In its sheer audacity, the initiative with Russia has the potential to transform world politics in the same way as the 1972 Nixon visit to China and 'Shanghai Declaration' changed world dynamics, says Anil Athale.
'Even if such a thing happens, it will not prolong for many days like Doklam did.' 'That is because both the leaders do not want it.'
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last month, in 20 images.
All Russian diplomats, connected to the country's intelligence agencies, and their families have been given seven days' time to leave the country.
'Bolstering India's conventional military capability against China is in America's strategic interest,' says military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The US president's remarks came in response to the latest ballistic missile test conducted by North Korea on Friday.
'For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror.'
Raja Chari is in training to go to space in 2019. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel presents the story of his journey from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to NASA. A Rediff.com Exclusive!
'As India progresses and takes an increasingly hardline approach to Pakistani hostility, the young and restless population of Pakistan, sooner than later, will demand 'Gazwa e Hind' (conquest of India),' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Chinese government, people and the military were angry over India's dangerous move in Doklam'
Eleven days, 18 hours and 45 minutes after setting out from California, Srinivas Gokulnath created history by becoming the first Indian to complete what is considered to be the toughest cycle race in the world -- the 4,900-km Race Across America (RAAM) in the solo category.
'The domination of American foreign policy by the military poses some hidden dangers for us.' 'We must factor in that the Pakistani military and the US military have close ties going back three generations.' 'Pakistan will find sympathetic ears in the Pentagon against India as the bogey man.' 'This will be further milked to the maximum by raising the ante in Kashmir through its proxies,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale.
Any settlement with Pakistan won't last unless it comes with big power guarantees, says Shekhar Gupta.
Donald Trump and General H R McMaster: It is almost like the Chinese monarch Helü with Sun Tzu at his side.
Did the human drama provoked by the Japanese invasion of Burma and the Indian exodus from Rangoon inspire director Vishal Bhardwaj's forthcoming epic?
'Even if someone other than Trump had become president, the US distancing from Pakistan and coming closer to India was already set in motion.' 'With Trump openly declaring his intent to take on Islamic extremism, the days of US political correctness are over,' says Colonel (Dr) Anil A Athale (retd).
'Political parties have appropriated our military victories -- the Kargil war is the BJP's and the Bangladesh war is the Congress's -- what is going on?' As Uttarakhand -- where faujis number nearly 40% of the state's population -- prepares to vote, Rediff.com's Archana Masih discovers what upsets retired soldiers in Uttarakhand the most is a forgotten protest in the heart of Delhi.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has formally nominated James Mattis, a retired 4-star Marine Corps general who has long voiced concerns about the threat posed by Iran, as the Defence Secretary to replace Ashton Carter.
Dozens of hearses carrying the coffins of those killed when a plane flying Brazil's Chapecoense soccer team crashed into a Colombian mountain will leave Medellin for the airport on Friday to be flown home.
'The Kashmiri identity and its unique blend of Sufi Islam, its culture and language can best survive in a plural and secular India.' 'Neither independence nor merger with Pakistan can achieve that objective.' 'Peace will return to Kashmir only when Kashmiris realise this, else they will be part of the 1,000- year war,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'One hopes the younger generation sees Savarkar him for what he was and does not view him through a distorted prism.' 'This is the least one could do for someone who devoted his whole life to Indian freedom struggle, elimination of caste, succour to Dalits, and instilling of strategic culture in India,' says Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Even if the national security framework is to be threat-based, then the division of security threats between Pakistan and China is absurd. The two threats are one.'
'The Modi regime, after experimenting with its own versions of neighbourhood policy for 18 months, has now reached the exact stage where the Manmohan Singh government had left it in so far as our Pakistan policy is concerned,' says former senior RA&W officer Vappala Balachandran.
Though this time India's first astronaut remained earth bound, P Rajendran/Rediff.com finds out more about his journey off the beaten track along America's East Coast.
In spite of being wounded in battle, Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore fought for six days before meeting a hero's death on the battlefield in the 1965 war. A legend in the Indian Army, he is the highest ranking officer to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
'Your constant reiteration on the lack of religious freedom in India has sown doubts about the kind of information that you are being fed and based on which you seem to be making adverse references to India and its tradition of religious tolerance.'
Celebrating 50 years of a timeless Hollywood classic.
'Political meetings will be a mere side show; the main show is economic investment and the business partnership. The success of Modi's US visit will be judged on the basis of India's ability to attract American investment and setting up of manufacturing in India to give jobs to millions,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The parallels between 1914 and 2014 are striking. The crumbling of American and Russian hegemony, the rise of powerful terrorist groups, ferment in the Middle East and the rise of China... These closely mirror the world of 1914,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
While Nehru remains an icon for many, including his critics, for the stellar role he played in building institutions of democracy, the 1962 humiliation blots Nehru's copybook, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Let these ignite your never-say-die spirit and inspire you to become all that you can be.
'Pluralism is a fundamental fact of Indian life,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) tells members of the US Congress. 'Indians created a secular/plural State because that is what the majority believes in and not the other way round.'
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's sage advice remains as relevant today as it was during his lifetime, says Vivek Gumaste.
Iron Man 3 boasts of the headiest of action setpieces, writes Raja Sen.
Atletico Mineiro's 5-2 victory over Arsenal in the Libertadores Cup was marred by fighting between members of the Argentine team and Brazilian military police on the pitch at the end of the match on Wednesday.
The US will be secretly happy if Pakistan is forced to fight on two fronts (Indian and Afghan) in 2014, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
A colonel in the Pakistan's spy agency -- the Inter-Services Intelligence -- had provided vital help to the Central Investigation Agency in tracing Osama bin Laden, a new book has claimed.
The Lt Colonel Shrikant Purohit case has taken a pretty interesting turn. The claim of the suspected mastermind of 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing and other terror cases that he was not one of the terrorists but an infiltrator on a military intelligence operation has certainly raised eyebrows.
Bangladesh authorities suspect that the Hizbut Tahrir (the Liberation Party), banned in October 2009, had links with the 16 middle-level officers of the Bangladesh army involved in the plot to stage a coup against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina which was foiled in December, say sources.
Nikhil Lakshman reports from the United Nations General Assembly, which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed on Saturday.
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