Trump hopes that the US will be able to deal in a very open and honorable fashion with North Korea.
Rajagopala Chidambaram, a renowned Indian scientist who played a pivotal role in the country's nuclear tests of 1975 and 1998, passed away on Saturday at the age of 88. He was also associated with India's nuclear weapons program and served as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Principal Scientific Advisor to the government.
'No, India and China were not about to go to all-out war over a few rocks of Galwan.' 'The full picture of what went on at the highest level between two heads of State will not be known for a very, very long time and rightly so,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale, former head of the history division, ministry of defence.
Trump claimed that he "got a call from Prime Minister Modi saying, 'we're done'. I said, 'you're done with what?'" Trump said and claimed Modi replied: "We're not going to go to war."
Tensions escalate at the UN Security Council as the US and Israel defend their military actions against Iran, while Iran condemns the strikes as war crimes, raising fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
Trump also said that Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif, who had visited the White House last year, credited him for saving millions of lives by stopping the conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
The US blockade on Iranian ports is aimed to curb Iranian energy exports, thereby crippling its economy to force Iran back to the negotiating table, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Is the military junta in Myanmar trying to acquire a military nuclear capability with North Korean assistance? Or is North Korea trying to shift some of its nuclear facilities to Myanmar to protect them from a possible attack by the US?
Operation Sindoor compelled Pakistan to undertake constitutional amendments, which is an acknowledgement that things did not go well for the neighbouring nation, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan has said.
Israel wishes to continue its bombing campaign until Iran's military and industrial infrastructure are degraded to a point where it ceases to pose a threat to Israel. Iran, for its part, has learnt from its experience in the 12-day war of last June. Any ceasefire, it believes, will only be a prelude to another attack on itself. It is determined to convey that any attack on Iran will impose heavy costs on Israel, the US, America's allies in the Gulf -- and on the world at large, points out T T Ram Mohan.
Trump also praised Chinese President as "a great leader of a great country" and said the two sides had "already agreed to a lot of things."
The USS Tripoli, carrying around 3,500 US Marines, has entered the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility, marking the deployment of one of America's largest amphibious assault ships into an active combat theatre in West Asia amid the ongoing conflict.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
Iran has announced the Strait of Hormuz is open to commercial vessels, coinciding with a ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel.
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
'Our diplomacy should have been focused on preventing war and avoiding the inevitable disruptions it would cause, posing a real risk to India's growth story,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The US Navy seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman, escalating tensions as ceasefire talks face uncertainty. The incident raises concerns about the fragile ceasefire and the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
'Torpedoes travel at more than 100 kilometres per hour, about 50-60 knots.' 'It must have been a matter of a few minutes before it detonated under the Iranian ship.' 'The Iranian ship would have probably got three, four minutes and wouldn't have known till they actually heard the whirr of the torpedo.'
16 days into the war, US forces were already running out of ground-attack missiles and Israel is about to expend its entire Arrow interceptor missiles by end March. To be sure, the Iranians are watching closely and that explains their defiant stance that 'Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its conditions are met', notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Karex, the Malaysian company that makes roughly one in five of the world's condoms -- about five billion a year, supplying Durex and Trojan among others -- announced this week that it is raising prices by up to 30 percent. The reason is the Strait of Hormuz.
Nearly all of the nine nuclear-armed States, including India and Pakistan, continued intensive nuclear modernisation programmes in 2024, upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions, according to a report by a global think-tank.
United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said 'we' now have 'complete and total control of the skies over Iran' and 'we know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding'.
The United States used an array of weapons in the strikes conducted against Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury on Saturday -- which included artificial intelligence services from Anthropic, according to a report by Reuters.
This is part of the reason the US advised some Americans to leave the region earlier Wednesday, with the State Department ordering non-emergency government officials to exit Iraq due to 'heightened regional tensions', CBS News reported.
The Dhurandhar movies will undoubtedly shape the minds of the audience much more than news reports, court investigations, books and documentaries. But it is worth remembering that Pakistan's irridentist claims against India's national security have succeeded due to strategic planning, diplomacy, and the unsung heroines and heroes across government agencies, not due to a single maverick leader, points out Shweta Desai.But it is worth to remember that Pakistan's irredentist claims against India's national security have succeeded due to strategic planning, diplomacy, and the unsung heroines and heroes across government agencies -- not a single maverick, points out Shweta Desai.
Possible convergence of interest among China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh may result in serious implications for India's stability and security dynamics, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday.
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
For that to happen America does not have to lose. It only has to do the right thing, asserts Aakar Patel.
With the fight now having been taken to the seizure of nuclear plants, it is one more warning to Europe that this prolonged war could end up with disastrous consequences, observes Rashme Sehgal
'India for its survival has to change its doctrine from no first use to a pre-emptive attack in case of any hostile move by Pakistan,' recommends Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
On the table are additional batches of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia, which India used with immense success during Operation Sindoor. India could buy at least two squadrons of Su-57 fighter jets plus joint production of S-500 air defence systems.
A large fire was reported on Saturday night at a strategic complex near Haifa in northern Israel after Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones, MEHR News Agency reported, citing local media.
Donald Trump claimed that his intervention prevented a war between India and Pakistan, citing trade negotiations as leverage. India has refuted claims of US mediation in past conflicts.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
India has approved proposals to procure weapons and military hardware worth Rs 79,000 crore, including Nag missiles, amphibious warfare ships, and electronic intelligence systems, to enhance the military's combat capabilities.
Beijing's latest weapon, 15 times more powerful than TNT, signals a new frontier in high-impact, non-nuclear military technology.
