India’s nuclear test of 1974, codenamed “Smiling Buddha,” signalled a critical shift from peaceful nuclear technology to military applications in the history of South Asia. This alleged Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (PNE) was the first case of horizontal nuclear proliferation since the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) was formally adopted in 1967. The test, conducted at the Pokhran-1 site, used plutonium that […]

The fear of US sanctions has failed to deter India from signing a 10-year contract with Iran to develop and operate the Iranian port of Chabahar. The deal is expected to enhance regional connectivity and facilitate trade involving India, Iran, Afghanistan, and other nations. India’s Shipping Minister Sonowal had called the agreement a “Historic moment in India-Iran ties” while Jaishankar […]

In his November 2022 farewell address, outgoing Pakistan army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa conceded that the main reason for the Pakistan army being “criticised from time to time,” was its unconstitutional “involvement in politics for the last 70 years,” and claimed that “the army [had] decided after a lot of deliberation that it will not interfere in any political […]

On May 8, 2024, a ‘deputy commander’ of The Resistance Front (TRF), Momin Mir, was killed by Security Forces (SFs) in the Kulgam District of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). On May 7, 2024, SFs killed two terrorists in an encounter, including a top ‘commander’ of TRF, Basit Dar, and his associate Faheem Ahmed Baba, who was an over ground worker […]

Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce, headed to Russia to participate in an international economic meeting in Kazan, Tatarstan. The aim of the Russia-Islamic World: KazanForum 2024, the 15th edition of the forum, is to offer a platform for leading international economic and financial specialists from the Islamic world to strengthen ties between the countries of the Organization […]

A deminer died in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province on Tuesday, police said. The incident happened around 10:00 a.m. in Khurma area of provincial capital Trink Kot, said Hazrat Bilal Uruzgani, the provincial police spokesman. Another deminer was injured in the incident, he said Uruzgani said that the incident happened during an operation to clear the area […]

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Monday that continued interventions by the US into the internal affairs of Afghanistan will complicate the country’s situation. In a meeting in Tehran with the head of the UN in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran closely follows the developments in Afghanistan and supports stability, security, and sustainable development in the neighboring country. […]

There is considerable uncertainty in Southeast Asia regarding what a resurgent China means for the region. Over the past four decades, the once impoverished communist country has emerged as the world’s second-largest economy, transforming the image of Chinese people from famine-stricken to major consumers and investors. Due to the immense size of the Chinese economy, its vast population and its […]

Release of statistics on population change is an indication Vicious anti-Muslim rhetoric is likely to be the main plank of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last four phases of the elections to the Lower House of the Indian parliament (Lok Sabha). Voting ends on June 1 and the results will be announced on June 4. Faced with […]

The North-South and Brahmin-non Brahmin divides have again come to the fore but Tamils hope that the INDIA alliance will blunt the BJP’s brutal centralization and divisive Hindu nationalism. The on-going elections to the Indian parliament are being fought in various States and Union Territories of the country on the basis of a multiplicity of issues varying from State to […]