• The editorial ‘Audacious, unending’ rightly questions the long-held belief of the Pakistan army that by playing footsie with select extremist groups, the fanaticism of jihadists can be gainfully channelled to the achievement of its strategic objective of “making India bleed through a thousand cuts”. Unfortunately for them, there’s no good fanaticism or bad fanaticism, this merely being a state of mind. Worse, extremism keeps changing its focus and annihilates anything perceived as an obstruction to the attainment of its objective.

Although the loss of life in the last few days is considerable enough to warrant counter-measures on that ground, the real threat to Pakistan is the challenge to its political authority, indeed, to its very existence as a modern, democratic nation state. The sooner this realisation dawns upon the Pakistani establishment, the better for them and for the world. The time available to exercise the limited options it has is fast running out.

— Ajay Tyagi

Mumbai

In clear terms

• The voters of Arunachal Pradesh came out in large numbers, about 72 per cent, to cast their votes. The chief minister of the state had unequivocally said that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. Therefore, armed with these facts, the Indian prime minister — at the meeting in Thailand on October 23 — should inform his Chinese counterpart in clear terms that the status of Arunachal Pradesh as a state of the Indian Union is non-negotiable, and that even a whisper to the contrary will be viewed with grave concern and dislike.

... contd.