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Despite the cold reception of India’s nuclear tests at Pokhran ten years ago, India has gone on to enjoy a decade of rapid economic advancement, greater international influence, and recognition as a rising global power. To other aspiring nuclear powers, India’s gate-crashing of the nuclear club might seem a tempting precedent. But the tale of how India could emerge unscathed from breaking the no-test taboo represents a crucial exception.
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Thus, when protesters or heavy security deny the torch relay of an approving, cheering public, they deny China of exactly the kind of global endorsement that is desired. The passing of the torch without the prestige conferred by an approving public is synonymous with the denial of honour, or the “loss of face”, a metaphor the Chinese are only too familiar with.
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Many reasons were attributed to former PM Vajpayee’s decision to bring India’s nuclear weapons out of the closet in May 1998. However, the primary motivation stemmed from threat perceptions: a dangerous nuclear neighbourhood with two inimical nuclear powers, China and Pakistan, colluding with each other to destabilise India through a nuclear warhead-ballistic missile nexus and a long-drawn proxy war under the nuclear shadow.
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The new deadline for the restoration of the deposed judges has been extended to May 12th, 2008. One possibility is that the PPP will approach the judiciary for a “deal” which ensures its political survival. However, if the deposed judges are restored by May 12th, it will be difficult to predict the extent to which the Supreme Court will become hostage to party politics in Pakistan.
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President Hu termed his visit to Japan as a “warm spring” journey that would herald in a new era of bilateral relationship based on mutual trust and long-term strategic interests. This is a lofty goal that the two countries could and should accomplish in their mutual interests and to the benefit of East Asia and beyond. After the deep freeze of years past, spring may have finally arrived in Sino-Japanese relations.
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