(By Khalid Masood) The recent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian air bases, notably the June 1, 2025, strikes on Olenya and Belaya airfields, highlight the emerging threat of low-cost, high-volume drone swarms capable of overwhelming sophisticated air defences and destroying high-value assets like strategic bombers (The Guardian, Jun 2, 2025). Ukraine’s operation, codenamed “Pavutyna,” used…
(By Khalid Masood) In the brief but pivotal Indo-Pak war of May 7–15, 2025, Pakistan’s military prowess stunned the world, turning India’s Operation Sindoor—a retaliatory strike following the April 22 Pahalgam attack—into a strategic debacle. At the heart of Pakistan’s triumph was China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), a jam-resistant, encrypted, multiband navigation network that…
(By Khalid Masood) In the wake of the brief but bruising Indo-Pak war of May 7–15, 2025, India finds itself grappling with an unaccustomed diplomatic isolation. The conflict, sparked by the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists, saw India’s Operation Sindoor—a retaliatory strike against alleged terrorist sites in Pakistan—fail to achieve its…
(Khalid Masood) The April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir, offered India an opportunity to rally global support against Pakistan, its perennial rival. Within just 15 minutes, New Delhi filed an FIR blaming Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and swiftly launched a diplomatic offensive seeking international condemnation. Yet, the world’s response…
(By Khalid Masood) India’s Use of SCALP-EG Missiles in Operation Sindoor: Violations of EU Arms Export Rules and Options for Accountability On the night of May 6–7, 2025, India’s Operation Sindoor saw Rafale fighter jets deploy French-made SCALP-EG (Storm Shadow) cruise missiles and HAMMER precision-guided munitions against nine sites in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir, including…
(By Khalid Masood) In May 2025, the India-Pakistan conflict escalated dramatically with India’s Operation Sindoor, a series of missile and air strikes targeting alleged terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. Launched in retaliation for the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists, the operation was initially framed by New Delhi as a…
(By Khalid Masood) The Kashmir Dispute, one of the world’s most intractable and enduring conflicts, has profoundly shaped the geopolitical landscape of South Asia since the tumultuous partition of British India in 1947. At its core, the dispute is rooted in a complex tapestry of competing nationalisms, divergent religious identities, and overlapping strategic interests of…
(By Khalid Masood) In recent years, India’s economic narrative has been one of ambition, with claims of surpassing global giants like Japan fueling national pride. Posts on platforms like X and media reports often amplify this sentiment, citing India’s GDP growth and projections of becoming the world’s third-largest economy by 2027. However, such comparisons, particularly…
(By Khalid Masood) In a transformative bid to reposition itself as a global hub for digital innovation, Pakistan’s government has allocated 2,000 megawatts (MW) of surplus electricity to fuel Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, announced on May 25, 2025. This ambitious initiative, spearheaded by the newly formed Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) under…
(Lt Col Khalid Masood) In the wake of Operation Sindoor, India’s ill-fated military response to the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terrorist attack, the Indian government launched an ambitious diplomatic campaign to salvage its tarnished global image. Seven all-party delegations, comprising 59 parliamentarians and former diplomats, were dispatched to 33 global capitals to rebrand the operation…
