"The latest dust-up has posed a larger question: must our democratic energy become a source of weakness in the conduct of foreign policy? Will every local incident and tactical fracas result in forcing our strategic hand? Will every ceasefire violation lead to a full-scale war? Domestic, political cussedness has already complicated equations with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh; we are incapable of even a hint of magnanimity in our approach to the neighbours and then we sulk that they are cozying up to China. It is time we understood that all the screaming and shouting in television studios does not add up to strategic muscle. It is time for the demagogues and their strategic spear-carriers to grow up." (Harish Khare is a senior journalist and former media adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He is currently a Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow.)
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 22:05:43 +0000
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