Viswanathan K's Thoughts

By the turn of the century, urban development was the driving force for Dubai, writes Tomas Pueyo.. The Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, is the most famous landmark. The world’s 2 nd largest mall, the Dubai Mall (with an aquarium and underwater zoo), came up. Land was reclaimed to create the famous Palm Jumeirah.   Dubai understood the synergies between different modes of transportation, so: “It didn’t only invest in its port and coast. It continued investing in its airport and airline.” Today, Dubai is the world’s 2 nd busiest international airport, and Emirates airlines is a synonym for opulence and coverage.   Those old selling points from when it became an SEZ – safety, low taxes, tolerance – continue and remain key attractions even today. Dubai is (was?) as safe as Tokyo and Singapore, and definitely a whole lot safer than any Western city.   Criticism of the rulers or religion is not allowed. Media is controlled by the state. Public protests are not a...

I learnt quite a few interesting things from our driver-cum-guide during our Ladakh vacation. About tourism in the place.   Until even recent times, the place had very tight restrictions. This had an amusing consequence when Ladakh, as part of J&K, was still a state. States, if you remember, have MLA’s. But for security reasons, even the MLA needed permission to visit parts of Ladakh right at the border! As often as not, permission would be denied even to the MLA.   But ever since the BJP came to power at the center in 2014, the emphasis and promotion of tourism right upto the border has increased. Why? Multiple reasons. One, it is a very public way of telling the other country (China, Pakistan) that this is our land. Two, if tourists come right to the border, the locals in those areas have an incentive to live there and not migrate inland. Three, if our people live/visit a place all the time, it is hard for the enemy to arbitrarily move the (border) line in the sa...