pak strategy, writes strategic expert B Raman.

What India can learn from Headley charge-sheet
In respect of all other charges relating to the Mumbai attack, Headley is the only accused. No one else has been cited as co-accused.

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