NLWs: Steps India Should Consider:
In 2016, Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa sounded a warning about the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) steadily depleting fighter squadron strength. The IAF has long maintained that a minimum of 42 fighter squadrons is essential to effectively engage both of India’s primary adversaries, China and Pakistan, simultaneously. Interestingly, the following year, Dhanoa reassured that the IAF had formulated a “Plan B” to counter both fronts even with reduced operational strength.
On September 12, 2025, 142 nations voted in favor of a two-state solution, 10 against, and 12 abstained — within 24 hours of the Israeli prime minister declaring that Palestine would never be a state. Major countries, including Saudi Arabia, France, and India, have endorsed the resolution, acknowledging Palestinian suffering. This raises a critical question: Will the adoption of the two-state resolution change the Israel–Palestine conflict, or will the cycle of violence continue?
Against the backdrop of ineffectiveness of the UN in diffusing West Asia and Eurasia conflicts, failure to adopt a global pact on plastic pollution, and over and above all, the rise of unilateral trade protectionism, the China-led Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has concluded its two-day (August 31 - September 1) high-profile 25th Summit in Tianjin, China.
The May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict offered a sobering demonstration of how modern wars are no longer confined to physical battlefields alone. Alongside precision strikes and conventional military operations, both countries engaged in a fierce struggle for control over public perception, media narratives, and psychological advantage.