Riding The Tide
The US endorsement of Pakistan's position on Kashmir bolsters Musharraf's fortunes even as anti-American outrage gathers steam.

Powell And Patience
President Bush's invitation to Vajpayee for a one-on-one in Washington next month makes up for the disappointment in New Delhi in the wake of Colin Powell's visit.

Autumn Of Turmoil
The Northern Alliance waits and watches the US moves in anticipation of a post-US-attack power struggle with the Taliban.
A look at the mood and the ground realities in Kabul.

FROM THE EDITOR IN CHIEF

Operation Enduring Freedom has thrown up questions that are now nagging Indians: if the US can bomb Afghanistan with the purpose of getting Osama bin Laden, can't India cross the loc into Pakistan and track down the terrorists who kill its citizens with impunity? There is plenty of evidence that Pakistan is training, harbouring and exporting these terrorists-does this not make it an aggressor of the kind the US has attacked thousands of miles away from its shores? Why then do we tolerate similar activity at our doorstep?

Hawkish as they may seem, these questions have only become louder following the attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly two weeks ago. India appears to have as much, if not more, justification for aggressive action against Pakistan as the US has for attacking Afghanistan. Terrorists in Kashmir have killed more than 30,000 Indians in the past 20 years and continue to do so. Pakistan shelters more than one bin Laden-Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, Syed Salauddin and Masood Azhar are only a few of the terrorist leaders wanted in India.

These are compelling arguments. Our cover story tries to provide a balanced answer using three parameters-military, diplomatic and political.

It called for specialist expertise and we invited Lt-General (retd) Vinay Shankar, who was the director-general (artillery) during Kargil, and defence expert Manvendra Singh to draw up a scenario of military action across the Loc. Editor Prabhu Chawla and Assistant Editor Shishir Gupta analysed the diplomatic and political consequences of such an action. Says Chawla: "The prime minister is under pressure from the hawks to strike Pakistan at what is seen as its vulnerable moment. The Government's decisiveness and patience are being tested."

India is neither the creator nor a participant in the war in Afghanistan. But as Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said during US Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit, "You can change your friends but you can't change your geography." How we deal with our neighbour when the world's focus is on terrorism will determine the outcome of our own war against this scourge.

(Aroon Purie)

MetroScape

Looking Glass

Kolkata Restaurant: Tangerine

Delhi Yoga: Morarji Desai National Yoga Institute

Delhi Cultural Festival : Qutab Festival