Concerns now from specific Indian states (Kerala & Punjab) about the welfare of their citizens in the Gulf & pressuring the Indian government to evacuate stranded workers indianexpress.com/article/citi...

Opinion: Two wrongs don’t make a right in the Iran war U.S. administration has no apparent plan for the complicated day after in Iran, and its people deserve better

As I argue in this piece, "Iranians deserve far better than the regime that has ruled them. They deserve equally better than an intervention that treats their future as an afterthought."

www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti...

Problem remains of lack a clear vision & contingency plan on how to protect Indians in West Asia based on India’s new key partnerships. Were these concerns discussed in Israel this week, whether it is about workers in Israel or in broader region if conflict w Iran escalates?

'There is panic all around': Keralites in West Asia describe life under uncertainty as Iran vows more attacks THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thousands of Malayali families across the Gulf found themselves bracing for uncertainty amid sirens and sleepless nights after Iran retaliat

One of various reasons India wanted to prevent an escalation: its 9 million diaspora in West Asia, a majority living in the GCC. 'There is panic all around': Keralites in West Asia describe life under uncertainty as Iran vows more attacks www.newindianexpress.com/states/keral...

That + 6 accounts on polymarket made around $1 million in profit by betting on the US to strike Iran by Feb. 28. Accounts were all freshly created in Feb and had only ever placed bets on this

bloom.bg/3ORPnBo

En visite en Israël, le premier ministre indien affiche son soutien à l’Etat hébreu A l’issue de la visite de Narendra Modi, mercredi et jeudi, dans l’Etat hébreu, une série de protocoles d’accord ont été signés dans de nombreux domaines. L’opposition indienne s’est insurgée contre c...

Cited in @lemonde.fr yesterday on PM Modi’s visit to Tel Aviv: “Modi’s presence in Tel Aviv this week cannot be seen as a simple routine visit: it is perceived as an important geopolitical signal”, even more after today’s events in Iran… www.lemonde.fr/internationa... @polscileiden.bsky.social

Update from David E. Sanger

“While President Trump recited a litany of Iranian attacks on American interests back to the hostage crisis during the Carter administration, he made little effort to argue that any immediate threat had prompted the latest U.S. and Israeli strikes.” www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

And then there were none.

Apart from an Air India that didn't get the memo.

IR/CP/African politics colleagues with recent PhDs: PostDoc position (2 years) on government and community responses to jihadi insurgencies in the Sahel (special focus on Mali), based at Leiden University (Campus The Hague). The deadline is 26 March 2026 careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Postdoct...

@polscileiden.bsky.social

« il n’est pas certain que Modi accueille positivement une invitation dans une alliance que les analystes indiens voient comme un piège idéologique, susceptible de compromettre la position d’équilibre diplomatique traditionnelle de l’Inde dans un Moyen-Orient déchiré par ses contradictions »

Visite du Premier ministre indien Narendra Modi en Israël: un piège diplomatique? Le Premier ministre indien, Narendra Modi, arrive le mercredi 25 février en Israël pour une visite de deux jours. Derrière « l’amitié durable » et une coopération bilatérale florissante en matière de…

I shared some more thought on Modi;s visit to Israel, en français for @rfi.fr « Une très grande incertitude a entouré ce déplacement jusqu’à la dernière minute, comme le traduit la décision des Indiens d’attendre la veille de la visite pour l’annoncer officiellement » www.rfi.fr/fr/asie-paci...

Text: ISA-SAWP Colombo 2026 "South Asia in a Changing International Order" 6-8 August 2026 Colombo, Sri Lanka Submission Deadline: 2 March Image: photo of Colombo, ISA logo

Reminder: Proposals for the ISA‑SAWP 2026 Conference, South Asia in a Changing International Order, are due 2 March.
The conference meets 6–8 August at the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo.
Details: buff.ly/k96ewHT

YouTube video by Carnegie Endowment India’s Pivot in the Middle East | Grand Tamasha

And for a shorter account, there is this Grand Tamasha podcast I did with @milanv.bsky.social soon after the October 7 attacks www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR0p...

As PM Modi arrives in Israel, below is a brief take on the implications of the visit, especially its timing. For more historical context on the relationship, 2 sources: a more comprehensive historical context is available in my @oxfordunipress.bsky.social book: global.oup.com/academic/pro... 1/2

@polscileiden.bsky.social

I am also honored to have been interviewed by @npr.org yesterday (even if for a very brief comment) on the Modi visit to Israel (more on my thoughts in the article below) www.npr.org/2026/02/24/n... many thanks to @diaahadid.bsky.social

Happy to announce the 1st ever @isanet.bsky.social conference in South Asia in August 2026. Hosted in Colombo, Sri Lanka, we welcome proposals from scholars based in and/or studying South Asian politics & international relations, but also broader global themes ofc www.isanet.org/Conferences/...

“timing is not incidental. It can be understood as an expression of greater confidence in navigating a turbulent region. It remains to be seen how the multiple global, regional and domestic audiences will perceive the optics of a Modi-Netanyahu embrace at this crucial juncture”

India “maintains political links with the Palestinian leadership and has hosted the Arab League summit in New Delhi as recently as January 2026. In addition, India still does not formally designate Hamas as a terrorist organisation — a deliberate distinction that preserves diplomatic flexibility”

“India’s Middle East policy has never been zero-sum. Even as defence cooperation with Israel has deepened, it has simultaneously expanded ties w UAE, KSA & maintained economic ties w Iran until recently. It continues to rely on Gulf states for energy security,diaspora employment, & investment flows”

“Some observers may interpret the visit as evidence that India is drifting away from its long-standing multi-alignment strategy toward a more explicit alignment with Israel. That reading is too simplistic”

Timing of PM Modi’s visit to Israel displays India’s confidence in navigating a combustible region The Middle East is once again on edge, with a visible US military build-up aimed at Iran. Maritime security in the Red Sea remains fragile and directly affects Indian commercial interests

As Indian PM Modi is visiting Israel today for only the second time, and at very turbulent moment in West Asia, I write about the implications of the timing of the Modi-Bibi embrace indianexpress.com/article/opin... @polscileiden.bsky.social

Remember that time the Pentagon's National Defense Strategy declared that the US had "obliterated Iran's nuclear program"? That was **checks notes** January 23, less than 30 days ago.

As America prepares to launch a war of choice against Iran, I'm reminded of the good old days of Nov 2025 when the National Security Strategy preached the importance of a "focused definition of the national interest" and the need to "set a high bar for what constitutes a justified intervention." 🧐

Always a tweet...

Deadline for paper/panel submission for the 1st ever @isanet.bsky.social conference in South Asia has been extended (March 2)! And we are working on resolving the technical problems with submission asap. More on the conference 👇

Once again

Maria Amjad's new article argues that a systematic analysis of the rebel organization using the framework of Historical Institutionalism (HI) is best suited to understand the variation in rebel commitment to peace processes.

You can read it here: t1p.de/chd2l

mariaamjad.bsky.social