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Friday, March 6, 2026
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Opinion

Oil crisis to trade disruption—why India must try to reshape regional balance in West Asia

India has to play a seminal role in this process of reshaping the regional balance, or else lose the strategic, economic and geopolitical gains made in the past decades.

This oil shock hits differently for the US

While the 1970s and 2022 shocks supercharged US inflation, a sustained conflict with Iran would primarily hit the American economy through slower growth.

Nitish’s exit is good for Bihar. It’s the beginning of JD(U)’s end and BJP’s supremacy

The JD(U) may still have 12 members in the Lok Sabha and 85 in the state Assembly, but without Nitish Kumar as its face, the party is confronted with a big leadership vacuum.

How China sees Iran’s post-Khamenei trajectory. It depends on four factors

Chinese discourse places particular emphasis on the role of the US, evaluating both the strategic feasibility of deeper American involvement and the broader geopolitical consequences.

Even war is melodrama for Hindi news channels. Music, AI images, ‘ailaan-e-jung’

Domestic or foreign, TV news channels share a common bewilderment about the future of the war. All of them have concluded that ‘clearly, the war is not over yet’.

Indian liberals need a Dharma reset. Rootless, imported version isn’t working

Western liberalism begins with rights and designs society backwards. Dharma begins with relationships. It assumes you are born into a web of obligations, and that this web is a gift.

Indians laughing at their countrymen in Dubai are a disgrace. We have much to learn

While some Indians were spewing hatred, the government of Dubai got on with the job. The city coped with the crisis magnificently because of the quality of its leadership.

The story of India’s forgotten Afghans — horse-traders, mercenaries, kings

The relationship between Afghanistan and the Indian subcontinent was built over five centuries by people who were entrepreneurial, mobile, literate, and commercially connected.

Empires inflicted a century of regime change on Iran. Each wanted a compliant, powerless nation

The lessons of earlier American regime-change efforts should be obvious. The dismantling of Iran’s regime could lead to the breakdown of state authority and the rise of warlords.

Maharashtra’s Holi is different. It’s not colourful

Festival names are an example of Hindi hegemony. For a generation that grew up watching Bollywood, Dhanatrayodashi became Dhanteras, and Marathi Bhaubeej became Bhaidooj.

On Camera

This isn’t an energy crisis— at least not yet

Current oil & gas prices, compared to previous crises, are within ranges that, in the past, had been considered normal.

Maharashtra Budget: Fadnavis hands farmers another loan waiver even as 6 lakh await benefits of 1st one

Other key promises in the budget include AI- and other technology-enabled services for farmers and continuation of the Ladki Bahin Yojana, which will have the same outlay. 

Indian Navy says it deployed P-8I, diverted ships to boost efforts to rescue sunk Iran warship’s crew

Two Indian naval ships involved in the search and rescue operations in connection with IRIS Dena, which was operating 20 NM West of Galle in SAR region under Sri Lankan responsibility.

Pakistan is fighting a two-front war. I saw it coming 15 yrs ago

The Pakistani political leadership is weak and devoid of any intellect. Its diplomacy is entirely India-China-US focused and suffers from a presumptive view of Afghanistan as a vassal.