The Arthashastri

After Nepal, Iran too? “Enemy’s enemy is a friend” , says an old adage and very well says, especially in the Chinese case. After subjugating Nepal, China has now struck a $ 400 billion strategic deal (8 times larger than CPEC deal) with an American adversary (or another Indian ally) – ‘Iran’. Iran has finally given its approbation on the four-years long-pending Chinese proposal for an economic and security deal between the two nations. This is a twenty-five year strategic accord and an eighteen-page agreement which will enhance the reach of Chinese expansionist motives into Iran’s banking, telecommunication, port, and railway industries along with the contract of dozens of developmental projects in Iran to the Chinese companies. Apart from all this, Beijing will also get ‘Iranian oil’ at a heavily discounted rate (approximately 13%) for twenty-five straight years. And interestingly, these transactions are not going to materialize in dollars but ‘renminbi (Chinese currency)’. ...

अहिंसा परमो धर्मः? We all have grown up hearing this famous line: “Non-violence is an utmost duty (Ahimsa Parmo Dharma)” , which is believed to be the founding principle of the Republic of India as its road to independence was paved with the asphalt of non-violence. Indian freedom struggle from 1915 (Gandhi Ji’s return to India) to 1947 was mostly based on ‘non-violence’. This was the time when Mahatma Gandhi’s popularity rose immensely and his ideology outspread the whole country. Gandhian ideology or more precisely the principle of ‘non-violence’ became the cornerstone of fledgling India. On every diplomatic front, India espoused the principle of ‘non-violence’ and characterized itself as the preacher of the same. But is ahimsa actually a param dharma? India’s independence journey says so. It is believed that the ‘weapon of ahimsa’ compelled the mighty British empire to eventually liberate India. And after witnessing the devastation caused by the two world wars (1915-191...