[A note before we begin: We held back out of respect for Iran Zamin and the weight of what was unfolding. Pakistan has now acted where others would not, and the moment deserves acknowledgement.
This should have been India’s role. No other power sits closer to both Tehran and Washington. No other civilisational bridge existed with the credibility to hold both sides. That fatal trip, PM Modi’s visit to Tel Aviv, poisoned those waters permanently. It did not merely signal a foreign policy choice. It signalled comfort with regime change in a neighbouring civilisation. The opportunity cost is historic and will not be recovered.
What Pakistan has achieved is without precedent in its modern history. The Muslim Prussian Republic, forged in argument, held together by will, perpetually doubted, walked into the gap the subcontinent’s greater power vacated and stopped a war. The world owes a debt to Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal’s creation that it will not rush to acknowledge. That is how it goes. But we are noting it here, now, while the moment is live.]
History named the last one. It was called the Twelve-Day War. Clean. Surgical. A rehearsal. This one will be called the Forty-Day War. It began on 28 February 2026 with a decapitation strike that shattered Iran’s command structure in a single night and a brutal attack on a girl’s school. It paused on 8 April, when a Pakistani Prime Minister’s tweet achieved what five weeks of bombardment, ultimatums, and a pope’s intervention could not.
Pakistan forced the pause the world could not secure.
This is not sentiment. It is structural. Islamabad was the only room both sides could enter. Pakistan maintained working diplomatic channels with Tehran throughout the war. It shared enough institutional credibility with Gulf capitals to be trusted as a mediator. It was sufficiently operationally relevant to Washington; Field Marshal Munir’s name appeared, unremarkably, in Trump’s own ceasefire announcement, to be taken seriously rather than patronised. No other state sat at that intersection. Egypt tried. Turkey tried. Neither had all three legs of the stool.
Over forty days, escalation outran control. Oil surged past $110 a barrel and briefly touched $117. Insurance markets seized. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz reduced to a trickle. American signalling moved from coercive to apocalyptic, “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Iranian signalling hardened even as its leadership structure absorbed shock. Each side retained the capacity to raise costs further. Neither had a clean exit.
Pakistan supplied one.
The mechanics of the pause reveal everything. Tehran accepted a two-week window in which maritime traffic would resume under its coordination. Read that precisely. Coordination, not surrender. The Strait remains, in Iranian framing, an instrument of state power. That is not the language of defeat; though states rarely speak the language of defeat in real time, regardless of battlefield reality. What matters is what the text actually says. Iran controls the reopening. Iran does not yield it.
Washington will declare victory. The machinery is already running.
The United States will point to degraded military infrastructure, disrupted command networks, and restored passage through the Strait. The messaging will be coherent by morning. It will say force worked. Chronologically, force preceded the deal, which is not the same as causing it.
The record is less clean. Maximalist demands gave way to a framework that resembles proposals already on the table days earlier. Deadlines expired and were reset. Iran’s 10-point plan, dismissed as “not good enough” on 6 April, became “a workable basis for negotiation” on 7 April. The plan did not change. The clock ran out. This is not unusual. It is how late-stage coercive diplomacy resolves: pressure peaks, then converts into a deal that would have been rejected at the midpoint.
The long-term advantage belongs to Tehran; if it navigates the next two weeks.
The structural fact underneath both narratives is geography. The Strait of Hormuz cannot be bombed out of existence. It is a twelve-mile navigable corridor through which a fifth of the world’s energy supply must pass. Disrupting it does not require military victory. It requires capability and intent. Both survive battlefield attrition. Iran demonstrated this. Oil markets understood it immediately and priced it in for five weeks.
The US struck over 90 military sites on Kharg Island, handling 90% of Iranian crude exports, and left the oil infrastructure standing. That was not mercy. It was leverage preservation. The threat to destroy it remains active. But a threat held in reserve depreciates the longer it goes unused, and the moment formal talks begin in Islamabad on Friday, the depreciation accelerates.
This is not peace. It is a controlled interval. The underlying questions; Iran’s nuclear posture, Hormuz sovereignty, Gulf security architecture after a direct strike on the Iranian state, are unresolved. Both sides have reason to extend the window indefinitely. Managed ambiguity is, in the Middle East, often the best available outcome.
The war moved from missiles to a room in Islamabad. That is where it will be decided.
Lest we forget, our starting point:
the sad thing about all this is, even if Iran wins, (like north Vietnam ), the ruling setup will be weak and will eventually open up like Vietnam to the west and Arabs.
perhaps – but even so the Revolutionary Characteristics are preserved perhaps?
times have changed. Many characteristics will remain in name only.
Current china is a good example of being both communist and….??
Communist, Chinese & capitalist?
+ Han nationalism
If nothing else, the Iranian regime can be proud of its achievement in converting Donald Trump to Islam đ .
Something amiss. a C130 and some helicopters landing in iran.
Looks like there US special forces are already in Iran probing.
For the rescue?
something more. how can Iran miss a C 130 landing. this is a huge aircraft.
there might be an attempt to retrieve nuclear material.
From the mountain fortress of Yazd? Or was it Isfahan?
Isfahan
“Are Films Political Tool?|Nope w/Kunal Kamra ft Anand Patwardhan|076”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LofD333rDo
What isnât political?
as long as the films are ‘progressive ‘, shows poverty, struggle etc it is OK.
Once the so called right takes over the narrative, it is called political and propaganda these days.
There can be leftist as well as rightist propaganda.
On this very forum, we have consistently seen people call The Wire and Scroll “propaganda”.
I don’t agree with that characterization. Yes, both publications are generally anti Modi and anti BJP. They represent a centre-left viewpoint.
There are other publications that represent a right-wing viewpoint.
This is the new normal.
Critics will eventually make peace with it.
The overton window has shifted massively rightwards and will keep shifting.
Dhurandhar The Revenge makes Dhurandhar look fluffy and light.
Even RRR which apparently had “propaganda” looks quaint now.
Aditya Dhar has a blank cheque now and is making a Chandragupta Maurya movie.
His protege will also get a bigger cheque I guess.
He made Article 370 and Baramulla, both very well made movies.
Even critic Rahul Desai who is an extreme leftist found no technical flaws.
https://www.hollywoodreporterindia.com/reviews/streaming/baramulla-movie-review-horror-lies-in-the-eyes-of-the-beholder-in-manav-kaul-led-film
The left is pissed that the right has found craft.
The crying over Dhurandhar is not because it is “propaganda”. It is because it is “good propaganda” unlike Kashmir Files, Kerala Story level slop.
The duck and his local hatchet man ought to be tried as war criminals. Targeting any civilian infrastructure is a war crime.
What amazes me is that there’s not a squeak from Russia or China. Of course, this charade of a war gives legitimacy to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Chinese are most likely waiting to strike Taiwan at an opportune moment. Given that the US has blown up billions of dollars worth of fancy weapons, unlikely they can ramp up production for a reasonably long time.
https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/commentary/over-11000-munitions-16-days-iran-war-command-reload-governs-endurance
China is supplying the missiles and technology to Iran
Proxy war like in Ukraine.
Talk of Russia and North Korea of having given ICBM’s to Iran
========
Listen to every word carefully.
A huge game changer
500 North Korean Hwasong ICBMs delivered to Iran
US has just 400 Minuteman II ICBMS
https://youtu.be/UZpkU6hrzcM
+1
Sino-Russia & North Korea helping their fellow Quad member like crazy.
Most of the world is being Iran fwiw.
Yes, the hardest part of wisdom is to keep quiet when the ego wants to speak. A lesson well imbued by Iran and undoubtedly Russia China. The NK Sino-Russian actions speak volumes.
But the deafening silence to this blatant violation of international law and complete ignorance of war crimes is appalling to me. Not one has stood up to the rogue President be it the Dems or any other country. Only Spain showed spine if I recollect correctly.
The bigger is issue is that the US has gone rogue (much like another country in 1940’s). Now it is blatantly committing War crimes and threatening further War Crimes
They are ignoring and circumventing International Law. This has been going on for some time under other Presidents too. But now ignoring International Law is blatant.
But who will Bell this Crazy Cat and send them to the Hague
But the deafening silence to this blatant violation
Whats the point of speaking up when you can do nothing about it. Doing some thing is WW3. The big players are waiting so that the US falls internally. Trump helping immensely
Hague and the UN (much like it’s predecessor the League of Nations) is a toothless tiger controlled by the US. US has gone rogue for a long time now as you point out. If the rest of the world doesn’t bell the cat, its anyway WW3.
The US is geographically isolated which clearly allows it to be the bull in West Asia’s China shop. No consequences for the bombing of so many countries in West Asia till date.
Nations collapse at leisure, so expecting the US to show a sharp downward trajectory not happening for at least the next couple of decades.
It is complete chaos now. With the latest nutcase pronouncement not sure what tomorrow’s going to bring.
XTM, can’t comment on your new open thread just fyi…
Agree with everything you wrote.
Opened the thread. Thank you.
This a nice AI on Modi, Trump and Netanyahu
https://web.facebook.com/reel/907193021899113
as formerly brown said
there might be an attempt to retrieve nuclear material.
Educated Speculation as to the actual “reason” behind the F-15 Airman rescue The speculation this was an operation to steal the Iran’s Enriched Uranium
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2026/04/iran-war-trump-makes-even-more-unhinged-threat-as-details-of-f-15-pilot-rescue-point-to-much-bigger-plan-say-to-seize-enriched-uranium-trump-legitimacy-crisis-grows-as-battered-gulf-states-pull-ba.html
the world is holding its breath..
but the very fact that huge aircrafts landed deep inside Iran is troubling. the level of support to regime from the local population is suspect.
India entered the second stage of its nuclear program with the 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam attaining criticality on April 6, 2026. Using plutonium waste from Stage 1, these fast breeder reactors generate more fuel than they consume, enabling the transition towards, and ultimate utilization of, India’s vast thorium reserves.
This was Homi Bhabha’s original three stage plan.
Stage 3 involves using Thorium (India holds 25% of the world’s resources) to generate energy.
India has so much thorium it can use it for at least 400 years.
Aridhaman gas been comissioned. India should implant acoustic sensors in indian ocean seriously! The Chinese have literally wired the Pacific around Guam.
wired the Pacific?
Here, see this article and there’s another one by NPR also.
https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/chinas-growing-influence-pacific-5000-meters-deep
“Research vessels” typically carry out the missions to deploying sensors in ocean to detect the lurking subs or naval fleets.
Next 15 years are gonna be amazing.
Post that will be fun too but we’ll get used to it
Yes the future is bright –
Jai Hind
Huge Kudos to Pakistan.
Gave the excuse Trump to exit and declare victory
Meanwhile Hormuz will continue to remain under Irans control.
Maybe they will continue to charge money to go thru.
Iran sanctions removed (read the Irans conditions)
The US will not want to take on Iran again (I think)
For Trump too much economic pain (stock market, oil prices)
Hopefully this leads to a permenant peace agreement between Iran and USA. If a president like Trump could not defeat Iran, any upcoming US president would have no appetite to be antagonistic towards Iran. It bodes extremely ill for Israel and UAE who would now be trying to play spoiler here.
But if this becomes permenant, then this will be Pakistan’s greatest diplomatic achievement.
I hope this ceasefire leads to an end to the war. I’m not very optimistic about US or Israeli “ceasefires”. As we know, there is technically a ceasefire in Gaza right now but that conflict is not over.
I am genuinely surprised that the threat to “destroy civilization” was averted simply because Shahbaz Sharif requested a two week delay. But if this provides a face-saving exit for the US, it’s all to the good.
The US will not want to take on Iran again (I think)
For Trump too much economic pain (stock market, oil prices)
Hormuz will continue to remain under Irans control.
They will continue to charge money to go thru.
Iran sanctions removed (read the Irans conditions)
IDF, Hezbollah Hamas can continue to fight each other if they want. It is an internal matter. Again I doubt the US will intervene directly.
I doubt Israel has the will to fight local wars. Maybe kill more in gaza
Israel already said the ceasefire doesn’t apply to Lebanon.
Yes Israel trying to scupper the deal
the irony is that Iran is propping up Trump, who in turn will prop them up with Pakistan as some sort of guarantor for the deal.
“Mehdi Hasan and Experts REACT to Trump’s Iran Decision”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-6Li9Az7Yk
my take :
1. Israel standing alone but is safe from an Iranian atom bomb for at least 10 years.
2.saudi and emaratis are naked and furious.
3.arabs will feel that Israel will be their best bet in the region and will collobrate openly.
4. Arabs, who conquered Persia, cannot become subservient to Iran and let their oil clients pay toll at the Iranian gate. This will be the deal breaker.
5. American bases will still stay, but the hosts will be sceptical.
6.qatar will have to get down a notch or two.
7. for Iran to make peace with Arabs and get back to their economy will be delayed and difficult.
8. India will stick with Arabs and Israel, they can make a transactional deal with Iran. after all Iran needs a big market.
9.pakistan looks lucky, but they should have inserted saudi in the statement. Saudis are sure to feel inferior.
10.will Pakistan next trusted in the Arab world? doubtful.
11. Persians will gloat for a 1000 years over this ‘victory ‘.
12.bahrain is in a difficult patch.
13. Egypt? Turkia?
12.americans will start getting their warships in the strait, difficult for Iran to stop them.
Perhaps – but itâs unlikely that Israel can be an open ally?
Also why do Americans care what happens in the Middle East so long as there is a flow of oil?
This is a USA retrenching?
Arabs have seen that Americans are unreable and do not have patience like old empire builders like English and French.
Jews are here to stay in the region. Arabs can fish out something in their tradition to have an relationship with Jews.
Already many Saudis do not consider gazans in particular and Palestinians in general as arabs.
If Americans leave gulf, Arabs without Israel will be crushed by Iranians. That beast has tasted blood.
Who said Palestinians & Gazans are not Arabs?!?
Many Saudis.
The logic is that the Palestinian population was cosmopolitan under the ottomans.
In fact there are Israeli youtoubers who cite gazan’s surnames to prove this point.
GCC who hate Iran are not going to let them control the Strait of Hormuz (through which they were exporting oil for years).
GCC kings’ greatest fear is that an Iranian style Islamic revolution happens and topples them like the Pahlavis.
We removed your earlier comment as it felt Islamophobic (bombing the hell out of).
Everyone knows that South Lebanon, like Gaza, are predominantly civilian zones.
GCC countries are not configured like Iran; they are much smaller consensual societies. This idea that they hate Iran and vice versa precludes a fundamental idea.
Societies must learn to live together (EU is an example). So must the same be for the Muslim world; why should external parties interfere.
It is interesting that Pakistan will have a very strong hand now vis a vis Afghanistan & Baluchistan.
I didn’t mean it that way. Just that Israel is bombing South Lebanon extremely hard.
Israel/GCC might not mind living with Iran but they will not accept a world where Iran changes the status quo.
Especially GCC who have had free use of Hormuz for decades now.
EU learnt to live together after hundreds and hundreds of years of wars and two World Wars.
Let’s see what happens. US might want to just cut its losses and leave but GCC/Israel will have other plans. The $3.5 billion loan repayment was a part of the greater game.
I wish Pakistan all the best in its new Middle Eastern adventures.
Yes exactly but where were GCC & Israel.
The GCC can either be rich or play the Great Game. They would rather be rich.
This is a big setback for Bibi; and a win for Trump
My point was Bibi/GCC are not going to just accept the current terms.
Doesn’t really affect the USA but Israel/GCC won’t take to it kindly.
This thing is going to flare up again.
Israel is already bombing Hezbollah and Iran says that ceasefire won’t be accepted without Hezbollah.
Anyways, let’s see what happens.
yes but what can they do. GCC did not join in.. Israel can’t be a unilateral belligerent
Native Critical mass not there. also the rulers are clever not to let palestinians and yemanis as they can replace the rulers.
Hegseth has claimed US victory.
” they will be hanging in the region. Donald Trump chose mercy”
yes Trump will claim Victory; white and middle America love Trump
I find it……ironic that Drumpf and Hegseth are on the ‘other’ side of claiming that their opponents whom they pretty much bombed at will were ‘begging for ceasefire’ while fighting perceptions that they ‘lost’.
Thatâs fine – this is good for the world tbh.. let Trump have his domestic victory.. and let the US recalibrate
The Hormuz Strait will have a Persian tollbooth extracting ‘tariffs’ for the foreseeable future.
The only silver lining in this outcome for the US that I see is that Chinese energy costs go up – not insurmountably but non-trivially at a minimum.
I think post-conflict, India should move swiftly to make quick energy deals, and offer Indian collaboration on the post-war rebuild. Question is timing. The window is there for India and Iran to partner up once again. But let’s see how it plays out. In 5 years, I expect India to regain its prominent spot on Iran’s top energy export customers.
Will Iran charge China?
The… ‘new math’ will apply to everyone in some shape or form.
To be brutally honest, I don’t see how India could’ve played any role here. It neither shares a border with Iran or any of the Arab states nor is it “civilizationally” close to either the US and Iran let alone both concurrently (at least in my view). I usually don’t defend India but the Indian media and talking heads, chastising their government doesn’t make sense here because they have absolutely no role to play, there was no “missed opportunity” and if anything I think the Indian media hype machine and the arrogance and narcissism of their analysts and political pundits has led them to overestimating their own stature and role in a conflict that doesn’t even directly affect them nor do they have any leverage within the Muslim world help arbitrate a ceasefire. I think it would be helpful for India if they came to terms with their decreed position in geopolitics and develop more realistic expectations.
India & Iran had a very close and very special relationship for decades!
India & Iran had a very close
Keyword HAD
This was during the Non Aligned states era.
Modi has turned more aligned to the West, a very junior partner of the Quad
Iran is now firmly in the so called Axis of Evil
Russia, North Korea and China
In my opinion it is the Era of Central Asia and East Asia
this was at a time India was at its best as a preachy , non aligned, world peace walla.
Iran had always voted with Pakistan on Kashmir issue in UN. Now Indian shias are looking to Iran as their spiritual abba.
A thousand years ago persianised Muslims invaded and settled in Delhi. Since then, till the British displaced them, Persian was the high language. This place is now taken by English.
So close that Iran openly supported Pakistan in all its wars of aggression against us. Lol.
Closeness attributable to the civilizational connect between people (most not all). The Iranian govt agenda aligns along religious lines with Pakistan not India.
What has Iran done for India in the ‘decades’ of the special relationship?
Should write a post on this- Iâm taking a break till Friday evening.
Indian media is full of narcissism on both sides of the aisle. Those decrying Pakistan’s role and India’s apparent failure to mediate are mostly far Left aligned who suffer from Modi Derangement Syndrome and will not miss any opportunity to level criticisms – no matter how untenable their theories may be.
My go-to for Indian news is The Print run by Shekhar Gupta. He’s a sensible person, although occasionally he sides with American viewpoint in India.
I agree, we have nothing in common with modern Iran. Even in the medieval ages, at best the relationship was limited to Mughal top echelons and local Muslims. Today, we have Persianized Muslims looking upto Iran. Other than religious reasons, I don’t see any reasons for us to be looking upto Iran.
IMHO, we should maintain only transactional relationship w.r.t Iran. We can dig deeper if and when the religious Iran thaws and opens up.
My go-to for Indian news is The Print run by Shekhar Gupta. Heâs a sensible person, although occasionally he sides with American viewpoint in India.
Two of us here, yay!
On a serious note, couldn’t agree more. Nothing good will come from getting stuck in the West Asian quagmire. We just have to protect our interests without trying to play the regional watch-dog.
India just has to manage energy price spikes, and wait. Iran is going to be a big supplier, the synergy is inevitable. The question is how well does India manage the over all relationship from here on.
Putting aside aspirations, India’s diminished credibility was a character issue (opportunistic behavior, bad optics, not being able to read the room). That said, they are structurally very relevant to the regional power dynamic. Culturally, 3rd largest shia population, largest zoroastrian population, A major (though recently declined) destination for Iranian students, especially for research programs. economically, a once and eventually huge purchaser of iranian crude. And militarily, the largest navy with a carrier strike force in the neighborhood, positioned quite close to the contested strait. In an eventual US pull back , India is the only plausible security guarantor from a capability perspective. That said, the leadership is timid and can’t read the room, and is terrified of getting iced-out of the US camp.
+1
India, that is Bharat, is the natural Superpower of the region. Unless Muslim countries amalgamate then perhaps there might be a difference.
Power makes everyone pragmatic.
Superpower pretensions come with costs that a still poor economy like India can ill afford. There’s a reason even China doesn’t extend itself in hot wars. There should be nothing but single-minded focus on getting richer (without becoming a US client state) till we get to at least 10k per capita GDP. Till then, we just have to maintain a defensive posture that deters Pakistan and China and nothing more.
Broadly agree but India needs to stop thinking purely in terms of economic metrics (10K per capital GDP, 10T GDP). We need these but without underlying strategic capabilities we will end up like EU, SK, JP.
exact
This was 5,400 comment on BP đ
Ayyo Shiva, there would be 100000s of people will to give an arm and leg to be on Par with EU etc.
EU is facing a demographic crisis and facing a massive cultural change. Even then there is a western aligned section of India spanning across the political spectrum. It is modern day version of clerks + traders + soldiers. The problem is that there is an upper ceiling on this model and that is being hit.
There is a time and place for both. Strategic strength and projection is downstream of economic heft, not vice-versa.
Disagree. Strategic capabilities need to be developed in parallel with economic growth. Otherwise you are vulnerable to Plaza accords or tariff threats or energy shocks. We should not venture in to needless projection.
I do not entirely disagree. I just think at this point of “gross national power”, India cannot handle power projection much beyond what we currently do. Power projection has historically been the preserve of countries with secure land borders – US, UK, Imperial Japan, USSR etc. India does not have that luxury. We are triangulated between a veritable super-power and nuclear armed rogue state who’s entire state machinery is aimed at our destruction. We can only project power once we break out of this strategic quagmire – through a detente with China or with Pakistan – neither of which is likely any time soon.
The nuclear armed rogue state just kind of low-key saved humanity from WW3?
https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/pakistan-is-a-middleman-not-a-mediator-the-perils-of-punching-above-its-weight-13998794.html
Pakistan can obviously do nothing right đ
Can you explain why you think WW3 would have started here?
We were perilously close with the worldâs most strategic strait shut for a month.
Talks failed within a day.
I am not advocating for projecting power. Just donât take open sides detrimental to our long term interests (for eg visit and delayed condolence)
+1
Don’t think we disagreed on this point at all? I completely agree that the optics and timing of Modi’s Israel visit were completely off the mark. Your original point was about developing strategic strength and XTM’s add-on was that India is the natural super power of the region. While I also don’t disagree with that, I think we are not ready yet to play that role unless we want to militarise our economy ala Erdogan and that’s something no elected leader in India can ever afford.
Those countries were neutered by the US post WWII, Korean War.
India doesn’t have the same restrictions.
10k pc GDP, 10T GDP automatically means building up of capabilities.
EU, SK, JP didn’t even have those ambitions which India has.
India at 3k pc GDP, 4.5T GDP already has lots of stuff that Jap, SK, EU does not have and that only USA, China, Russia (former USSR) have.
India very much has superpower ambitions and all that it entails.
Just realizing all those will take 25-30 years.
Even China doesn’t extend itself too much in its neighbourhood. Ofc, China’s neighbourhood is a bit more “heavyweight” compared to India’s.
Superpowering is for 25-30 years in the future when India has reached at least 0.85 HDI.
the Indian analysts and media chastising the GoI are Western Aligned section. There is an element of deflecting from American climbdown here and instead of focusing on India’s supposed irrelevance and play up Pakistan angle. A smaller scaled version of what happened in Covid.
TBH Pakistan is playing a limited role of “broker” and passing messages. It has limited leverage of opening an 2nd front on Iran’s eastern border but that comes with long term downside of having adding a 3rd hostile neighbor. The real backstop is being provided by DragonBear.
I agree there were couple of missteps by India (visit, delayed condolence) but not something unrecoverable. It is short sighted of India to see Iran as purely Islamic country and end up playing in to western + PK hands. Yes Iran has at times played along on OIC resolutions but has also collaborated on Chahbahar and INSTC. Just the possibility of closer Iran India cooperation means PK always has to keep looking over its shoulder. Heck India is now open to doing business with Taliban.
Images of the Line Houses where the Indian origin Tea Estate workers live.
a) Not much has changed since these houses were built 150+ years ago.by the British
b) The houses belong to the Tea Estate, so no incentive to upgrade by the occupants
c) A house consists of a 13×10 room and kitchen, 3 outdoor toilets for many houses
c) This particular Line is at Ohiya 1,884 meters (6000 feet) above sea. A beautiful place with access to Horton Plains National Park
Note: During the time of the Kandyan Kingdom it was forbidden to to have settlements/villages above Gampola (600m. 1500feet). The Sinhalese kings were well aware the dense forests of the mountains were responsible for the almost constant rains that fed the perennial rivers to the low lands.
When the Brits took over they cleared the forests and planted.Tea. There isn’t a single acre of mountain primeval forests left. Indentured workers from south India were brought to work on the plantation.
To this day the majority population in the mountains are of South Indian origin.
https://web.facebook.com/reel/1992677674961379
“War and Peace”
By Khurram Husain
https://www.dawn.com/news/1990101
Another Infographic from my my Tamil Nadu friend.
Grade 9-12 Enrollment in India
I was surprised that Gujarat was 61% and Madhya Pradesh 56.7%
Doesnt to bode well for future Literacy
Schooling upto 10th is compulsory in Telangana. 11th and 12th are called Junior college.
Bihar seems hopeless, many Biharis used to migrate to my hometown on the outskirts of Hyderabad. They used to work in various factories. They still do but not as many. How could a society be so numb to its people’s problems? Seems like “Bahujan parties” haven’t done much to address the gross inequality.
My mother is a government primary school teacher. She was saying that about 75% of the pupils are children of the migrants workers from U.P and Bihar. They all learn Telugu as a compulsory subject.
It is not uncommon among Gujarati and Rajasthanis to ditch schooling after 10th and jump into business. I used to have Marathi schoolmates in Hyderabad who started overseeing businesses successfully just after 10th. These were some sharp folks.. not the stupid kind!
Imho 10th is enough..for a kid who has a family business.
Please ask him as to who is winning in Tamil nadu.
“Against the Mad King”
By Sohrab Ahmari
https://unherd.com/2026/04/against-the-mad-king
Some Jaded Shah Supporters Express Regret After Scale Of US Bombing On Iran Revealed
I guess it took a while for Iran regime change supporter to realize the Israel and the US did not have their best interests in mind
âWhy did they hit bridges?â Leila asks. âWhy destroy railway lines? Why target oil depots?â She shakes her head. âHow does that help change a government?â
For anti-establishment Iranians like Leila, the contrast was shocking. âIn the span of just two months, we went from âhelp is on the wayâ to threats about the destruction of Iranian civilization,â she says. For Leila, the consequences were not only political, but personal. âI lost friends over this,â she says.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/jaded-shah-supporters-express-regret-after-scale-us-bombing-iran-revealed
True, better to handle family disputes internally. OTOH, the other side of the family is ruthless and will kill thousands of yours to keep the power and land.
What do you do ?
Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis should know this very well.
“The War Is Turning Iran Into a Major World Power”: U. of Chicago Professor Robert Pape
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecjRTJ1YVeM
Iran is putting conditions as if it was a winner in this war.
since the world loves underdogs all media is dancing to that tune, making it look like America wants peace desperately.
I feel if Iran doesn’t settle for less it will be worse off.
well technically it did..
it would have been prudent to take UAE along in this ceasefire. If was hit badly and will now permanently be in Israeli sphere.
it’s civilian flights to Tel Aviv are starting this Monday.
GCC states don’t have a lot of military might?
money wise they are strong. Lots of opportunities for indians.
My 2 paisa on why (among other reasons) the talks in Islamabad failedâŠ
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While ideological differences and geopolitical tensions are often blamed for diplomatic stalemates, the structural design of the mediation itself is frequently the hidden culprit. Success or failure can depend entirely on whether the host prioritizes the process or the spotlight. There is a profound gulf between Islamabadâs theatrics, which reduced a delicate diplomatic effort to a choreographed spectacle, and the disciplined, quiet facilitation of “master facilitators” like Norway. By examining how Norway organizes the architecture of peace versus how Pakistan approached the US-Iran talks, it becomes clear that when a mediator attempts to become the protagonist, the dialogue is destined to fail.
Effective mediation is a craft of invisibility. As the Norwegian model demonstrated during the 1993 Oslo Accords, success relies on “mediator invisibility.” By stripping away cameras, flags, and public audiences, Norway reduced “identity threat,” allowing adversaries to move from performative positional bargaining to genuine integrative problem-solving. Their philosophy was simple: “Donât look at us. Look at each other.”
In stark contrast, the recent US-Iran talks in Islamabad collapsed under the weight of “mediator narcissism.” Where Norway provided a secluded farmhouse, Pakistan provided a “Red Zone” plastered with digital billboards and national branding. This approach transformed a delicate diplomatic effort into a high-stakes publicity stunt.
The failure was inevitable because of the “audience effect.” When a host declares public holidays and curates viral hashtags, the adversaries stop negotiating and start performing for their respective constituencies. By making the mediator the story, Pakistan destroyed the essential “architecture of the table.”
Ultimately, mediation requires a grammar of secrecy and neutrality. While Norway treats peace-brokering as a long-term commitment to outcomes, Islamabad treated it as a branding exercise. As history proves, branding produces opticsâbut only invisibility produces peace.
THE ABOVE IS A COPY FROM A CERTAIN MR. SINGH, WRITING IN FACEBOOK.
NO CREDIT CLAIMED BY ME.