Just a quick line to recommend that folks read the discussion thread on Birds of War [thanks Nostalgic and Aamir Ali]. I have been scouring the local press for the past week and the lines are hardening. Yesterday, India claimed to have shot two militants with Pakistani papers outside of New Delhi. The coverage for that reminded me, I kid you not, when we used to find RAW agents adding water to milk during Zia ul Haq's regime. Some things never change, I guess.
And then there were the beautiful women RAW used to release into Pakistan to seduce Pakistanis into giving away state secrets or to act as spies... NA Bhatti, who used to write for The News, used to wonder why none of them ever approached him... And did you hear the one about the RAW spy who was arrested because he blew his cover by asking for two rupees worth of salt to be added to his food while he sampled the delicacies on offer at a roadside restaurant? Everyone believed (courtesy PTV?) that salt was expensive in India and roadside shacks there didn't just sprinkle some for free...