Never Forget, Never Forgive

Pahalgam was not merely an attack; it was a turning point. In its aftermath, Operation Sindoor ensured that justice was delivered swiftly and decisively.

In the memory of those who paid the price of brutality. NEVER FORGET, NEVER FORGIVE

Pahalgam Remembrance Day

Pahalgam was not merely a massacre, but a calculated act of violence driven by hatred.

And until the world recognises the difference, the machinery will continue to function: quietly, and always with plausible deniability.

Asif Merchant plotted assassinations in the United States. Muhammad Shahzeb Khan attempted an ISIS-inspired attack in New York. In South Korea, a Lashkar-linked operative was arrested. The geography shifts, but the origin remains stubbornly constant. This is not chaos, far from it; it is design.

Pakistan ranks at the top of the Global Terrorism Index 2026. A report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service reiterates what is already evident: Pakistan remains a base of operations for long-active terrorist networks. The export is not confined to one region.

Lashkar-e-Taiba diversifies, training cadres in maritime tactics through its so-called “water wing.” Recruitment rallies continue. So do speeches, carefully calibrated with hatred, endlessly repeated.
That’s what the cowardly Asim Munir did, days before Pahalgam. Globally, the pattern holds.

Funding now travels silently through encrypted channels, through digital wallets and cryptocurrency, as though modernity itself has been weaponised. Meanwhile, the architecture expands. Jaish-e-Mohammad recruits more broadly, even establishing a women’s wing, Jamaat-ul-Mominat.

On July 28, 2025, three Pakistani terrorists linked to the massacre were eliminated on the outskirts of Srinagar. Yet, this is not merely about one attack. It is about a system. A system where terror is outsourced. Pakistan’s use of non-state actors has not ceased; it has evolved.

TRF is no more than an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is duly recognised as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States. The timing was not accidental. The barbaric attack followed a visible trajectory of economic normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. Denial, however, is no longer plausible.

Religion became the line of life and death as the terrorists needed categories before bullets. The hands that pulled the trigger belonged to the Resistance Front, a name crafted to sound indigenous. But the mask is thin.

Pakistan Behind Pahalgam

There are moments when brutality is arranged methodically. The massacre at Pahalgam was one such moment. Twenty-six unarmed tourists, among them a foreign national, were not merely killed; they were first sorted.

Philippines casually flexing BrahMos

The Philippines brings BrahMos into Balikatan 2026 for its first simulated maritime strike, marking a new phase in its coastal defence posture.

This decision by the government seeks to build up sovereign domestic capacity, while reducing reliance on foreign underwriters, and helps ensuring uninterrupted maritime risk coverage, thereby strengthening India’s resilience in an increasingly volatile global trade environment.

During such crises, several global insurers have sharply increased premiums or have completely withdrawn their coverage, leaving Indian exporters and shipping operators exposed to heightened financial risk and operational uncertainty.

Recent geopolitical tensions and disruptions in critical shipping corridors such as the Red Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gulf of Oman have highlighted these structural vulnerabilities.

Despite this scale, the industry has remained largely dependent on international Protection and Indemnity (IGP&I) Clubs for P&I insurance, make it vulnerable to external market disruptions.

The pool will cover key maritime risks, including hull and machinery, cargo, protection and indemnity (P&I), and war risk, for Indian cargo vessels as well as international ships to Indian ports.

India’s maritime sector handles over 70% of the country’s trade by volume and nearly 95% by value.

Policies issued by insurers participating in the pool will provide an estimated underwriting capacity of ₹950 crore annually for a period of 10 years, with an option for a five-year extension.

India Sets Up Maritime Insurance Pool Amid Global Shipping Risks

In a major policy intervention by the Narendra Modi government, the Union Cabinet has approved the creation of a domestic maritime insurance pool backed by a sovereign guarantee of ₹12,980 crore.

Womp Womp, Munir.

Pakistan weeps as it confronts the quiet collapse of its own narrative, so extravagantly absurd that it convinces no one, and in the end, exists only as a spectacle for history to sit back and laugh at.

... navigating trillions of dollars in trade annually.Yet, out of all the activities that take place here, the most interesting might just be the ongoing recalibration of power, as one pacifist nation’s actions quietly start a new era. Japan, in the legacy of WW2, is a war-renouncing nation.

Counterbalance at Sea: How Japan's Re-Armament Tilts the Scales

The Pacific Ocean is the Earth’s largest and deepest ocean, covering one-third of the Earth’s surface, housing the most varied array of algae & animals, and...

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When the broader relationship is marked by persistent hostility and the erosion of trust, technical cooperation alone cannot sustain equilibrium. India's current position reflects this shift. It is not a departure from the Treaty, but a recalibration of engagement.

This idea that water cooperation can remain insulated from geopolitics sounds appealing, but it is geopolitically naive in an environment where goodwill is repeatedly undermined.

Which serious power would have done that? But India chose to. But after Pahalgam, the context in which the treaty operates has completely changed.

India, despite being the upper riparian, accepted a disproportionately smaller share of the Indus basin waters. And for decades, it honoured the agreement, even during wars. Think about that again, even during wars, India chose to keep the treaty alive and thriving.

Re-Engagement Needs Conditions, Not Assumptions

Recent commentary from Chatham House suggests that "re-engagement" is the way forward for the Indus Waters Treaty. But this framing misses a core reality: the problem is not the absence of dialogue, but the erosion of trust by Pakistan.

India’s position is simple:

- No normalcy without accountability and no cooperation without reciprocity.

The Indus Waters Treaty is not collapsing because India abandoned it. It is under strain because the foundational trust has been eroded: repeatedly and deliberately.

It must be based on:

- End of cross-border terrorism
- Respect for treaty mechanisms
- No politicisation of technical disputes

Without this, “cooperation” is just strategic naivety.