The always dependable Pratik Gandhi finds a match in Sunny Hinduja and they are surrounded by a top notch supporting cast, observes Deepa Gahlot.
In a high-risk military operation early Sunday, the United States launched coordinated airstrikes on three of Iran's most fortified nuclear sites -- Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan -- marking a decisive escalation in the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.
'Three days after the Kargil War ended, the Vajpayee Government set up the Kargil Review Committee on July 29 1999. Its report was tabled in Parliament on February 23, 2000 although sections of it have remained classified -- as indeed they must'
US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim that Washington got involved with India and Pakistan, saying he didn't like what was happening and that he did a good job as he convinced the two countries to let's have peace and let's go and make trade deals.
Lowering the threshhold for the use of nuclear weapons, Russia said on Friday that it reserves the right to hit back with nukes in case of an aggression, in a new doctrine which may be a veiled warning to China besides containing rising NATO powers at its borders.
New Delhi might have loudly welcomed an age of multipolarity, hedging and strategic autonomy. But it seems the winner in that game is Islamabad, not us, points out Mihir S Sharma.
Applauding United States President Donald Trump's 'bold decision' to hit Iran's nuclear facilities, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that it demonstrated 'peace through strength' and will lead to a future of peace and prosperity in the region and beyond.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday warned that a third World War, should it break out, will be "nuclear and devastating", amid spiralling tensions with the West over Moscow's ongoing massive military operation against Ukraine.
Despite four disarmament section talks and six strategic dialogues between the two foreign ministries, China's intransigence on recognising Indian nuclear status resulted in no confidence building measures in the nuclear field between the two, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
He denied suggestions that he sought conflict with the US, saying Iran was 'trying to find ways to love people.'
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated India's readiness to assist Pakistan in combating terrorism if it cannot act on its own, highlighting Operation Sindoor as a demonstration of India's capabilities. He also criticized Pakistan's appointment to a UN counter-terrorism committee.
The United States on Sunday said it may use nuclear weapons if the country comes under biological attacks, according to a repot in Dawn. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Sunday the US could not rule out using nuclear weapons, saying in that case "all bets are off."
'The heat shield technology for re-entry vehicles was first mastered in DRDO for the Agni missile.' 'This is why the Americans were so opposed to Agni in the 1980s, unlike other missiles -- it was a re-entry vehicle.'
The ministry of external affairs also seemed to reject Trump's forceful comments that Washington brokered the understanding between India and Pakistan on ending their four-day military conflict.
China's official media on Sunday criticised United States bomb attacks on Iranian nuclear sites as a further step toward the abyss, while experts in Beijing said the American bunker-buster bombs used in strikes may not be enough to destroy Iran's nuclear plants hidden deep underground.
The leak occurs at a particularly delicate time in US-Israel relations and is likely to infuriate Israel, which has been preparing to retaliate against Iran following a missile barrage on October 1.
"It is still not too late. India must speak clearly, act responsibly, and use every diplomatic channel available to defuse tensions and promote a return to dialogue in West Asia," Gandhi asserted.
Pakistan's fourth heavy water reactor at Khushab nuclear site which allows it to build a larger number of miniaturised plutonium-based nuclear weapons now appears to be operational, a US think-tank has said.
The Israel-Iran conflict has entered a 'decisive phase' after the United States bombed three major Iranian nuclear sites Sunday morning, feel strategic affairs experts with some of them arguing it was Washington, DC's 'responsibility' to not get involved in the military standoff.
"We have eyes onto the Iranian nuclear programme and we would be aware of any so-called breakout move by the Iranians towards building a nuclear weapon. That has not occurred, but that window of opportunity will close at some point," the White House Press Secretary, Jay Carney, told media persons at his daily news conference.
After his remarks at the White House. Trump, in his Truth Social pos,t warned that any retaliation from Iran would be met with "force far greater than what was witnessed tonight."
Putin said work would be completed on building storage units for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on July 1, a move he likened to US nuclear deployments in Europe.
Primarily aimed at India, Pakistan is making qualitative and quantitative improvements to its nuclear arsenal and "could increase the number of circumstances under which it would be willing to use nuclear weapons," a Congressional report has said.
India is solely responsible for prompting Pakistan to pursue a nuclear weapons capability, says Retired Pakistani Brigadier General Feroz Khan, erstwhile insider in Islamabad's nuclear weapons establishment. Aziz Haniffa reports.
India has sought an 'unequivocal commitment' from all nuclear-weapon states to prohibit development, production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons for their non-discriminatory and verifiable elimination within a specified framework. Indian Ambassador to the UN, Nirupam Sen appealed to member states to use the UN forum for an intense dialogue and strengthen the international community to initiate concrete steps for a nuclear weapons-free world.
If the political system and the economy of Pakistan continue to go down the tubes, nuclear weapons will not be able to save it, says Retired Brigadier General Feroz Khan. Aziz Haniffa reports
'Putin is just flexing his muscles. He is not going to do anything. He is not that crazy.'
Chief of Army staff General Deepak Kapoor on Sunday said it was important to ensure that the control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons command does not go to "wrong hands".
'There's a lot of sense in what Prime Minister Modi did, but the Indian government has to be really prepared for a really sharp escalation spiral.'
IAEA chief ElBaradei said participating countries would be required to pledge not to develop dual-use facilities.
He then went on to say that, however, he won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for any of his efforts.
'It is typical of China's strategic deception of making virtue out of necessity,' observes Rup Narayan Das.
According to a US State Department factsheet, 'Washington has no specific plans to develop low yield nuclear weapons but the Nuclear Posture Review highlighted the importance of being able to respond to changes in the security environment'.
US President Barack Obama has said terrorist organisations like Al Qaeda are aiming at laying their hands on nuclear weapons, which would be catastrophic for the world.
Voicing concern over growing nuclear stockpile in South Asia, Congress member of Parliament Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday said that no other country is as threatened as India is by atomic weapons and prospect of these arsenal falling into the hands of terrorists.
In its 28-page report, the CRS noted that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal is widely regarded as designed to dissuade India from taking military action against it, but Islamabad's expansion of its nuclear arsenal, development of new types of nuclear weapons and adoption of a doctrine called "full spectrum deterrence" have led some observers to express concern about an increased risk of nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India, which also continues to expand its nuclear arsenal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said that any direct contact or direct clash of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops with the Russian army would lead to a 'global catastrophe'.
'In this regard, the future stability of Pakistan remains a wild card,' said the report.
'Only when India's adversaries are convinced that India has both the necessary political and military will and the hardware to respond to a nuclear strike with punitive retaliation that will inflict unacceptable loss of human life and unprecedented material damage, will they be deterred,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Estimated to have more nuclear weapons than India, Pakistan is rapidly developing and expanding its atomic arsenal, spending about $2.5 billion a year to develop such weapons, a report has said.
