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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

Healing Beyond the Clinic

Dr Kirti Samudra “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” This thought by Mother Teresa finds reflection in the life of Panvel-based diabetologist Dr Kirti Samudra, who has spent decades caring not only for her family but also thousands of patients who see her as their guide. As we mark International Women’s Day, stories like hers remind us that women of substance often shape society quietly through compassion, resilience and dedication. Doctor, mother, homemaker,...

Healing Beyond the Clinic

Dr Kirti Samudra “If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” This thought by Mother Teresa finds reflection in the life of Panvel-based diabetologist Dr Kirti Samudra, who has spent decades caring not only for her family but also thousands of patients who see her as their guide. As we mark International Women’s Day, stories like hers remind us that women of substance often shape society quietly through compassion, resilience and dedication. Doctor, mother, homemaker, mentor and philanthropist — Dr Samudra has balanced many roles with commitment. While she manages a busy medical practice, her deeper calling has always been service. For her, medicine is not merely a profession but a responsibility towards the people who depend on her guidance. Nagpur to Panvel Born and raised in Nagpur, Dr Samudra completed her medical education there before moving to Mumbai in search of better opportunities. The early years were challenging. With determination, she and her husband Girish Samudra, an entrepreneur involved in underwater pipeline projects, chose to build their life in Panvel. At a time when the town was still developing and healthcare awareness was limited, she decided to make it both her workplace and home. What began with modest resources gradually grew into a trusted medical practice built on long-standing relationships with patients. Fighting Diabetes Recognising the growing threat of diabetes, Dr Samudra dedicated her career to treating and educating patients about the disease. Over the years, she has registered nearly 30,000 patients from Panvel and nearby areas. Yet she believes treatment alone is not enough. “Diabetes is a lifelong disease. Medicines are important, but patient education is equally critical. If people understand the condition, they can manage it better and prevent complications,” she says. For more than 27 years, she has organised an Annual Patients’ Education Programme, offering diagnostic tests at concessional rates and sessions on lifestyle management. Family, Practice With her husband frequently travelling for business, much of the responsibility of raising their two children fell on Dr Samudra. Instead of expanding her practice aggressively, she kept it close to home and adjusted her OPD timings around her children’s schedules. “It was not easy,” she recalls, “but I wanted to fulfil my responsibilities as a mother while continuing to serve my patients.” Beyond Medicine Today, Dr Samudra also devotes time to social initiatives through the Bharat Vikas Parishad, where she serves as Regional Head. Her projects include  Plastic Mukta Vasundhara , which promotes reduced use of single-use plastic, and  Sainik Ho Tumchyasathi , an initiative that sends Diwali  faral  (snack hamper) to Indian soldiers posted at the borders. Last year alone, 15,000 boxes were sent to troops. Despite decades of service, she measures success not in wealth but in goodwill. “I may not have earned huge money,” she says, “but I have earned immense love and respect from my patients. That is something I will always be grateful for.”

Lasers and Leviathans

A flashpoint in the Red Sea reveals China’s expanding ambitions and Europe’s maritime vulnerability.

A Chinese warship has sparked diplomatic fury in Berlin after allegedly targeting a German surveillance aircraft with a military-grade laser during a European Union maritime mission in the Red Sea. The incident near the coast of Yemen forced the aircraft—part of the EU’s ASPIDES mission to protect civilian shipping from Houthi rebel attacks—to abort its flight and retreat to base in Djibouti. Following which Germany summoned China’s ambassador and condemned the episode as “entirely unacceptable.”


Though no injuries were reported, the geopolitical ramifications are far-reaching. For the first time, a European NATO member—not the United States or Australia—has accused China of hostile targeting in international waters. With tensions already simmering in the Red Sea due to Iranian-backed Houthi strikes on commercial vessels, Beijing’s silent but deliberate escalation adds a new layer of danger to one of the world’s most volatile maritime corridors.


The targeted aircraft, a Multi-Sensor Platform (MSP) operated by a civilian contractor with German military personnel on board, was conducting a routine reconnaissance sortie under Operation ASPIDES—an EU-led initiative launched in February to safeguard trade routes through the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Indian Ocean. Germany’s defence ministry said the laser was fired without prior warning even though the Chinese warship had been seen repeatedly in the area.


The United States has long complained of similar laser incidents in the Indo-Pacific, including one in 2020 near Guam. What’s new is the European angle. China has rarely, if ever, confronted a European surveillance aircraft with such tactics.


The Red Sea is no longer merely a thoroughfare for global shipping. It is now a crowded chessboard where naval vessels from the US, EU, China, Iran and others jostle in close quarters amid proxy wars, piracy and regional rivalries. Since 2023, Houthi rebels aligned with Iran have repeatedly attacked cargo vessels, prompting the launch of ASPIDES as a defensive shield. The EU mission, notably non-combative, aims to protect civilian ships, not to hunt rebels or enforce blockades. The Chinese laser strike thus marks a peculiar escalation when viewed in this light.


China’s presence in the western Indian Ocean has expanded steadily since it opened its first overseas naval base in Djibouti in 2017. Beijing justifies its deployments as part of international anti-piracy or humanitarian operations. But the strategic integration of naval activity, commercial shipping, and coercive signalling is increasingly hard to ignore. Its behaviour in the South China Sea is now being exported to waters once considered far from its primary sphere of influence.


Europe is clearly not ready. ASPIDES is a mission built on diplomacy, not deterrence. Its mandate is defensive. Its participants (from Belgium and Finland to Greece) are hardly in a position to engage in hard-power confrontation with a global military heavyweight like China. But the laser incident forces a reckoning: are European forces simply observers in contested waters, or stakeholders willing to stand firm?


Germany, traditionally cautious about military deployments, has been taking baby steps toward becoming what Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called a “security provider.” Its contribution to ASPIDES is part of that ambition. But ambition is not enough. Clearer rules of engagement, robust deconfliction protocols, and better coordination with allies like the US are now urgently needed, not least because China has made it clear that Europe is not exempt from the theatre of pressure it once reserved for Asia.


The European Union, too, must wake up to the reality that its economic rival is becoming a strategic challenger. For years, Brussels has attempted to balance trade ties with security concerns. Now Chinese lasers have cut through that illusion. The silence from Beijing since the incident is telling. China no longer feels the need to explain. It acts.


As the Red Sea grows more militarised, the space for peaceful, rules-based cooperation is shrinking. Europe’s missions, however well-intentioned, are now in the crosshairs. A laser may not cause a fire, but it casts a long shadow.

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