Both issues have long enjoyed the status of being the sacred cows of the Indian establishment. The 155mm Field Howitzer 77B towed gun, popularly known as the Bofors gun, which saw the political demise of Rajiv Gandhi and figured as a major issue in as many as four general elections, could arguably be the world's most politicised armaments deal in history.

To this day, the BJP regards it as a potent weapon to wield against the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress. But the fact remains that the Bofors gun has proved its mettle in the icy reaches of Siachen and thecraggy environs of Kargil. It has the capacity to fire a projectile to almost 30 kilometres and rapidly at that -- three rounds in 12 seconds. What's more, its own power unit provides it with a high degree of manoeuvrability.

With the initial suppliers of the gun, AB Bofors, being blacklisted in the wake of the kickbacks scandal, procuring spare parts and ammunition has always been an extremely vexing proposition -- a problem that became even more intractable once fighting broke out in right earnest at the border.

As one official put it, it was the ``immediate priority of ensuring a steady supply of spares and ammunition for the guns'' that persuaded the government to lift the ban on dealings with Celsius Corporation, the agency that now supplies the Howitzers. While the move is a welcome one given India's present security concerns, commending it must not in any way be seen as a justification of the illegal payoffs that marked the Rs 1,200 crore Bofors deal of 1986. The law must take its course on thisscam as in any other.

Like Bofors, the LoC issue has always raised hackles in this country. Five years ago, Parliament had unanimously adopted a resolution reiterating that all of Kashmir, including the region beyond the LoC, now occupied by Pakistan, was an integral part of India. Last year, when Jaswant Singh and Farooq Abdullah had suggested that India accept the LoC as the international border, there was the predictable response of anger and dismay -- especially from the more fundamentalist fringe of the BJP's extended political family.

Yet the LoC has, for all intents and purposes, functioned as the de facto border between the two nations and the Simla Agreement process has only confirmed this. Today, it has become internationally recognised as the line that separates one country from the other. It would be in India's interests to consolidate this consensus and work towards a permanent solution to the Kashmir imbroglio along these lines. The political establishment, by hinting on the need to debatethis vital issue, is only recognising this reality. After all, being pragmatic does not mean being unpatriotic.