Journalists are sceptical and cynical people. Their first reaction is to conclude that what kids read about in school-books is likely to be a fairy tale. In this case, your correspondent was happy to be proven wrong.

BY V. Sudarshan 22 December 2006

The mind boggles at the the kind of surreal conversations to follow: Dawood Ibrahim? We don't know him. What does he look like? Do you have a picture? Professor Hafiz Mohammad Saeed? He is not a terrorist. He is into charity...

BY V. Sudarshan 17 September 2006

Our man in Kathmandu saw much through the window in his hotel room, and, when out on the streets, through the cracks in the palace doors; he met a revolutionary inventor, and then joined in the celebrations by drinking home brewed alcohol...

BY V. Sudarshan 4 May 2006

The Left had wanted the government to make clear how it intended to behave on IAEA. As it transpired, the government did not have to show its hand. It remains to be seen what happens when the matter comes up again.

BY V. Sudarshan 24 November 2005

While the foreign secretary's recent remarks are a welcome departure from the pussyfooting that was done on the A.Q. Khan issue, it would be useful to elaborate what the 'residual issues' are that remain to be clarified.

BY V. Sudarshan 25 October 2005

The latest from General Musharraf may have been nothing short of 7.5 on the Richter Scale of Dramatic Political Announcements, but apart from causing transient tremors of excitement in some teacups, it only highlights his alarmingly lopsided prioriti

BY V. Sudarshan 19 October 2005

If New York set Indo-Pak process back a few notches, Natwar Singh's visit to Pakistan demonstrated that New Delhi means business in taking the bilateral process forward. But how realistic is it to resolve the Siachen issue in three months?

BY V. Sudarshan 3 October 2005

The timing of the meeting between the "moderate" Hurriyat and the PM says a lot more than the proposed meeting itself. But has adequate groundwork been done? Updates

BY V. Sudarshan 31 August 2005

A week after the bomb blasts in all but one of its districts, if the Bangladeshi leadership has devised a credible political strategy to counter the threat, it is certainly keeping that a well-guarded secret.

BY V. Sudarshan 24 August 2005

The anodyne Indo-Pak joint statement syndrome, the regularity of it, the monotony of it, is perhaps what sets apart Diplomacy '04 from the preceding years.

BY V. Sudarshan 23 December 2004