DECEMBER 2013

The phone call intercepts of Amit Shah and GL Singhal suggest that the top police machinery of Gujarat, at Narendra Modi’s behest, was illegally snooping on a woman close to him
Sadiq Naqvi Delhi

India will hold one of its most significant general elections, but 2014 will also be momentous for Afghanistan and its neighbours
Sanjay Kapoor Delhi

The upper middle classes and corporate India are clamouring to get the Indian state out of their way. With Modi’s ascent to power, they might just succeed
Harish Khare Delhi 

The BJP might be projecting Modi’s development plank as its chief electoral ploy, but the Sangh Parivar’s tenets still inform and influence its approaches to winning 2014
Pralay Kanungo Leiden 

The question of the Muslim vote, instead of being reduced to a monolithic entity, should actually be about justice and redistribution in accordance with the needs and aspirations of the community
Tanweer Fazal Delhi

Escalated fiscal troubles make 2013 a year best left behind
Mohan Guruswamy Delhi 

For a country born out of political upheavals, the continuing state of affairs in Bangladesh has shrunk the space for the actual practice of politics
Afsan Chowdhury Dhaka 

Iran President Hassan Rouhani’s bold move to reach a historic agreement with the United States and the other five powers, is in line with his personal history of rescuing Iranian diplomacy from crisis with the West
Gareth Porter Virginia

Only political arbitration can resolve the disputes pertaining to the historical, but imprecise, drawing of our boundaries with neighbouring countries
Srinath Raghavan Delhi

Despite the initial high points, economic policies and geostrategic concerns have made America and India wary of each other
Seema Sirohi, Washington, DC

The strength of India’s strategic relations with its neighbours in 2014 is predicated not just on the general election but also on its willingness to connect with a higher level of internal plurality
Jayant Prasad Delhi 

Reliving the dialogues, songs and scenes that made going into a movie hall worthwhile during 2013
Sonali Ghosh Sen Kolkata