ICYMI#TheTribuneOpinion: India’s tightrope walk in foreign policy and politics 

As India continues to draw “red lines” in its negotiations with the US in the West, it is simultaneously facing a formidable foreign policy challenge in its immediate neighbourhood —  the deepening and intensification of the China-Pakistan relationship. In her Edit piece India has to play along with China The Tribune Editor-in-Chief Jyoti Malhotra writes that over the past decade, India’s outreach in favour of the US has been made at the cost of its other, serious relationships. India’s extraordinary interest in the US had led New Delhi to look at its other relationships via the American prism. PM Modi does understand that as the weaker nation with fewer cards, he must bide his time, she writes.

Meanwhile, Chinese Minister Wang Yi’s visit to India was seen as part of a return to ‘normalisation’ in the relationship. The irony is that this ‘normalisation’ of ties with China is not one that is the result of hard bargains or the one that showcases any advantages for India, writes Jabin T Jacob, Director, Centre of Excellence for Himalayan Studies in his Op-ed article India’s China policy at a crossroads. Wang Yi’s visit is unlikely to achieve much on the boundary dispute, the focus will most likely be on seeking economic relief. India’s Pakistan and China policies — and now, also its US policy — have been beset by tactical and strategic missteps; China will take advantage, he writes.

At the global level, the Trump-Putin Alaska summit was a personal vindication for Putin and though there was no breakthrough over the Ukraine issue, the silver lining is that there was no breakdown either, writes C Uday Bhaskar in his Edit piece Putin firmly spells out Russia’s red lines. The major change that unveiled in Alaska is that a ceasefire has been replaced by a quest for peace with Zelensky in the loop, he writes.

Among the domestic issues that grabbed headlines last week, the Supreme Court’s middle path on the stray dogs issue appeared to balance compassion with pragmatism.

One should recognise that all free-roaming animals in human habitats pose a threat to human health, says science commentator Dinesh C Sharma in his Edit article Let evidence offer ways to handle strays. Animal lovers often try to undermine the scale of rabies by hiding behind inadequate reporting and data-gathering by government agencies.

In the world of politics — where strategy often trumps morality, a constitutional amendment can be used (read misused) as a political weapon. Talking about the Constitution Bill brought about by the government in the monsoon session of the Parliament, SC advocate Sanjay Hegde writes in his Op-ed piece A Bill that creates a kill switch for regime change that the targets clearly are Opposition CMs. He cites Pakistan’s example where former prime ministers were incarcerated by applying laws, cloaked in the language of morality. Pakistan’s democracy is weaker because courts allowed themselves to become instruments of regime change. India risks writing into its Constitution a similar pathway, he warns.

The Two Views segment on the Op-ed page talks about an Act that was passed by both Houses in the Parliament—the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The sports Act is not a leap forward, writes sports activist & senior advocate Rahul Mehra in his article Politicians win, players lose under new law. This law ensures that politicians and bureaucrats will continue to suffocate sports and corruption might become the new buzzword; real reform is still awaited, he writes. On the contrary, Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang writes in his article Act aims at fair play and transparency that the Act focuses on fair selection of athletes.

In a speculative piece about how the idea of Union Territories (UTs) evolved, Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari writes in his Edit piece Governance model of UTs needs a reset how they came into being not by bold design but by default. Statistics demolish the argument given now that such territories are too small, too thinly populated or too peripheral to deserve democratic self-rule, he writes. The UTs must no longer be treated as loose threads. They deserve to be autonomous participants in the federal life of the Republic. The question is no longer whether UTs can govern themselves; it’s why they should be denied the opportunity, he writes.

Talking of Punjab, the vertical split in SAD, the oldest regional party in India, resulted in a parallel Akali Dal headed by Giani Harpreet Singh. Over the years, party leaders started keeping themselves at bay as loyalty to individuals rather than to the party became the new norm. Former GNDU prof Jagrup Singh Sekhon in his Op-ed article The Badal legacy and SAD fragmentation tracks down the decline to the initial support of the party to the three farm laws, though it made amends later. The SAD has been in a continuous decline at all levels — a new culture of hooliganism set in, economy deteriorated, debt  mounted, corruption rose, drug abuse increased, among many other issues, during the SAD regime from 2007 to 2017, he writes. The biggest blunder it committed was granting pardon to Dera Sacha Sauda head Ram Rahim.

A personal loss for Punjab and the Indian diaspora, the passing away of Punjabi actor-comedian Jaswinder Bhalla left a void in Punjabi cinema and theatre. In his Op-ed article Jaswinder Bhalla, a jewel in the crown of Punjabi comedy The Tribune Deputy Editor Vikramdeep Johal writes that he never shied away from making political barbs and withstood the anti-establishment storm resiliently.

As political parties prepare to give India its new Vice President after the sudden exit of Jagdeep Dhankhar, the BJP has extolled CP Radhakrishnan’s candidacy as an ‘Abdul Kalam moment’, hoping to reprise the all-round (barring the Left) support he garnered from parties, says senior journalist Radhika Ramaseshan in her Op-ed piece The politics of memory: Why Modi backed CPR.