Commodore S.L. Deshmukh

France’s surprise veto with Russia and China exposes a fraying Western consensus, raising awkward questions about NATO’s future. For seven decades, the choreography of great-power diplomacy has been comfortingly predictable: when push came to shove at the United Nations, France stood with the United States and United Kingdom, balancing the habitual dissent of Russia and China. That symmetry has now been disrupted. In a jarring diplomatic turn, France recently joined Russia and China to veto...

A fragile pause between Iran, Israel and America exposes the widening gap between diplomatic signalling and military reality. By definition, a ceasefire is a temporary suspension of hostilities. In practice, it is often something murkier: a tactical pause, a diplomatic fig leaf or worse, a convenient illusion. The ceasefire announced on April 7 between Iran, Israel and the United States appears to belong firmly in this latter category. Less a bridge to peace than a pause pregnant with...

For decades, India’s navy has been a force defined as much by restraint as by reach. It has excelled in sea denial, in guarding chokepoints, and in projecting quiet deterrence across the Indian Ocean. However, it lacked the ability to decisively shape events ashore. That omission is being remedied. Recently, India’s Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has granted a fresh Acceptance of Necessity for the procurement of four Landing Platform Docks (LPDs) at an...