India

‘What happens next?’ is the worried question I keep getting from Indian and Pakistani friends as military exchanges between the two countries continue. The current crisis was eminently predictable – in nature, if not in timing – as terrorist incidents persisted, albeit at lower levels, in Kashmir and given relations between India and Pakistan were so poor.  Both countries had long signalled their approach and rehearsed it during crises in 2016 and 2019.  India had made clear that it would respond to significant terrorist incidents with kinetic actions at a time and in a manner of their choosing. Pakistan’s military and political leadership were equally forthright: if India did so,

Once again Pakistan’s strategy of asymmetric warfare against its larger South Asian neighbour has plunged the region to the brink of a wider war. Long-term Pakistani support of anti-India militant groups – in particular Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) – continually destabilises the region. The attack on tourists in the honeymoon location of Pahalgam meadow in Kashmir was deliberate, savage, targeted at Hindu men, and clearly targeted to provoke a response and create fertile ground for further action. Women who survived were told, ‘Tell this to Modi.’    Pakistan has lowered its threshold, so that a nuclear attack can be provoked by an Indian conventional attack on Pakistani military installations The group

Yesterday evening Indian prime minister Narendra Modi authorised missile strikes on jihadi training camps located in Pakistan’s East Punjab and Pakistani Kashmir. It is retaliation for the attack on Hindu tourists allegedly carried out by the Pakistani Jihadi groups Lashkar-e-Taibi and Jaish-e-Muhammad in Indian controlled Kashmir on 22 April. Does this mean all-out war between the two nuclear powers is inevitable? Not necessarily. Since Indian partition, the perennial casus belli in the subcontinent there have been three major wars between India and Pakistan. The First Indo-Pakistan War (1947-1948) and the Second Indo-Pakistan War (1965) were both fought over the Kashmir issue. The third Indo-Pakistan War of 1977 was fought over

India is bracing for a potential military confrontation with Pakistan after a deadly terrorist attack on tourists in India-administered Kashmir left 26 people dead, triggering a wave of national outrage and sharpening regional tensions. The assault – described by authorities as the deadliest attack on civilians in the region in recent years – claimed the lives of 25 Indian nationals and one foreigner. While no group has claimed responsibility, Indian officials have pointed fingers across the border, reigniting old hostilities between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. Addressing a rally in Bihar, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking unusually in English, delivered a fiery speech signalling retaliation. ‘India will identify, trace, and

At least 26 tourists were killed in a militant attack on the town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on Tuesday. Responsibility for the massacre at the popular tourist destination has been claimed on social media by a militant group called the Resistance Front (TRF), reportedly as a response to ‘Indian settlement’ in the region. According to eyewitnesses, the militants verified the religion of their victims, before eliminating non-Muslims. The massacre was a throwback to the jihadist violence of the 1990s that saw the cleansing of Kashmir’s local Hindu population from the Muslim-majority region. The attack has overlapped with US vice president J.D. Vance’s trip to New Delhi, and Indian prime

At the Royal Calcutta Turf Club, where ghosts of British nabobs look out over the racecourse, my neuroscientist wife spoke to an audience of businessmen in support of Robin Sengupta, a pioneering Newcastle neurosurgeon. He has founded a world-leading Institute of Neurosciences in Kolkata where richer patients subsidise poorer ones. After a morning meeting doctors and patients, he showed us the land where an ambitious new medical school will soon emerge from the rice paddies and crayfish farms. At the Jaipur Literature Festival, debating innovation with the economist Shailendra Mehta, I told the audience that the job of being the world’s most innovative nation in the decades ahead is vacant

The alleged involvement of agents of a foreign government in the murder of a citizen is a crime that violates national sovereignty and the established norms of international relations. Put simply, no government can ignore or overlook such actions. This is the reasoning behind Canada’s momentous decision to expel a group of Indian diplomats and go public with an explosive set of allegations against India itself. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down by masked men Canadian authorities have accused Indian agents of involvement in ‘homicides, extortion and violent acts’ on Canadian soil. Police said the criminal activity had particularly targeted supporters of the pro-Khalistan movement, which seeks a separate homeland

What passes for democratic politics in India is something of a strange beast. Take, for example, the announcement in recent days that Priyanka Gandhi – scion of the dynasty that has produced three former prime ministers – is to run for the Indian parliament for the first time. She will stand for the main opposition Congress party (controlled lock, stock and barrel by the Gandhi family) in a by-election in Wayanad, a safe seat in the southern state of Kerala, that will be vacated by her brother and de facto leader of Congress, Rahul Gandhi. Victory is pretty much guaranteed. Rahul will continue to represent the seat of Rae Bareli in

There was never really any serious doubt that India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, would win a historic third term in power. The bigger question in the Indian election was how big his victory would be. There were widespread predictions that Modi would win by a landslide, with the prime minister himself setting an ambitious goal of winning 400 of the total 543 seats up for grabs. It hasn’t quite turned out that way. Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) is on course to be the largest party, but is falling well short of the 272 required for an absolute majority. This means the BJP will be reliant on other parties

Butter chicken, one of India’s best-known dishes and a favourite all over the world, is at the centre of an extraordinary curry war in India. Two rival restaurant chains have asked the courts to rule over who invented the recipe for  the signature dish, made with tender pieces of chicken in a tandoor oven, mixed in a rich tomato, cream and butter sauce. It’s a dispute that has captured the attention of the nation, with television stations covering the story and widespread debate across social media. It amounts to a somewhat bizarre legal battle that’s piqued the interest of millions of ordinary Indians The 2,572-page lawsuit was brought by the Gujral family

The religious and political symbolism was unmistakable, as the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi led the consecration of a controversial new Hindu temple in Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh state, built on the ruins of a 16th century mosque. The Babri Masjid was torn down by Hindu nationalist mobs in 1992, sparking riots across the country that killed about 2,000 people, most of them Muslim. In 2019, India’s Supreme Court ruled that a temple could be built on the site, a decision that was roundly criticised by India’s Muslim minority. Modi spoke of India being at ‘the beginning of a new era’ The festering wounds from this long-running dispute reverberate to this day. The