Off Topic: Mumbai Attacks Alter Indian Priorities of National Security

Watching from afar in the U.S., the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November were frightening and disturbing. But after just a short while in country viewing local news and reading newspaper reports, the "26/11" attacks, as they are being called, are profoundly seen as India’s 9/11. Speaking with some local delegates to the Map World Forum in Hyderabad who were in Mumbai at the time, it seems the attacks opened the eyes of government officials to the need for more emphasis on national security. Whoever was responsible and from wherever the attacks were planned, the tension between India and Pakistan is building once again. While security was certainly present when I attended the Map World Forum in 2007, the presence of the Vice President of India, Shri M Hamid Ansari, brought additional scrutiny of attendees with the restriction of no laptops, cell phones or cameras. While the world is certainly focused on the global economic crisis, tension beween two nuclear powers is an additional worry for the world.