| Mr. Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan called on President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (May 21, 2013). The President said India would stand by the Government and the people of Afghanistan in the critical period of transition, development and nation-building. India is proud to partner the Government and people of Afghanistan in their efforts towards reconstruction and development of Afghanistan. The President said we should strengthen and deepen India-Afghanistan relations in all areas as prescribed in the Strategic Partnership Agreement. India is prepared to increase bilateral contribution to institution-building, training and equipment to the extent India can. The Afghan President warmly reciprocated the President’s words and said India is amongst the closest of countries to Afghanistan and according to many surveys the country most liked by the Afghan people. India-Afghan relations stand today on solid cemented grounds. Our relations are greater than any time before. |
Save Dissent to Save Democracy THE rising instances of physical violence and threats against political opponents and the inability to accept dissent must raise huge concerns amongst all of us who see democracy as perhaps the really stellar achievement since Independence. AAP’s attack on BJP headquarters and acts of arson committed under the very noses of their elite leadership; the attacks on Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in Gujarat in the last two days; the recent manhandling of the caretaker of journalist Siddharth Varadarajan’s house by some garden variety thugs; and the violence and threats meted out regularly to their political opponents by political parties is surely deplorable and condemnable. This is a fatally flawed trend which will destroy the very foundations of our democratic institutions if not pushed back with all the strength and condemnation that the civil society can mobilise. Replaying the past To begin with, it must be clarified that we should ...
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