Wednesday, September 16, 1998
A tinderbox next door
The NAM summit, Mandela's references to Kashmir there, and will we or won't we sign the CTBT -- these have been the focus of recent foreign-policy debate. We have not taken note of important regional developments: economic problems and political fractiousness in South East Asia; Nawaz Sharif trying to counter disaffection by populist Islamisation.
The litmus test
The crisis in the Gujarat ministry has brought to the forefront the sharp divisions within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The resignation of industries minister Suresh Mehta in the state is a clear pointer to the seriousness of the situation.
A desperate gamble
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Laloo Prasad Yadav's volte-face on the division of Bihar may have shocked some. Specially after his aggressive advocacy of the Jharkhand cause in the Bihar Assembly just a year back, when he got a resolution for the bifurcation of the state passed to placate the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (Soren) supporting his minority government.
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