#ICYMI The Tribune Opinion: UK PM Starmer or Afghan minister Muttaqi – which visit is more significant for India

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who is on a six-day visit to India, refused to invite any Indian women journalists to his press conference. Perhaps Taliban minister Muttaqi was worried about what people would say back home if he was seen mingling with Indian women, writes Editor-in-Chief Jyoti Malhotra in her weekly column The Great Game article What Afghan women want. Besides, another important point she makes is that India has seceded from its own neighbourhood and allowed other players to take precedence. The sad part is that it took the Indian government about a decade to realise its own mistakes in the Afghan theatre, she avers.

Talking of another of our western neighbours, the India-Pakistan boundary dispute over Sir Creek in the Rann of Kutch has flared up again. Pakistani fortifications in the Sir Creek area have elicited a sharp response from India. A change of only a few kilometres at the mouth of the creek would shift the maritime boundary line, potentially affecting thousands of square kilometres of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Continental Shelf under the jurisdiction of each country, writes former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran in the Edit piece, The Sir Creek story of a chance missed. Both the nationscame very close to resolving the dispute nearly two decades ago when a joint survey was conducted in 2006-2007. But unfortunately, then the Siachen deal fell through as part of the composite dialogue, Pakistani interest in the Sir Creek agreement also evaporated.

PM Modi’s remark equating Op Sindoor with India’s win over Pakistan in the Asia Cup cricket final is a sign of attempts to politicise our defence services as well as sports. This is a regrettable trend, says Julio Ribeiro in his Edit piece Don’t infect sports with politics. When military leaders are called upon to drive home a point repeatedly, the law of diminishing returns threatens to play spoilsport. With acts like the ‘no handshake’ spectacle, sporting culture will be compromised. Beyond that, basic human values will go for a toss with the refusal to shake hands, he underlines.

There was an alternative to the non-acceptance of the Asia Cup trophy by the Indian team – perhaps, the team could have kept a box of ‘laddoos’ and offered one to Pakistani minister Mohsin Naqvi while accepting the trophy, writes former MEA Secretary Vivek Katju in his Oped From handshakes to hard lines — and no laddoos.

Three months after Modi went to London to sign a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was in India last week to take the India-UK trade deal forward. The deal’s long-term gains remain modest, writes The Tribune’s London Correspondent Shyam Bhatia in his Op-ed article UK seeks India’s markets, not its workers. The mobility clause is where that political tension is sharpest. In practice, Starmer’s new immigration white paper tightens several other visa routes, creating an uneasy contradiction, he writes. The test of the UK–India pact lies in whether Indians can work in Britain with fewer barriers, he avers. The India-UK pact worth £4.8 bn may stumble if talent mobility remains a political taboo. The India-UK pact’s success will hinge on people moving between the 2 countries

In an eye-opener, senior journalist TN Ninan, in his Edit piece, China owes a lot to its engineers, he brings to light how China has built infrastructure on an unprecedented scale with the help of engineers as technocrats at the helm. Within China, STEM students find a place in Chinese decision-making echelons, which does not happen in the US or India, although India has the second largest number of STEM graduates, he argues. In this matter, India’s experience, too, has been that its scientists and engineers can ‘build’ if given the responsibility, with examples like Homi Bhabha, MS Swaminathan, Vikram Sarabhai, and Verghese Kurien. Putting capable engineers in charge may well put an end to our usual tolerance of shoddy work and celebration of jugaad, he writes.

Now, to the problems ensuing within our country. The flare-up and resultant deaths during a protest in Leh regarding statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, Ladakhis wish to shape their future with their own leaders and resources, writes Ajay K Mehra, Visiting Senior Fellow, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, in his Edit piece Empower Ladakh to turn the tide. As a solution, he writes that the Centre needs to address the demand of residents for special constitutional rights.

In another instance of violence in the country, communal tension flared up in Kanpur after a lightboard reading ‘I Love Muhammad’ was put up for a celebration. The heavy-handed police response ignited protests. By reacting with hostility to a harmless declaration of love, we are signalling that the ethos of coexistence no longer defines us, writes Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha in his Op-ed article When ‘I Love Muhammad’ becomes a crime. Irrespective of political affiliations, we must collectively reclaim the Idea of India and resist the binary logic that pits faiths against one another. We need to safeguard the constitutional principles of fraternity and secularism, not as cold legal provisions, but as living values that even our institutions have forgotten to uphold, he writes.