IN not too distant past, the trouble children of the world community – some would call them pariahs — used to be Pakistan and Iran.

To be fair, there were a few other nations on this short list such as North Korea etc. However, in a few short weeks, how the world attitude has changed. Within six weeks starting on May 7th, when India attacked Pakistan, India and Israel have emerged as the new rogue nations of the world. Jury is not out on where Iran would stand in the eyes of the world, but Pakistan has certainly emerged as a mature and militarily competent nation. Let us consider a few realities defining the current conflicts.

First, let us focus on India and Israel. It should be noted that the only country that sided with India during the recent Pak-India conflict was Israel. Two peas in a pod as they say. Both have ultra nationalistic, populist, dictatorial, non-secular and corrupt leaders who have maintained their positions of power through stoking religious and populist fervour. And whenever their popularity starts waning, they resort to military adventurism. Modi has taken India from the largest secular democracy of the world and an economic powerhouse, to a nation that is........

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