Opinion

Six months into his presidency and no conflict solved, US President Donald Trump might just leap into another conflict for a big win.

Building a Viksit Bharat by 2047, as envisaged by the Modi government, is a noble aim. Yet, the grim reality on the ground often doesn't match the dreams being spun in the air in a nation of 1.4 billion people.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's tweet featured a digitally-illustrated painting: a luminous warrior gripping a double-bladed sword, flanked by two lions, striding toward a burning fortress under a rain of fire.

The new Gulf war is a boomerang with worse aim than a drunk dart player and, like every misadventure from Kabul to Baghdad, is a masterclass in shooting your own foot while aiming for the moon.

Asim Munir wasn't the only one doing the signalling post-Operation Sindoor. PM Modi also ended weeks of avoiding a showdown with Trump, who had been taking credit for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.

These are Trumpian times. Countries around the world are fighting among themselves to help him land the next Nobel Peace Prize. It's Trump's last term, he has all the money, he just needs a legacy.

A 1947 British war memo shows why Pakistan, not India, suited post-imperial interests — creating a pliant state on Soviet, Iranian, and Arabian frontiers. In 2025, that logic still holds.

The Battle of Haldighati, fought between Maharana Pratap of Mewar and the Mughal forces led by Man Singh of Amber, has since passed into legend.

As PM Modi attends the G7 Summit, China watches closely, concerned over rare-earth diplomacy and India's balancing act between the West and Global South amid growing geopolitical unease.

With both nations unwilling to back down, the conflict looks set to escalate. What is interesting from a military perspective is the vastly different military capabilities of these two mighty regional powers and how each is leveraging its strengths.

Whether you like iOS 26 or not, whether you laud the Bhopal bridge or not, whether you admire the sunset at the Bihar Sharif tower or not, all of that depends on your taste. Or the lack of it.

Iran now stands exposed and vulnerable with Israeli jets flying with impunity from the Mediterranean to the Arabian Sea.