Dr. Shashi Tharoor

We're not going to talk to the Pakistanis after what they have done to us by killing innocent civilians. And I'm sorry if that's what Mr. Trump wants, he's not going to get it. Thirdly, he has given the Pakistanis the victory of re-internationalizing the Kashmir dispute, which had been off the international agenda for quite some time.

We're not going to talk to the Pakistanis after what they have done to us by killing innocent civilians. And I'm sorry if that's what Mr. Trump wants, he's not going to get it. Thirdly, he has given the Pakistanis the victory of re-internationalizing the Kashmir dispute, which had been off the international agenda for quite some time.

And he has done India the grave disservice of re-hyphenating India and Pakistan in the American imagination, which had been de-hyphenated since the days of Clinton. You will notice, David, that since the days of President Clinton, no American president has actually visited both countries on the same trip.

And he has done India the grave disservice of re-hyphenating India and Pakistan in the American imagination, which had been de-hyphenated since the days of Clinton. You will notice, David, that since the days of President Clinton, no American president has actually visited both countries on the same trip.

And he has done India the grave disservice of re-hyphenating India and Pakistan in the American imagination, which had been de-hyphenated since the days of Clinton. You will notice, David, that since the days of President Clinton, no American president has actually visited both countries on the same trip.

They have very deliberately sent a signal that India is a country you deal with in its own right. It's not something we twin with Pakistan in the American imagination. Sadly, Mr. Trump's post has done all of these four things. And I think it shows that he has not yet been rather well briefed.

They have very deliberately sent a signal that India is a country you deal with in its own right. It's not something we twin with Pakistan in the American imagination. Sadly, Mr. Trump's post has done all of these four things. And I think it shows that he has not yet been rather well briefed.

They have very deliberately sent a signal that India is a country you deal with in its own right. It's not something we twin with Pakistan in the American imagination. Sadly, Mr. Trump's post has done all of these four things. And I think it shows that he has not yet been rather well briefed.

What's striking is that he has named a proposed assistant secretary of state for South Asia, who's a very knowledgeable scholar about South Asia and about India, and who is himself partly of Indian-American origin, and who would, I believe, know far better than to say the kinds of things that President Trump has said on Truth Social, which are, in that sense, an embarrassment to the last quarter century of American policy.

What's striking is that he has named a proposed assistant secretary of state for South Asia, who's a very knowledgeable scholar about South Asia and about India, and who is himself partly of Indian-American origin, and who would, I believe, know far better than to say the kinds of things that President Trump has said on Truth Social, which are, in that sense, an embarrassment to the last quarter century of American policy.

What's striking is that he has named a proposed assistant secretary of state for South Asia, who's a very knowledgeable scholar about South Asia and about India, and who is himself partly of Indian-American origin, and who would, I believe, know far better than to say the kinds of things that President Trump has said on Truth Social, which are, in that sense, an embarrassment to the last quarter century of American policy.

It has really upended all of these fundamental assumptions of the U.S.-India relationship.

It has really upended all of these fundamental assumptions of the U.S.-India relationship.

It has really upended all of these fundamental assumptions of the U.S.-India relationship.

Yeah, not led, it was more complicated. The army was commanded by a Parsi, a Zoroastrian, a tiny minority. The general officer commanding the Eastern Command, the forces that marched into Bangladesh, was a Sikh. The vice chief of the air staff was a Muslim. And the major general who was helicoptered into Dhaka to negotiate the surrender of the Pakistani army at the end of that war was Jewish.

Yeah, not led, it was more complicated. The army was commanded by a Parsi, a Zoroastrian, a tiny minority. The general officer commanding the Eastern Command, the forces that marched into Bangladesh, was a Sikh. The vice chief of the air staff was a Muslim. And the major general who was helicoptered into Dhaka to negotiate the surrender of the Pakistani army at the end of that war was Jewish.

Yeah, not led, it was more complicated. The army was commanded by a Parsi, a Zoroastrian, a tiny minority. The general officer commanding the Eastern Command, the forces that marched into Bangladesh, was a Sikh. The vice chief of the air staff was a Muslim. And the major general who was helicoptered into Dhaka to negotiate the surrender of the Pakistani army at the end of that war was Jewish.

Major General J.F.R. Jacob was a friend of mine. Remarkable gentleman, now no longer with us. But that was India, David. That's what India is all about. It's just a country of such immense diversity that it really is a microcosm of all that's fine about pluralism as a social construct.

Major General J.F.R. Jacob was a friend of mine. Remarkable gentleman, now no longer with us. But that was India, David. That's what India is all about. It's just a country of such immense diversity that it really is a microcosm of all that's fine about pluralism as a social construct.

Major General J.F.R. Jacob was a friend of mine. Remarkable gentleman, now no longer with us. But that was India, David. That's what India is all about. It's just a country of such immense diversity that it really is a microcosm of all that's fine about pluralism as a social construct.