Once in a while you come across new information that shocks you.

In 2012, some of the most well-respected voices in India published a report titled “Non Alignment 2.0” on the future of Indian foreign policy.

Authors: @pbmehta @svaradarajan @NandanNilekani & Shyam Saran ++

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These are giants. I personally hold them in very high regard. They have earned this respect.

On the political spectrum they represent the opposite of the fire breathing populists & Hindutva extremists that run India.

So upon finding this document, I began reading...

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Here is the chapter on Pakistan...

Two things stand out overall.

1. There is ZERO acknowledgement of Indian Occupied Kashmir as the foundation of the conflict and the destroyer of the relationship.

2. The emphasis is entirely on “terrorism”.

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the most shocking aspect of this 2012 report is the stunning similarity between what the document (written by admirable, respected non RSS people) has proposed in response to “terror attacks”...

See for yourself

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So “surgical strikes” (2016), “Balakot” (2019) & Modi’s reference to Delhi Fort speech (2016) are not, after all, products of Hindutva bloodlust or warmongering.

They are in fact notions with clearly much wider appeal, even among India’s brightest & most respectable.

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Three immediate thoughts...

1) really shocked that such ideas have currency among the NOT South Block, NOT RSS.

2) if this how Indians perceive Pakistan, then the confidence building required is decades behind where it needs to be.

3) 26/11 really really destructive

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