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By:

Rajiv Shah

22 September 2025 at 8:32:23 pm

New Alliances, New Pressures, New Fault Lines

To its west, old relationships in the Gulf are acquiring new strategic and military dimensions. Across the Atlantic, Washington is increasingly using tariffs as an instrument of foreign policy. At the same time, India holds the BRICS presidency in 2026 and prepares to host its summit when the grouping is being watched in the West as a potential challenge to the American-dominated global financial order. Individually, these developments may appear unrelated. Put together, they reveal a larger...

New Alliances, New Pressures, New Fault Lines

To its west, old relationships in the Gulf are acquiring new strategic and military dimensions. Across the Atlantic, Washington is increasingly using tariffs as an instrument of foreign policy. At the same time, India holds the BRICS presidency in 2026 and prepares to host its summit when the grouping is being watched in the West as a potential challenge to the American-dominated global financial order. Individually, these developments may appear unrelated. Put together, they reveal a larger geopolitical churn in which alliances, energy, trade, currencies and economic coercion are becoming interconnected. India finds itself almost at its centre. The emerging Saudi Arabia–Türkiye–Pakistan security equation deserves particular attention. Saudi Arabia brings enormous financial and energy influence; Türkiye possesses considerable military strength, NATO experience and an expanding defence industry; Pakistan brings a large military establishment and nuclear capability with the open support of Washington. Any arrangement containing a collective-defence commitment naturally acquires significance beyond ordinary diplomatic cooperation. Alongside it, another strategic convergence has gradually developed among India, Israel and the UAE. It would be incorrect to describe this as a formal military alliance. Yet geopolitics does not operate through defence treaties alone. India's extensive defence and technology relationship with Israel, its rapidly expanding economic and strategic partnership with the UAE, and the UAE-Israel relationship following the Abraham Accords have created considerable common ground. I2U2—bringing together India, Israel, the UAE and the United States—added another institutional dimension. Thus, without necessarily becoming opposing military camps, two interesting strategic formations are visible across West Asia: Saudi Arabia–Türkiye–Pakistan and the looser India–UAE–Israel convergence. Balancing Challenge India faces a similar balancing challenge. The Gulf is not a distant geopolitical theatre for New Delhi. Nearly nine million Indians live and work there. India's energy security, investments, trade and remittance flows are closely connected with the region. The proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor also requires relative stability across this geography. Polarisation in West Asia can therefore rapidly become an Indian economic and strategic problem. There is another question Indian planners cannot ignore. If a future India-Pakistan confrontation escalates, how would any collective-defence commitment involving Pakistan be interpreted by Saudi Arabia and Türkiye? It would be alarmist to assume that either country would automatically enter a conflict against India. Saudi Arabia, in particular, has substantial economic and strategic interests in maintaining good relations with New Delhi. Nevertheless, defence planners are paid to examine possibilities before they become crises. While these equations develop in India's neighbourhood, economic pressure is emerging from Washington. The US Senate has voted 86–11 for legislation intended to increase pressure on Russia by targeting major purchasers of Russian energy. The measure could authorise tariffs reaching 100 per cent against goods from countries continuing large-scale purchases of Russian oil and gas, with India among those potentially exposed. China is powerful enough to shrug off similar challenges from the West." However this does not mean that America has already imposed a 100 per cent tariff on India. Further legislative steps remain necessary, and presidential waiver provisions are important. But the overwhelming Senate vote carries a political message that New Delhi cannot dismiss. Tariffs are no longer merely tools of trade protection; they have become instruments of geopolitical coercion. Washington's argument is understandable: revenues from Russian petroleum help sustain Moscow's economy during the Ukraine war, and reducing those revenues increases pressure on Russia. But in that case what about European countries who too were/are customers of Russian oil? India's question is equally legitimate: who should determine where India purchases the energy required by more than 1.4 billion people? If Russian crude remains commercially advantageous and helps contain domestic energy costs, New Delhi cannot reasonably be expected to make every energy decision according to another country's geopolitical priorities. Strategic partnership cannot become strategic obedience. This is where BRICS enters the larger picture. India holds the BRICS presidency in 2026 and will host its leaders at an unusually sensitive moment. BRICS is no longer merely the original grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Its expansion has considerably increased its demographic, energy and geopolitical weight. More importantly, discussions around BRICS increasingly touch a sensitive nerve in Washington: alternative payment mechanisms, local-currency trade, development finance and the possibility of gradually reducing dependence upon the dollar-dominated international financial system. The BRICS Summit this time is poised to take some decisive steps which may affect western interests especially US. (The writer is an advocate, legal, geopolitical and public policy analyst. Views personal.)

Biomedical Waste: A Silent Threat in Plain Sight

Medical waste generated from routine tests prescribed by a doctor has the potential to become a serious public health hazard.

Subsequently, in accordance with the directives of the Honourable Supreme Court, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (now the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change – MoEF&CC), Government of India, notified the Bio-Medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules on 27 July 1998. These rules were issued under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.


Since their introduction, there have been several amendments and changes to these original rules. These developments will be discussed periodically in this series of articles.


Biomedical waste, also referred to as medical waste or hospital waste, includes any waste that poses a risk of infection to humans or contains potentially infectious material. This type of waste is typically generated during healthcare delivery, research activities, and other medical procedures.


It is defined as “any solid, fluid or liquid waste, including its container and any intermediate product, which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunisation of human beings or animals, in research related thereto, or in the production or testing of biologicals, and also includes animal waste from slaughterhouses or similar establishments”.


How and where this kind of waste is generated

Sunita is feeling unwell. She has a sore throat, headache, body aches, and a general sense of discomfort. She is also running a slight fever. It is time for her to visit the family physician. Her family doctor conducts a routine check-up and prescribes a few medicines based on his initial diagnosis. Sunita follows the prescription carefully. However, her condition does not improve.


Sunita visits the doctor again. This time, the doctor advises her to undergo a series of routine laboratory tests, such as a Complete Blood Count (CBC) and a urine test. Sunita proceeds to a pathology lab to get these tests done.


At the lab, the technician arranges several vials for sample collection and hands Sunita a plastic cup for urine collection. He then takes a new set of disposable syringes and a sharp-tipped needle. Following standard procedures, he draws the required amount of blood into the syringe, transfers it into the appropriately labelled vials, and then discards the used syringe and needle into a bin.


All done. But if you were to pick up that discarded syringe (not that you should) and examine it closely, you would see that the needle tip is still smeared with a bit of blood. The inner surface of the syringe also contains traces of blood. And let us be clear—this ‘bit’ of blood is highly infectious and poses a serious health hazard. If you accidentally prick your finger with it, you could be exposed to harmful pathogens.


Now, Sunita is not the only one who visited the pathology lab that morning. On average, fifty to sixty prospective patients might have visited that single lab on any given day. But that lab is just one among many. There are hundreds of similar laboratories operating across the city, all providing diagnostic services.


Starting to get the picture? One can now begin to estimate the sheer number of discarded syringes and needles generated daily by all these labs. And hold on—this is just the beginning of biomedical waste generation. If Sunita’s blood test results confirm the infection her doctor suspects, she may need to be hospitalised for further treatment. And with that, the production of biomedical waste will continue.


Let’s wait a week to find out what happens to Sunita in the hospital. Until then, have a great weekend!

(The writer is an environmentalist.)

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