Sunday, Sep 19, 2021 | Last Update : 12:44 PM IST

Sunanda K Datta Ray

Mr Modi’s problems are rooted in India’s geopolitical location, culture, identity and aspirations. (ANI)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | 20 years after 9/11: India must adapt to new world

Even a 'Hinduist' India’s aim should be to secure the goodwill of a stable Afghanistan that is not a base for terrorist attacks

13 Sep 2021 3:22 AM

Since Dhondy’s title Fragments Against My Ruin, taken from The Waste Land, has been interpreted in many ways, one can’t be sure of his precise meaning. (Image: Amazon)

Book Review | An immigrant’s progress and other scoops from Old Blighty

Did Ronald Reagan really think after seeing Attenborough’s film that Indira Gandhi was the Mahatma’s daughter?

12 Sep 2021 2:30 AM

The India-made Tejas MK-1 is now said to be 'the smallest, lightweight, multirole, single-engine tactical fighter aircraft in the world'. (Representational Photo: PTI)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | India must be watchful as it begins Taliban dialogue

The Sifarat-e-Hind, as the embassy is called, in Shahre Nau, was one of India’s best guarded diplomatic establishments

02 Sep 2021 1:05 AM

Chief Justice Ramana’s strictures on police methods and condemnation of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code on sedition apply to all three nations, not just India, where the tragedy of the late Father Stan Swamy heaped shame and disgrace on the authorities. (Twitter)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | Colonial era tools don’t belong in a democracy

Justice delayed is justice denied, especially in district and subordinate courts where 33.3 million cases were pending last year

17 Aug 2021 2:06 AM

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a delegation level meeting, in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | India must avoid getting entangled in US crusade

It was a warning that despite PM Modi’s right-wing bias, too close a relationship with the US is not in India’s long-term interest

03 Aug 2021 11:59 AM

Security personnel inspect a damaged vehicle which was firing rockets in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, July 20, 2021. (Image: AP)

Sunanda K Datta-Ray | Afghan turmoil, Pak role: What keeps India unsafe

The spectre of Afghanistan again under the fundamentalist Taliban haunts global thinking

21 Jul 2021 12:28 AM

As Mao rides again, his successor should not forget that the point of his tale about the one and a half wars was that India and China are not doomed to perpetual enmity. (PTI Photo)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | India-China peace: Who will take the first step?

China’s disdain for verbal gymnastics recalls Deng Xiaoping’s advice to hide your strength and bide your time

08 Jul 2021 12:45 AM

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | Biden B3W vs China BRI: Is India the odd man out?

India can expect even less sympathy (and no support!) from ASEAN, whose collective trade with China jumped last year to $731.9 billion

22 Jun 2021 7:03 AM

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | Why monopoly of power is a threat to democracy

In short, no matter how legitimately political power is acquired, justice demands the balancing factor of an opposition

10 Jun 2021 1:03 AM

Palestinian children hold candles during a rally amid the ruins of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes, in Gaza City on May 24, 2021. (Mohammed ABED / AFP)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | Israel & Gaza: Use truce to find a lasting solution

Although both adversaries accomplished their immediate political goals, the fragile peace can collapse any moment

25 May 2021 7:23 AM

Gandhi might have thought it was the universe whose position needed slight adjustment. (Image by arrangement)

Book Review | If only our netas read Gandhi, instead of making him a deity

With Covid fatalities soaring, we can hardly dispute the Mahatma’s opinion

23 May 2021 11:24 AM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. (Photo: File/PTI)

Sunanda K Datta Ray | Amid pandemic, Britain, EU eye India trade deals

India desperately needs the emergency medical aid that is pouring in from several richer countries

12 May 2021 12:28 AM

Family members of COVID-19 patients wait outside an oxygen-filling centre to refill their empty cylinders, as demand for the gas rises due to spike in coronavirus cases, at Naraina, in New Delhi, Tuesday, April 27, 2021. (PTI/Manvender Vashist)

Sunanda K. Datta Ray | Caring governance vital to save lives & India’s future

The devastating second wave might not have struck so ferociously had it not been for the government’s triumphalism

28 Apr 2021 7:23 AM

Is China rich or poor? The evidence suggests both. (Photo: AP)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | Why world can’t afford to take a chance with China

Is China a land of peace contented with its status? Or is it arrogantly determined to be the next superpower?

13 Apr 2021 1:11 AM

No wonder Britain’s response was limited to grieving rhetoric when Beijing imposed sanctions on five ruling Conservative Party MPs, two peers, a barrister and an academic. (AFP file photo)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | Weak Britain reluctant to confront aggressive China

Ramping up criticism of Beijing not only risks deterring future Chinese investment but could undermine British businesses in China

31 Mar 2021 7:25 AM

'Through the passing of this landmark bill, Scotland’s Parliament has sent a strong and clear message to victims, perpetrators, communities and to the wider society that offences motivated by prejudice will be treated seriously and will not be tolerated', declared Scotland’s justice minister Humza Yousaf. (Image credit : Twitter/@ScotParl)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | India needs hate crimes law on lines of Scotland

Actually, modern Scotland is a liberal, secular and civilised nation which has not known any blasphemy prosecution for more than 175 years

17 Mar 2021 7:34 AM

Mr Biden has also ordered a review of US arms sales to the Saudis and is reportedly considering a ban on all non-defensive purchases. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | If Biden can’t punish MBS, US image will take ethics hit

Surely the world’s only superpower claims a higher moral role than just organising the distribution of weapons and pocketing the profits

04 Mar 2021 7:24 AM

Human rights groups call this a form of discrimination in favour of the wealthy. There is also the ethical question of those who for one reason or another refuse to be vaccinated. (Photo: AFP)

Sunanda K. Datta-Ray | ‘Vaccine passports’: Key to safe travels is flawed

Vaccine passports will prevent travel by people from countries that will not get vaccines for months, or even years

18 Feb 2021 4:16 AM

A convoy of army vehicles patrol the streets in Mandalay, Myanmar, Wednesday, February 3, 2021. (AP)

Sunanda K Datta-Ray | Future unclear in Suu Kyi country: Do generals have a post-coup plan?

Like all those who stage coups, the Tatmadaw says it will hold a 'free and fair general election' after the emergency ends

04 Feb 2021 7:38 AM

It is the legal action against Mr Trump by America’s senators and congressmen that grips the world’s attention.(Image: AFP)

Sunanda K. Datta Ray | Thoughts on democracy as Trump exits, finally…

For it should never be forgotten that 74 million Americans voted for the man who now seems bent on destroying the edifice on which he stood

19 Jan 2021 6:41 AM

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Pavan K Varma