India’s deft diplomacy

Apropos of ‘The Russia hand’ (The Great Game); the Modi-Putin summit epitomises India’s nuanced diplomacy amid a complex global landscape. India has embraced multipolarity by balancing ties with the US, China and Russia, and emphasising pragmatic interests over rigid alliances. Putin’s visit underscores New Delhi has navigated rivalries between super powers deftly, blending tradition with realpolitik. It has reaffirmed its role as a sovereign actor charting an independent, stable and peace-oriented path in turbulent times. Ancient yet modern, India has been playing its role wisely. PM Modi’s warm reception to Putin signals New Delhi’s resolve to assert sovereign choices while pursuing economic strength and strategic autonomy.

Gaganpreet Singh, Mohali

Mutual understanding

With reference to ‘The Russia hand’; India has asserted its right to trade with any nation and shown its strong resolve not to buckle under pressure of any other country in order to maintain its trusted relations with Russia. President Putin’s visit has again assured us that in hard times, we can pull through challenges with our reliable friend by the side. Putin, too, must have felt satisfied that New Delhi will not let Moscow feel isolated in international politics.

Raj Bahadur Yadav, Fatehabad

DGCA a toothless tiger

It took too long for the aviation regulator to issue a show-cause notice to IndiGo CEO holding him responsible for the current crisis. The DGCA failed to oversee the operations of the defaulting airliner and allowed advance booking without implementation of new flight duty time limitations rules triggering a tsunami of cancellations. Had the regulatory body forestalled bookings in the absence of the required number of pilots, the inconvenience to passengers could have been avoided. The aviation regulator needs to pull its socks to prevent recurrence of such incidents and act tough against the airlines. The late show-cause notice has put the DGCA into the ‘toothless tiger’ category in safeguarding passenger safety.

Anil Vinayak, Amritsar

RBI’s overambitious move

Refer to ‘RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 5.25% amid low inflation; loans to get cheaper’; a fourth rate cut this year is in line with government’s expectations from RBI governor who appears to be more a bureaucrat than an economist. Consequently, the banks will lower deposit rates, discouraging flow of deposits from the public, especially from those who solely depend upon interest income for their livelihood. It will put a strain on the present weakening credit deposit ratio, restraining the banks to match credit disbursement at lower rates as expected from the rate cut. The overambitious move will further encourage unproductive investment in gold with no direct benefit to the economy.

Jagdish Chander, Jalandhar

Towards Hindu rashtra

Apropos of ‘Bid to erase Nehru will weaken nation: Sonia’; the former PM championed modern, secular, pluralistic, inclusive and a socialistic pattern of society modelled on scientific temper. But the champions of Hindutva hark back to the ancient roots and cultural moorings of Manusmriti. The pluralistic idea of India respects diversity of culture and subnationalism which militate against the monopolistic concept of ‘one nation, one culture’. It appears that once Nehru’s legacy is dismantled and Sardar Patel as well as Subhas Chandra Bose are fully appropriated by the BJP, then it would be a cakewalk to usher in the Hindutva agenda with no holds barred.

Prem Singh Dahiya, Rohtak

Message crucial, not book cover

The quashing of the petition seeking a ban on the sale of Arundhati Roy’s book Mother Mary Comes to Me by the Supreme Court is a step in the right direction. The cover page depicting the protagonist smoking a cigarette is the bone of contention. Roy is a widely acclaimed international author and an active political activist, who has nothing to do with propagating profanity, vulgarity or denigration of any kind. So, the readers should not be swayed by the cover of the novel; rather, one should try to decipher the significant message which the novelist has conveyed.

Vasudha Pande, Paonta Sahib