The discourse on climate change has conventionally centered around melting glaciers, elevated temperatures, and diminishing forests. However, one domain where its consequences are increasingly tangible—and critical—is maritime security. India, endowed with an extensive coastline of over 7,500 kilometers and a strategic position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), stands at the intersection of this evolving environmental landscape.
As Europe rearms and prices rise, India must rethink its reliance on imported weapons in an increasingly unforgiving defence market.
The twelve-day war between Iran and Israel and the direct bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the US dramatically ended in a fragile ceasefire – as usual announced by President Donald Trump.
In the ongoing war between two arch-rivals, Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the death and destruction and the utter defiance of international law by both sides under the garb of ‘self-defence' have pushed the entire West Asian region and the world to the edge. Their conception of one another as an existential threat had played out mostly clandestinely in the past. However, in the last year and a half, their confrontation has been more direct, with the latest showdown shaping up to be a fight to the finish.
The relevance of G7 and BRICS figures among the casualties list, but not Iranian nuclear capability; how should India react in this situation?
The bombing of Iran represents the return of old-style imperialism, making the point that might is right with the biggest bang possible without exploding an atomic bomb. Which cat got the tongue of India, leader of the Global South, when the US bombed Iran? Why did the tongue of India, leader of the BRICS, turn mute, when the world called on Israel, at the UN, to end its genocide in Gaza? Cat, Cat burning bright, in the forests of Mt Zion and Washington DC, why this appetite for India’s respect among nations?
Diplomacy in the 21st century is no longer shaped solely by military power or economic leverage. Instead, how a nation is perceived—through its culture, values, and global image plays a critical role. This highlights the importance of soft power, a concept coined by Joseph Nye, which refers to a country’s ability to attract and persuade rather than coerce.