While Mr. Harish Khare has advised India to stay out of the war zone, he has erred in his judgement that “continuous engagement” will eventually solve the issue (editorial page, “ >Hold the Vajpayee-Manmohan line ,” Aug.14). Coercive diplomacy need not always mean exchanging bullets across the LoC. Coercion will also mean economic isolation. Terming this as “spanking an errant schoolboy” will be wrong. India will be committing political suicide by going to talks with a country which takes orders from a military general rather than its elected Prime Minister.
Aditya Radhakrishnan,
Faridabad
The cartoon (“Cartoonscape,” Aug.14) that shows Pakistan on a rock extending the hand of friendship to India while Manmohan Singh protects himself with a table shield from the bullets coming from Pakistan clearly depicts the prevailing situation. It is obvious that India is not being taken seriously. It is easy for “experts” to sit at home and write about what needs to be done. Reality is very different.
C. Lakshmi Narain,
Chennai
