India sends safeguards agreement to IAEA Board
In violation of an assurance given by the Government, the IAEA was asked on Wednesday to circulate the Indian safeguards agreement to Board members. And it turns out Pranabda was … Continue reading
The safeguards text
I received a copy of the Indian safeguards agreement by email from David Albright’s Institute for Science and International Security at 3 a.m. IST. He must have got it even … Continue reading
The gas pedal is on the floor…
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the government would send India’s safeguards agreement to the IAEA Board only after winning a vote of confidence in Parliament. But on Wednesday, … Continue reading
Left queries on safeguards thrust spotlight on ‘corrective measures’
The Left has asked the UPA government to answer whether India will be able to withdraw its civilian facilities from IAEA safeguards in the event of the US or any … Continue reading
Nuclear deal – The scenario from here on
Today has been a day of dramatic developments. 1. The four Left parties — the Communist Party of India (Marixst), the Communist Party of India, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and … Continue reading
Nuclear deal: Update 2
The Prime Minister’s statement to reporters on board his plane to the G-8 outreach meetings in Japan about India approaching the IAEA “very soon” has triggered frenzied speculation about the … Continue reading
Nuclear deal: Update 1
Now that the Congress has reached an understanding with the Samajwadi Party, the nuclear deal is back on the Manmohan Singh government’s active agenda. Last week, the Prime Minister’s Office … Continue reading
The Nazi war criminal hoax – An update
Via Jonathan Allen of Reuters we learn that none of the newspapers guilty of falling for the penpricks hoax — with the exception of O Heraldo — has owned up … Continue reading
Don’t use Muslims as crutch on nuclear deal
The nuclear deal and other questions of foreign policy should be opposed or defended on their own merits. Sadly, both the government and its opponents have played fast and loose … Continue reading
If you’re a diplomat, don’t try this without supervision…
Hussain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, was booted out of a meeting of Pakistani American doctors on Sunday. The docs were upset at a speaker from the MQM, … Continue reading
A story too good to check
Several Indian newspapers fell victim to a hoax about the arrest near Goa of a supposed Nazi war criminal named ‘Johann Bach’. Apart from the media’s alarming ignorance, the episode … Continue reading
In Syria, a cautious balance between Pan-Arabism and Islamism
Diplomatic Notebook: India has a vital interest in the establishment of peace and stability in West Asia. It is time to step up our engagement. The two faces of President … Continue reading
BOOK REVIEW: The geopolitics of oil
Two books analyse the outlook of international oil and the shifting terrain of world power. 17 June 2008The HinduThe geopolitics of oil Siddharth Varadarajan UNITED STATES FOREIGN OIL POLICY SINCE … Continue reading
The Assad interview transcript
The interview lasted more than 45 minutes and we covered a lot of ground — Syria’s indirect peace talks with Israel, Israel’s attack on a suspected ‘nuclear’ site in Syria, … Continue reading
Siddharth Varadarajan 