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Flanking the Axis: India’s Strategic Hedge in West Asia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-nation tour to Jordan, Ethiopia, and Oman (December 15-18, 2025) comes amid geopolitical churn in West Asia, marked by a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the crystallisation of a new Saudi-Pakistan-US alignment, offering a window into India’s evolving role as a strategically autonomous middle power.
The Key in His Pocket: Remembering Dr Mughni Tabassum
My maternal uncle, Dr Mughni Tabassum (1930–2012)—affectionately known to us as “Mamoojan”—was a towering figure in Urdu literature. He embodied a rare balance of character, seamlessly integrating the rigour of a critic with the soul of a poet. His life was marked by intellectual innovation and deep empathy, qualities that allowed him to navigate the evolving landscapes of academia, editing, and poetry with remarkable grace.
After US-Saudi pact, new West Asia in the making
The recent visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to Washington marks a definitive turning point in both the regional and global order. For India, the era of viewing the Gulf solely through the prism of energy and diaspora is over; it is now a high-stakes theatre of national security.
Summit that staunched bloodshed in West Asia
The Sharm el-Sheikh summit represents a watershed in Middle East diplomacy, but its legacy is profoundly ambiguous. Co-chaired by the US and Egypt, the gathering of world leaders succeeded in brokering an end to a devastating two-year war in Gaza, securing a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and prisoners, and an unprecedented international commitment to reconstruction and oversight.
The Sharm el-Sheikh Summit: A Pause on Conflicts, but No Guarantees of Lasting Peace
The Sharm el-Sheikh Summit of October 2025 exemplifies high-stakes, personality-driven diplomacy. It successfully ended a devastating two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas, securing a ceasefire and the return of hostages, providing momentous human relief. However, the summit is more a tactical achievement in crisis management than a strategic step toward peace.
Trump’s Gaza peace plan: Searching for solutions
Donald Trump’s Gaza Peace Plan has transitioned from a political concept to a tense, high-stakes negotiation marked by fragile progress and deep mistrust. Following Hamas’s conditional acceptance to release hostages and relinquish power, indirect talks in Sharm el-Sheikh—mediated by Egypt and Qatar—seek to operationalise the plan’s first phase involving ceasefire terms, prisoner exchanges, and security guarantees. Despite temporary optimism, no formal ceasefire, large-scale exchange, or public agreement has materialised, underscoring the plan’s uncertain prospects.
The World Wants the Gaza War to End Now
The unprecedented global consensus, demanding an immediate end to the protracted Gaza War, stems from a convergence of powerful factors. Driven by moral outrage over a severe humanitarian catastrophe, this global will is manifesting through Israel’s deepening diplomatic isolation, marked by near-unanimous UN votes and a wave of statehood recognitions for a Palestinian State by key Western nations. The protracted Israel-Palestine conflict has fractured the traditional US-led security architecture in the Middle East, rendering old frameworks like the Abraham Accords defunct and spurring new, albeit contentious, peace initiatives. The convergence of these diplomatic, public, and strategic forces represents a fundamental shift from mere conflict management to an urgent, collective demand for the end of the Gaza War and a sustainable resolution based on a two-state solution.
Defence and offence on the West Asia chessboard
The Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan on September 17, 2025, marks a major turning point in West Asian geopolitics, formalising a decades-long strategic alignment and creating new ripples that could alter regional security architectures and challenge India’s strategic positioning. This unprecedented pact establishes a NATO-style mutual defence commitment, declaring that “any aggression against either country shall be considered an aggression against both.”
Israeli Airstrikes in Doha: Geopolitical Ramifications
On September 9, 2025, Israel executed an unprecedented airstrike codenamed Pisgat HaEsh (“Summit of Fire”) in Doha’s Legtaifiya district, marking the first confirmed Israeli military action on Qatari soil. The operation involved 15 Israeli fighter jets deploying over 10 munitions in rapid succession, targeting a residential compound housing the Hamas political bureau headquarters. Despite the scale of the operation, senior Hamas leaders, including chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, survived, though six individuals perished: five Hamas members, including al-Hayya’s son Humam and office director Jihad Abu Labal, along with a Qatari internal security officer.