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Two Indian nationals were killed and ten others injured in an attack in the Omani port city of Sohar on Friday, as the widening West Asia war continued to claim civilian victims far beyond the battlefield, the Government of India said during its third inter-ministerial briefing on the crisis. The Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that the victims were among a group of workers caught in the incident early in Sohar, a major industrial and port hub in Oman. Officials said 11 people were injured in the attack, including 10 Indians, with five already discharged from hospital and five still receiving treatment. None of the injured currently under care were reported to have serious injuries. File Photo: Sohar Port and Freezone; Via: Oman News Agency on X MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had lost two nationals in the attack and expressed condolences to their families. “We lost two Indian nationals today in an attack in Sohar, Oman in the ongoing conflict in West Asia.  Se...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has forced the United States into one of the most unusual energy policy positions of the modern sanctions era: simultaneously tightening pressure on Iranian oil while temporarily loosening restrictions on Russian crude in order to prevent a global supply shock. The U.S. Treasury’s General License 134, issued on March 12 — the thirteenth day of the expanding Iran war — allows the delivery and sale of Russian crude and petroleum products that were already loaded on vessels before that date and are now stranded at sea. The authorization runs until April 11 and permits the transactions needed to complete those shipments, including docking, insurance, bunkering, vessel management and related maritime services. Representational Image/File Photo Via: corechaincrypto on X On the surface the measure appears technical, limited and temporary but in reality it reveals something much ...

The United States has issued a temporary sanctions authorization allowing the sale and delivery of Russian crude oil and petroleum products that were already loaded on vessels before March 12, a move Washington says is intended to stabilize global energy markets as the widening West Asia war disrupts supply chains. File Photo: BRICS Info The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced General License 134 , which authorizes transactions necessary for the sale, delivery or offloading of Russian Federation-origin crude oil or petroleum products loaded on vessels on or before 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on March 12, 2026 .  The authorization will remain valid until 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 11, 2026, effectively creating a one-month window for cargoes already at sea to reach buyers. The measure applies even to cargoes carried on vessels that may otherwise fall under U.S. sanctions regimes, provided the oil was already loaded before the cutoff time. ...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman India’s tryst with the West Asia crisis on Thursday completely ceased to be a question of distant war and became, more clearly than before, a test of state capacity, diplomatic balance and political credibility at home. The day’s developments showed a government trying to hold together three fronts at once. Keeping Indian citizens and seafarers alive in an active war zone, preventing a shipping and fuel shock from cascading into panic inside India, and preserving enough diplomatic space to speak to all sides while the conflict itself grows more dangerous and less predictable. Representational Image/File Photo Via Mayank Austen Soofi, @thedelhiwalla on X That larger picture sharpened as Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and made India’s position unusually explicit. As IndianRepublic.in reported , Modi said the safety and security of Indian nationals, along with “the need for unhi...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday 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. با رئیس‌جم...

✍️ 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...