Colonel Deepak Kumar

The dilemma of Pakistan is that it’s an economically impoverished country seeking to project its powers beyond borders through nonstate actors under the umbrella of nuclear capability - Admits Farhatullah Babar of PPP gandhara.rferl.org/a/pakistan-see…

All that theory of Control of the Oceans is fine but US is a power in decline and will gradually lose controls over the Oceans that it once had with its hitech and huge navy. This will happen over the next decade or so. Today China surpasses the US Navy in the number of surface combatants and the gap is slowly increasing in terms of specific types such as aircraft carriers and destroyers.

Food for thought. Trump’s Deal With Indonesia: Mahan at the Strait of Malacca Hu Jintao warned China about this moment more than twenty years ago. In 2003, the then Chinese president coined the phrase “Malacca dilemma” to describe a simple, brutal fact: the country’s economic rise depended on foreign oil sailing through a narrow strait that other powers could, in a crisis, choose to close. Most of China’s imported crude and gas still squeezes through that same bottleneck between Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The US has just moved to wire that vulnerability, and it is no accident this is happening on Donald Trump’s watch. Washington’s new Major Defense Cooperation Partnership with Indonesia is being sold in the usual diplomatic euphemisms: capacity building, maritime security, joint training. Strip away the boilerplate and you see something far sharper. The agreement’s focus on maritime domain awareness, subsurface and autonomous systems, and special forces training is about giving Indonesia and by extension the U.S. and its allies, a far richer picture of everything that moves between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea, and greater ability to shape it in a crisis. As with Trump’s broader Indo‑Pacific posture, this is one more move to reassert the US as the pre‑eminent maritime power of the age, and to ensure China feels that reality every time a tanker clears the Strait. Hu’s “Malacca dilemma” was never only about a single shipping lane. It was about the geometry of China’s energy dependence. Oil from the Gulf and Africa has to arrive by sea. The shortest, cheapest route runs past India, through Malacca and adjacent Indonesian straits, and then up into waters where the U.S. Navy and its partners have operated for decades. A coalition that can see, track and, if necessary, interdict that flow holds a lever over China’s economy that no amount of rhetoric about multipolarity can wish away. More than a century ago, Alfred Thayer Mahan argued that sea power, fleets, chokepoints and maritime commerce, would decide the fate of great powers. The Malacca dilemma is Mahan’s theory rendered in modern energy terms: a continental power whose trade and fuel move by sea lives or dies by access to narrow maritime bottlenecks policed by others. Trump’s Indonesia move is pure Mahan: rather than chasing dominance on land, Washington is tightening its grip on the sea lanes and straits through which China’s economic lifeblood must flow. Beijing has spent two decades trying to escape this trap with pipelines from Central Asia and Russia, a corridor through Myanmar and a “string of pearls” of ports from Gwadar to Djibouti. Yet the volumes tell a less reassuring story: overland routes move at the margin, while the bulk of China’s energy still comes by tanker and still passes through Southeast Asian chokepoints. The dilemma has been managed, not resolved. That is why Indonesia matters. Jakarta insists it is not choosing sides and will continue to balance between Washington and Beijing. It doesn’t have to do more than that for this pact to bite. As Indonesian officers train with American counterparts and integrate U.S.‑supplied surveillance and patrol systems, the operational environment quietly changes. Chinese planners contemplating a crisis over Taiwan, the South China Sea or even a clash around Hormuz now have to assume that traffic through Malacca and its alternatives will unfold under a web of sensors and partnerships that lean, in practice if not in rhetoric, toward Washington. Another move by President Trump, in other words. From rebuilding American shipyards to pouring money into Indo‑Pacific maritime forces, the pattern is clear: the United States intends to remain a maritime superpower, and to make China live with Hu Jintao’s old nightmare instead of escaping it. Mahan would have recognised the logic instantly: in the end, it is the power that commands the sea, and the straits, that sets the terms for everyone else.

This was bound to happen Since the fundamental divergences were to Wide to Cover and Pakistan lacked any influence or leverage over the two negotiating sides. While the outcome was known abinitio, the talks would collapse within 24 hours wasn’t known.

Hope Pakistanis accorded the same honour to Iran’s Speaker of Parliament Ghalibaf too. Else this is just as Trump says, Pakistanis “kissing JD Vance’s Ass”. Though this should not come as any surprise since Pakistanis are pretty good at it and have been doing it since 1947.

The Strait of Hormuz is an international navigation channel and Iran has no legal right to grant a privilege of transit or charge a toll. The UNCLOS is very clear on this. Oman has wisely declined to share any toll fee as proposed by Iran. #Hormuz #USIRANWAR #UNCLOS

@sneheshphilip Not new. Been like this for almost a decade or so.

We are taking about raising a Rocket Force, how along range artillery is one of the key elements of present and future wars this picture and tweet does prod us to look into the whole process of how officers of certain Arms face uphill task when it comes to promotions and postings.

All states should have Institutions like this; it will encourage the youth, ensure adequate state representation in the Defence Forces and train the youth to take on life with a disciplined focus and purpose. ⁦@CMOfficeUP⁩ ⁦@myogiadityanath⁩

And Now the Israeli side has also cast doubts about the trustworthiness of Pakistan. The path ahead for the ceasefire is nothing less than a dangerous minefield which the US and Iran have to negotiate. You can now assess yourself the future of the tenuous ceasefire. It might not hold long. indianexpress.com/article/world/…

**Geopolitical Chess Move?** China (Iran’s supposed ally) just vetoed Bahrain’s UNSC resolution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz alongside Russia. Why let the US-Iran war escalate and bleed Tehran dry? Simple: exhaust America in the Middle East so it’s too war-weary to rush to Taiwan’s defense when Chinese ships storm the strait. Masterstroke or high-stakes gamble? The Taiwan clock is ticking. #Hormuz #TaiwanStrait

This is the perpetual policy of Pakistan- run with the hare and hunt with the hound. Till yesterday they were mediators between the US and Iran, today they are readying their missiles and aircraft against Iran on behalf of Saudi Arab. No wonder Iran doesn’t trust Pakistan at all. Few days back in a discussion on the Conflict situation, an Iran academic told me they actually apprehend Pakistan may on the pretext of negotiations call their leaders to Islamabad and could turn them over to the Americans just for a few lakh dollars. After taking billions of dollars from the US, they shout “death to America” in their protest marches. Just today their parliamentarian was ridiculing the UAE, that has always bailed them out financially. Duplicity-thy name is Pakistan. hindi.news18.com/world/middle-e…

Is Trump Planning a Nuclear Strike on Iran tonight? Can Trump be this Unhinged? What else does he mean by ending the whole civilisation? Does he realise the impact of such a desperate and despicable action on not only Iran or the region but the entire world? Or is it just due to his extremely limited vocabulary…… #Trump #IranWar‌ #TrumpGenocida @ragarwal @Bhupesh @dgaurav7 ndtv.com/world-news/ira…

One valid point and another one very Interesting if proven true.

@RickyDoggin इसको देखकर ही कोलेस्ट्रॉल 50 प्वाइंट बढ़ गया अगर ये ऑमलेट खा लिया तो Cholestrol ख़ून से उछल कर बाहर आ जाएगा ।😀

Uncle Ande Wale Ka famous Handi omelette

@sajaniaf Love your sense of humour or should I say sarcasm!

Best pick for DG, considering the vast experience in ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change.

Who pays Income tax? Less than 5 crore Indians. More than One crore just file Zeeo tax return. But everyone expects developed world facilities. The ones that are made are soiled by these idiots with Guthka spit and littering. No traffic sense, no helmets, triple riding, no lane discipline and no common sense. If you lack all these then you are already in the pit.

Oh my God! We are VIPs. We can’t stand in queue with the ( heathens) public! @Iyervval @ARanganathan72

Cluster munitions used by Iran against targets in central Israel, seems straight out of Rohit Shetty movies famous for tossing around cars. #IsraelIranWar

There is no ceasefire in the US, Israel- Iran Conflict. Iran has declined to negotiate on the terms proposed by the US. Iran rejects the U.S. 15-point plan and says the war ends only on its terms, not President Trump’s timeline. Tehran says it will keep striking until its demands are met. Conditions for ending the war: - Full stop to attacks and targeted killings - Guarantees against any future aggression/ attack - Reparations for war damages - End of fighting across all fronts, including Hezbollah - International recognition of Iran’s authority over the Strait of Hormuz Iran says it has informed intermediaries that no ceasefire or talks will happen unless all conditions are accepted. Egypt’s foreign minister however has said that they will continue their diplomatic efforts to bring a stop to the war.