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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday as the expanding war in the Middle East continued to threaten regional stability, global energy routes and the safety of foreign nationals. Modi said he discussed the “serious situation in the region” with Pezeshkian and conveyed India’s concerns over the worsening humanitarian and security crisis. Image Source: PM NaMo on X from earlier Iran visit “Expressed deep concern over the escalation of tensions and the loss of civilian lives as well as damage to civilian infrastructure,” Modi said in a statement posted on social media after the conversation. The Indian prime minister said the safety of Indian nationals in the region and uninterrupted global trade and energy flows were central to India’s concerns as the conflict widens. “The safety and security of Indian nationals, along with the need for unhindered transit of goods and energy, remain India’s top priorities,” he said. Modi also rei...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman A day after the Lok Sabha rejected an opposition resolution seeking his removal, Speaker Om Birla returned to the Chair on March 12 and used a nearly 26-minute address to frame the two-day confrontation as a test of whether Parliament would be governed by procedure, restraint and institutional authority.  Speaking after the House defeated the motion by voice vote yesterday, Birla said the Chair was “not any individual’s possession” but a symbol of “India’s democratic tradition, the spirit of the Constitution and the prestige of this great institution,” and pledged to discharge his duties with “full commitment, impartiality and constitutional propriety.” File Photo of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla The core of Birla’s defence was clear. Every member, whether a minister, opposition leader or backbencher, has the right to speak only within rules laid down by the House, and no office-bearer is entitled to speak outside proce...

India has signaled heightened military readiness in recent days as the war between Israel and the United States on one side and Iran on the other is fast spreading from the Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Today,  Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh flew a sortie on a MiG-29 UPG multi-role fighter from a frontline air base in the western sector, and reviewed operational preparedness amid rapidly evolving global security tensions. The Indian Air Force said the Chief of the Air Staff flew an operational formation sortie led by Flight Lieutenant Parvinder Singh, with the aircraft executing a precise “smart peel-off” manoeuvre over the runway during the mission.  Air Chief Marshal AP Singh flew a sortie on the MiG-29 UPG aircraft. The visit included interactions with aircrew, technicians and veterans, as well as a briefing on the squadron’s 63-year operational legacy defending India’s airspace . The sortie was carried out on the MiG-29 UPG, the upgraded variant of th...

Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first wartime statement on Thursday, warning that Iran will seek compensation from its enemies for the damage inflicted during the conflict and threatening further attacks on regional targets, including the continued use of pressure on the Strait of Hormuz . Image Via: BRICS News In a message released through official Iranian channels as the war with the United States and Israel continues to escalate, Khamenei said Tehran would either extract compensation directly from its adversaries or destroy their assets in retaliation. “One point I must emphasize is that, in any case, we will obtain compensation from the enemy,” Khamenei said. “If it refuses, we will take from its assets to the extent we deem appropriate, and if that is not possible, we will destroy its assets to the same extent.” The remarks represent the strongest statement yet from Iran’s new leadership since he was confirmed as the country’s third s...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman Leader of the Opposition in India's Lower House of Parliament  Rahul Gandhi triggered a sharp political confrontation in Parliament after linking India’s energy security concerns arising from the West Asia war with questions about Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s past correspondence with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein , and prompted the government and the Speaker to accuse him of straying beyond the issue he had sought to raise. The exchange unfolded in the Lok Sabha after Rahul Gandhi sought permission to raise concerns about a reported LPG shortage and the wider energy implications of the ongoing war involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which has disrupted shipping and fuel flows through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes. Representational Image Via INC India During his intervention, Rahul Gandhi warned that the conflict could trigger a major energy s...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman Leader of the Opposition in India's Lower House of Parliament Lok Sabha,  Rahul Gandhi  today mounted a wide-ranging attack on the government and  linked the widening West Asia war, India’s energy security and Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while questioning whether India’s oil policy is being influenced by Washington. Speaking during a parliamentary debate , Rahul Gandhi warned that the conflict could trigger serious economic repercussions for India because of its dependence on Gulf energy supplies and the vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz , through which a large share of India’s oil and gas imports pass. File Photo: LoP RaGa “As everybody is aware, a war has broken out in the Middle East. The US, Israel and Iran are at war,” Rahul Gandhi told the House. “This war is going to have far-reaching consequences.” He said the conflict h...

US President Donald Trump said the United States has “ virtually destroyed ” Iran’s military and will continue its campaign until Tehran no longer has the capacity to threaten the US, Israel or Washington’s allies, sharply escalating his rhetoric on a war he described as effectively won but not yet finished. Speaking in Kentucky, Trump said that after 11 days of fighting, Iran’s military had been shattered. “Their air force is gone. Totally gone,” he said. “They no longer have radar. They don’t have anti-aircraft equipment. They don’t have anything. Their missiles are down 90%. Their drones are down 85%.” He added that US forces were “blowing up the factories where they’re made, left and right,” and claimed that “nobody has ever seen anything like what you’re witnessing now.” Image Via: US Central Command Trump said the United States had already destroyed Iran’s nuclear capacity and insisted Washington would not stop until the threat was permanently removed. Referring to earlier o...

India has signalled a more structured and multi-layered response to the widening West Asia war by combining diplomatic outreach through forums such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation , emergency energy planning at home, tighter maritime monitoring in the Persian Gulf and renewed efforts to protect its vast diaspora in the Gulf region. File Photo: PM NaMo The clearest diplomatic signal came from the conversation between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov , during which the two sides discussed the situation around Iran and underscored the need for its “prompt normalization.”  According to the Russian side, the ministers also backed a role for the SCO and BRICS in de-escalation efforts and in creating conditions for a durable settlement based on “a balance of the legitimate interests of all parties.”  That matters because it shows India is not confining itself to bilateral crisis management but is also looking at mu...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman The Iran war entered a more economically consequential phase on Wednesday as Tehran’s pressure campaign moved decisively from military bases and energy assets to commercial shipping and civilian transport , and forced governments and markets to confront the reality that the war is no longer just destabilizing the Middle East but also beginning to hit the arteries of global trade directly. In the span of a day, a Thai cargo ship bound for India was struck and set ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz, other merchant vessels were hit or diverted, drones struck near Dubai International Airport, and the International Energy Agency responded by authorizing the largest emergency oil release in its history . This is now a full-spectrum of contest over logistics, mobility and economic pain. Image Via: kadmitriev The clearest sign of that shift came at sea. Thai officials said a search was under way for three missing crew members af...