The homecoming

The unconditional and speedy release of IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by Pakistan came as a great relief. It was a seemingly small step, but this fine humanitarian gesture marked a major breakthrough in efforts to de-escalate the military tensions along the border and demonstrated Pakistan’s desire for detente. It is somewhat ironical that India’s air strikes at Balakot culminated in the return of captured India’s ‘air warrior’ to a hero’s welcome, albeit the Wagah border after 48 hours of captivity, with loss of each fighter plane each in between. It must be conceded that both sides were pretty even.

Be that as it may, thanks to this ‘peace gesture’ — a particularly apt description by Imran Khan — relations between the two countries thawed a little. If nothing else, it has certainly opened the door, at least slightly, for diplomacy which, needless to say, is better than war. It is to be hoped that it will go some way towards repairing the damage done to the India-Pakistan relations since the Pulwama attack. The moment of decision has arrived and India should not fail to take the right decision. As the world’s largest democracy, we cannot spurn the offer of talks by Imran Khan without appearing to be uninterested in the normalisation of relations and the much-needed peace in the region.

Maruthancode, TN

This refers to ‘Is India ready for the post-diesel era?’ (March 1). In the last few years, the price difference between petrol and diesel has narrowed considerably. So the consumers now have all the motivation to shift towards cleaner fuels. Coming to the challenges in front of automobile manufacturers and the government to implement BS-IV from April 2020, yes it is going to impact the viability and bottomline of many of the automobile-makers. As clearly explained in the article, a mere shift towards petrol cars will not help. Our government needs to have a long-term vision and pragmatic approach. First, the government should bring in rationality in terms of sops provided to both electric and hybrid vehicles. And it should not only incentivise manufacturers to produce more electric vehicles but also create a robust infrastructure for the same.

Noida

This refers to ‘Economic growth slows to 6.6% in Oct-Dec quarter’ (March 1). Interest rate is a deciding factor in the resource-mobilisation efforts of financial intermediaries, which are one of the pillars of the financial system of the economy. The slowdown in economic growth points to the need to sync both deposit and loan rates, and this is possible only through financial intermediaries, particularly banks. The Monetary Policy Committee, based on its evaluation of the monetary and economic factors, changes the policy rate for onward transmission to the economy by financial intermediaries. However, the transmission is not materialising in its entirety without lag.

The RBI and the government must ensure that the financial intermediaries transmit the changes through their lending and deposit rates.

Changanacherry, Kerala

With reference to ‘Yeddyurappa’s comment on air strikes leaves BJP red-faced’ (March1), it goes without saying that the former chief minister of Karnataka has scored a ‘self-goal’ for his own party (BJP) by publicly claiming that the air strike would guarantee the BJP 22 seats in Karnataka.

Instead of admitting his folly, Yeddyurappa tried his best to take shelter behind the stance usually taken by politicians, by averring that his statement has been reported out of context.

Bengaluru

The picture accompanying ‘Lux to ramp up premium innerwear range’ (March 1) did not relate to the report but was of an unrelated product made by another company. The error is regretted.

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