How many warning bells must ring before New Delhi wakes up? How long will India play the polite bystander while its eastern neighbour slides into the abyss? History has a cruel sense of déjà vu. We have seen this movie before. And we know how it ends.

Delhi’s brutal winter suddenly felt a degree warmer as Vladimir Putin’s aircraft touched down and the capital basked in the diplomatic glow of a ‘Putin Yatra’. The Russian leader’s 2025 visit did more than thaw the December chill; it reignited one of the world’s most durable partnerships and signalled India’s return to the global centre stage with striking self-assurance.

The political upheaval in Bangladesh and the sweeping changes under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus have become a matter of serious concern for India.

Just when it seemed India-US relations were poised for a rupture, the political weather in Washington turned yet again. President Donald Trump—once quick to hail India as America’s reliable partner—abruptly announced a steep 50 per cent tariff on Indian imports, even going so far as to label India’s economy ‘dead’.

Diplomacy has always been a delicate craft. Words, carefully weighed, once built bridges where armies could not. But in the Trump era, that art has collapsed into gutter talk. The language of statesmen has given way to the slang of the street. And now, words are no longer instruments of peace but weapons of mockery.

An ominous belt of turbulence now circles India. From Kathmandu to Colombo, Dhaka to Malé, and deep inside Pakistan, a fierce storm of public anger, broken economies, and betrayed hopes is shaking South Asia. What some call the ‘Arc of Instability’ is no longer just a geopolitical phrase—it is a living reality.