Mainstream Weekly

The Vajpayee Legacy

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-10-15T20:20:10Z

At a recent meeting in Delhi a group of journalists, academics, former diplomats discussed the legacy of that great public figure and national leader, Atal Behari Vajpeyee. It was agreed that Vajpayee was a remarkable man of many parts—scholar, politician, national leader.
It all began in 1957, when, as a first-time MP Vajpayee made a brilliant speech in the Lok Sabha. So impressed was Prime Minister Nehru that he walked up to him, shook him by the hand, embraced him and said: ”Young man, (…)

- 2018

On the recently concluded two-by-two Indo-US Defence Deal

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-09-25T21:04:41Z

The editorial on the recently concluded Defence Deal with the USA [

- 2018

What Happened at the Simla Talks with Pakistan in June-July, 1972

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-09-09T18:57:03Z

After the conclusion of the “Bangladesh War” on December 16, 1971 it was decided through diplomatic channels that post-War talks would be held over June 30 and July 2 between Mrs Gandhi and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who had become the President of a wobbly civilian government in Pakistan and their respective top Ministers and officials. Mrs Gandhi had with her, Foreign Minister Swaran Singh, D.P. Dhar, Chairman, Policy Planning Committee in the Ministry of External Affairs with the rank of a (…)

- 2018

Indo-Bangla Relations and Sheikh Mujib's Assassination

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-09-02T10:55:45Z

The father of the Bangladesh nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was assassinated with his entire family (except his two daughters who were not in the Bangladesh capital at that time) in Dacca on August 15, 1975. The following article is being published in that connection.
When the “Bangladesh War” ended on December 16, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founder President of the Awami League party of Pakistan, was in Pakistan where he was detained since the military crackdown in Dacca (…)

- 2018

Is the Modi Raj of Today any Better or Worse than Mrs Gandhi's 1975-77 Emergency?

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-07-21T13:00:09Z

Today, June 25, 2018 is the 43rd anniversary of the Internal Emergency which PM Indira Gandhi declared in 1975. That declaration of Emergency by her was fully in accordance with the provisions of our Constitution Moreover, it was precipitated/triggered by a series of speeches and actions of the Opposition leaders denigrating her personally and her rule in general. The most extreme of them was the call by the self-styled leader of the nationwide “Indira Hatao” “Andolan” —the former socialist (…)

- 2018

A Truly Wonderful Person

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-06-30T16:33:35Z

Nikhilda (Respected Nikhil), as he was widely known and referred to, much as his close compatriot G. Parthasarathi was better known as G.P., was a wonderful many-sided personality like his colleagues and compatriots—of whom G.P. and his “brother” P.N. Haksar were the key figures. Nikhil (who was about the same age) was a product of the radical 1930s when Left-wing political, economic and social views were the norm. To Nikhilda, the anti-Fascist movement worldwide was integrally connected to (…)

- 2018

On FDI by Highly Industrialised Countries in Developing States: Some “Unconventional Thoughts”

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-06-10T03:56:22Z

By the 1950s when the developing countries started what the great Swedish economist, Professor Gunnar Myrdal, called the “Great Ascent from Grinding Poverty to a Prosperous Life”, Western economists in general—with the notable exceptions like Myrdal, Nobel Laureate US economist John Kenneth Galbraith, and another US Noble Prize-winning economist Josef Stiglitz (the person who went from being the Chief Economist of the World Bank for 10 long years to trenchent repudiator of the entire (…)

- 2018

Chinese Perfidy

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-05-05T17:13:14Z

Sino-Indian relations have been marked by Chinese perfidy since the time we attained political independence in 1947 and the so-called Chinese “liberation” in 1949. Barely had the Chinese achieved political freedom that they attacked and annexed the whole of Tibet in 1950.
From the very beginning of our political relations, Jawaharlal Nehru went out of his way to befriend the Chinese. When the UN Security Council was set up in 1948, Nehru had urged, indeed argued with, the Western powers (…)

- 2018

The Davos Disaster: The Heyday of the Halwaii

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2018-04-14T11:23:15Z

The annual event of the World Economic Forum now underway in Switzerland is with us again. Indeed, it is the scent of the air. This annual jamboree of the world's top politicians, businessmen and international organisations like the IMF, World Bank and WTO is our planet's capitalist show-case. Everybody who is anybody on the world stage is at Davos. The pronouncements at Davos are eagerly looked forward to by a non-existent entity called the “international community”. The political leaders (…)

- 2018

The Prime Minister's Office: Origin and Evolution

Ashok Parthasarathi — 2017-04-24T15:38:12Z

Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister, had only his Special Assistant, M.O. Mathai, to assist him in his work. Mathai had the rank and salary of a Joint Secretary to the Government of India. However, Nehru was, for much of his seventeen years (1947-1964) as the PM, also the Minister of External Affairs. So, he drew on the Ministry's four Secretaries to assist him not only on foreign affairs but also on several domestic matters. What is more, despite his towering personality, he had, as (…)

- 2017