International Relations
Bilateral ties, multilateral forums, treaties and India's foreign policy
180 flights cancelled amid growing West Asia conflict
Over 180 Indian flights were cancelled on March 4, 2026, as the escalating West Asia conflict led to airspace closures across multiple countries in the regio...
Watch: Iranian naval vessel destroyed by U.S. torpedo in Indian Ocean
A US Navy submarine torpedoed and sank the IRIS Dena — one of Iran's newest frigates — approximately 44 nautical miles off the southern coast of Galle, Sri L...
Watch: Nepal is going to polls on March 5: Why it matters | The Hindu Explains
Nepal held its general election for the 275-seat House of Representatives on 5 March 2026, the first national vote since the Gen Z-led uprising of September ...
Trade bodies flag impact of West Asia crisis on trade-driven Karnataka
Karnataka trade and export bodies have raised the alarm over the severe impact of the West Asia conflict on the state's trade ecosystem, with many Kannadiga ...
US submarine sinks Iranian warship off Sri Lanka, marking escalation outside of Persian Gulf
A US Navy submarine torpedoed and sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena on March 4, 2026, approximately 40 nautical miles south of Galle, Sri Lanka, in the Indi...
Oxford museum set to return 500-year-old bronze statue taken from Tamil Nadu temple
The Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford has agreed to return a 16th-century bronze idol of Saint Thirumankai Alvar to India, originally from the Shr...
West Asia crisis: 1,500 flights cancelled in four days, Air India to add capacity on key long routes
The escalating West Asia conflict caused the cancellation of approximately 1,500 flights in just four days as Iran launched retaliatory attacks that triggere...
Tensions in West Asia: Apparel exporters in troubled waters
India's apparel and textile exporters are facing a severe crisis as the West Asia conflict — triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent regional ...
Watch: Government’s silence on the Iran strike and Khamenei’s death draws opposition criticism
Indian opposition parties sharply criticized the government for maintaining public silence following coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iran that reportedly k...
Evening news wrap: Khamenei's funeral postponed, BLA executes 7 Pakistan soldiers & more
The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) announced on March 4, 2026, that it had executed seven Pakistani military personnel captured during "Operation Herof II...
West Asia conflict hits India’s LNG supplies as Petronet, QatarEnergy issue force majeure notices; Petronet stock plummets
Petronet LNG Ltd — India's largest LNG importer — issued force majeure notices to QatarEnergy and to its domestic off-takers (GAIL, Indian Oil Corporation, a...
Iran warship sunk off Sri Lanka coast by US was returning from India. Here’s why
The Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sunk by a US Navy submarine on March 4, 2026, approximately 40 nautical miles south of Galle, Sri Lanka, in t...
Iran warship sunk near Sri Lanka: The naval drills it came to India to participate in
The Iranian Navy frigate IRIS Dena was torpedoed and sunk by a United States Navy submarine on March 4, 2026, in international waters approximately 40 nautic...
War hits Indian rice shipments to west Asian destinations
The West Asia conflict has severely disrupted Indian rice exports, particularly basmati rice, to the Gulf and wider West Asian region, which collectively acc...
War puts India’s oil, gas imports under stress
The escalating West Asia conflict has severely disrupted India's oil and gas import supply chains, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed to regular co...
Iran’s relationship with the United States: An estranged friend to an ‘arrogant’ power
As the US-Israel military campaign against Iran intensified from February 28, 2026, analysis of the deep historical rupture between Washington and Tehran bec...
United Nations ‘deeply disturbed’ by strike on Iran school that killed 160 children
On February 28, 2026, during the first day of Israeli-US airstrikes on Iran, the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls' elementary school in Minab, southern Iran (Hormozga...
Decoding Iran’s energy sector: Surviving without thriving under sanctions regime
With the US-Israel military campaign targeting Iran directly in 2026, global attention turned to Iran's oil sector — long crippled by sanctions but never ful...
Hormuz shutdown worsens after US hits Iranian warship; tankers stranded for fifth day
The Strait of Hormuz shipping shutdown entered its fifth consecutive day on March 4, 2026, after a US strike on the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka d...
Swiss shipping firm MSC diverts all Gulf-bound cargo to safe ports; slaps deviation fee of $800 per container
Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world's largest ocean carrier by capacity, declared an "End of Voyage" for all shipments destined for Middle East G...