"But you keep telling us what Islam isn’t. You need to tell us what it is and show us how its positive interpretations are being promoted in your schools and mosques.” Friedman might begin with a look at Darul Uloom Deoband, an influential Muslim seminary situated in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. 

Although India has denied news reports that it is winding up its humanitarian and infrastructure-building activities in Afghanistan following the Pakistani Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist attacks on Indian citizens in Kabul, it may eventually come to that coterminous with the US/ NATO withdrawal from that country in the middle of next year. 

To begin the process of national reconciliation and instill functioning democratic institutions, the Sri Lankan government needs to address the legitimate grievances at the root of the ethnic conflict. Unfortunately the President seems more content to lash out at his enemies than to foster national unity. 

Can Chidambaram leave a decisive legacy behind? By any metric, he is a hard act to follow. But it is also evident that if the Indian state invests the counterterrorism policy with integrity, not deflected by considerations of votebank and minority-bashing politics, Chidambaram-like successes may be replicated. 

Hence, Indian analysts have concluded that during a future Indian military conflict with China, Pakistan is likely to come to China’s military aid and vice versa. While the ability to fight on two fronts may be aspirational rather than real at present, recognition of the need to prepare for such an eventuality will drive future Indian doctrine, strategy and force structures.