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The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has explicitly identified India’s evolving nuclear capabilities as part of a broader global expansion of strategic weapons, stating in its 2026 Annual Threat Assessment that “India also is developing new and longer-range nuclear delivery systems,” placing New Delhi within a cohort of states advancing range, survivability and deterrence options. File Photo of Indian Navy’s successful precision strike in the Arabian Sea by ship launched BrahMos missile The report situates India’s nuclear trajectory within a shifting deterrence landscape where delivery systems, not just warhead counts, are becoming central. (Page 18) It warns that adversaries are “research[ing], develop[ing], and field[ing] delivery systems that will increase their ranges and accuracy, challenge U.S. missile defenses, and provide new WMD-use options”. T his formulation has directly framed India’s advancements alongside those of China, Russia and Pakistan. At the regio...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephone conversation with Kuwait’s Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah  on Wednesda y , and condemned attacks on Kuwait’s sovereignty while also reiterating that ensuring “safe and free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz remains our foremost priority.” This comes as India is intensifying its diplomatic outreach across the Gulf amid a rapidly escalating regional conflict. File Photo of PM NaMo's meeting with the Crown Prince of Kuwait; Via Indian PMO In a statement following the call, Modi said both leaders “exchanged views on the evolving situation in West Asia and shared concerns over recent developments,” and highlighted a growing regional anxiety as the Iran war continues to disrupt maritime routes, energy flows and internal security across multiple Gulf states. He “reiterated India’s condemnation of attacks on Kuwait’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” while stressing that uninterru...

✍️ 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...

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 widening war involving the United States, Israel and Iran  has marched from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean and  has now begun to unfold within India’s extended strategic neighbourhood. The sinking of an Iranian naval vessel near Sri Lanka, missile exchanges across the Gulf, disruptions to energy flows and airspace closures across major aviation hubs have all brought the conflict closer to India’s economic and security periphery. In moments like these, there is always a temptation for countries to claim the moral high ground or issue strong declaratory positions. But for India, the wiser path may lie in something quieter b u t strategically more consequential. Restraint, Vigilance and the careful use of Multilateral Diplomacy.  So far, New Delhi appears to have largely followed that course. File Photo: EAM Jaishankar India’s response to the crisis has been marked less by rhetoric and more by calibra...

India has issued its first formal condolence over the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar holding a telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visiting the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi to sign the condolence book on behalf of the Government of India.  Foreign Secretary Shri Vikram Misri visited the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Via: MEA India Jaishankar confirmed the call, while visuals from the embassy showed Misri interacting with the Iranian envoy and recording India’s message of condolence. This marks New Delhi’s first official, government-level gesture since Khamenei was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli strike on Tehran. The condolence step landed amid India’s widening diplomatic engagement across West Asia as the conflict escalates and risks spreading further into the Gulf and the wider region where India has major people-and-supply-cha...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman India’s political divide over the US–Israel–Iran war has sharpened as the Congress and Left parties have accused the Modi government of “silence” and “moral cowardice” over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , while the government has simultaneously expanded high-level outreach to Gulf leaders , activated trade and energy contingency mechanisms , and reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy are the only viable path to restore regional stability. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in an opinion piece in a mainstream daily, argued that New Delhi’s lack of a clear response to the assassination of Khamenei amounted to an “abdication” rather than neutrality and risked normalising targeted killings as instruments of statecraft.  File Photo; Via: LoP Raga She framed the killing of a sitting leader during a diplomatic process as a rupture in contemporary international relations and...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman India on Tuesday intensified its diplomatic outreach and economic preparedness measures as the West Asia conflict widened, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking to leaders of Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, the External Affairs Minister engaging European counterparts, and key ministries reviewing trade, defence and energy contingencies. File Photo: PM NaMo The outreach followed the Ministry of External Affairs statement earlier in the day reiterating India’s concern over the deteriorating situation across Iran and the Gulf, the safety of nearly one crore Indian nationals in the region, and the need for dialogue and diplomacy to restore stability. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he spoke with Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman and condemned what he described as the violation of Oman’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said both sides agreed that sustained diplomatic engagement was essential for the earliest restorat...

India on Tuesday urged an early end to the expanding West Asia conflict , warning that the deteriorating security situation across Iran and the Gulf directly affects nearly one crore Indian citizens living and working in the region, as well as India’s trade and energy supply chains. File Photo; Via: FM In a statement issued in New Delhi on March 3, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said India had expressed deep concern at the start of the conflict on February 28 and had called for restraint, de-escalation and prioritization of civilian safety. He said the situation has since “deteriorated significantly and continuously,” even as the holy month of Ramadan is underway. Statement by the Official Spokesperson on the ongoing conflict in the West Asia region ⬇️ https://t.co/s1Qm6xIqbS — Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) March 3, 2026 The spokesperson said the conflict has intensified in recent days and spread to other nations, resulting in mounting destruct...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expanded India’s diplomatic engagement with Gulf leaders as the West Asia conflict deepened, holding separate telephone conversations with Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, condemning attacks on both countries and reiterating India’s push for rapid de-escalation amid a widening regional war triggered by U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran.  File Photo Via PM NaMo In statements issued after the calls, Modi said India stood in solidarity with Bahrain following recent attacks and thanked its leadership for safeguarding the Indian community, while discussions with Saudi Arabia focused on restoring regional peace and stability after strikes that New Delhi described as violations of sovereignty and territorial integrity. The latest outreach forms part of an accelerating diplomatic effort by New Delhi as the conflict spreads beyond Israel and Iran into Gulf states hosting c...