Priti Prakash
This week has thrown up a firestorm of global developments. Let’s dive into the top 5 international headlines shaking the world right now.
It began like any other flight—a quiet takeoff from Ahmedabad. But within minutes, it turned into a flaming descent into horror.
On June 12, Air India Flight AI-171, a Boeing Dreamliner en route to London, crashed straight into a college hostel complex in Ahmedabad just moments after takeoff. 241 lives onboard perished. The toll worsened as 39 people on the ground, mostly students and hospital staff, were caught in the wreckage.
Miraculously, one passenger survived, a British citizen, who now carries the trauma of watching his brother die mid-air. The crash has sparked national mourning, global aviation concern, and a fierce investigation into Air India’s maintenance claims, which oddly show the aircraft was recently overhauled and declared airworthy.
India has grounded several wide-body aircraft in the aftermath, while Boeing and GE Aerospace have launched parallel probes. This is not just a crash, this is a wake-up call for an aviation system stretched by expansion and complacency.
The shadows of war are no longer looming, they’ve arrived. And this time, it’s not through proxies, it’s a direct hit.
In the last six days, the long-simmering Israel-Iran cold war has gone red hot. Israel launched a precision bombing campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear installations and Quds Force leadership, including near Arak heavy water reactor that produces Plutonium. Iran retaliated with massive missile barrages, some hitting the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, injuring over 200 civilians.
And then came the shocker: Israel’s defense minister openly declared that assassinating Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei is now a war goal.
This is no longer brinkmanship, this is open regional warfare. The risk of drawing in Lebanon, Syria, U.S. forces in the Gulf, and even Russia is real. Humanitarian organizations are warning of medical collapse across both countries. The Middle East stands on the edge of a devastating conflagration.
From frozen ties to warm handshakes after nearly two years of diplomatic frost, New Delhi and Ottawa are talking again.
At the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, in Canada, Indian PM Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney had a quiet but firm reset in bilateral relations. This comes months after India was accused by Canada of orchestrating the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Nijjar in British Columbia.
But now, both sides are pushing the reset button. Ambassadors to be reinstated, visa services restored, and economic dialogue back on track. India made it clear: Canada is important, but trade will be driven by respect not rhetoric.
Canada’s tone has softened since Trudeau’s exit, and Carney’s economic orientation appears to favor building bridges rather than burning them. Is this a tactical truce or a permanent peace? Time will tell.
If war was a deal waiting to be made, Donald Trump says he’s the broker who keeps making it.
In a typical Trumpian flair, the former U.S. President told Fox News this week that he stopped a war between India and Pakistan, again. That’s the 15th time he’s made that claim. His rationale? Using promised trade deals as a carrot for both South Asian powers.
He went further saying, “I’m talking to Modi, I’m talking to Pakistan, we’re working something out,” suggesting he sees South Asia not just as a geopolitical zone, but a stage for his grand negotiation theatrics.
India, of course, has denied any such backchannel interventions, asserting “No third-party can mediate in our regional matters.” But that hasn’t stopped Trump from projecting himself as the ultimate peacemaker in the most volatile nuclear neighborhood in the world.
It was a lunch with layers—Trump hosting Pakistan’s military chief at the White House, uninvited, unannounced, and incredibly symbolic.
In an eyebrow-raising move, Trump hosted Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir for a private lunch, a first for any Pakistani general. Trump not only praised Munir for ending the war with India (quote unquote) but also went on to say he loves Pakistan and loves Modi.
This meeting didn’t happen in a vacuum. It took place while Israel bombs Iran, and while India eyes permanent UN Security Council membership. Munir and Trump both have confirmed they discussed Trade and long?term economic partnership, including AI, mineral wealth, and cryptocurrencies, Iran–Israel conflict and Pakistan’s strategic perspective, appreciation for Pakistan’s restraint in avoiding war with India in May. The most amusing reason, knowing Trump is, that Munir endorsed a Nobel Prize for Trump. So was the private lunch a gift for that!
The optics? Explosive. India’s Congress party blasted it as a “blow to Modi’s diplomacy” and warned of U.S. re-hyphenation of India-Pakistan—a policy New Delhi has fought hard to end.
So was Munir’s visit a Trump tactic to position Pakistan as a future ally against Iran? Or an old-school transactional diplomacy? Whatever it is it signals a sharp pivot in South Asia strategy, and it’s not one India will ignore.
As Iran descended into war, one urgent question gripped Indian families: What about our people stranded in the crossfire?
India launched Operation Sindhu, an IAF-led mission to rescue 110 Indian students and citizens trapped in Iran and the first batch of Indian citizens from Israel might be airlifted soon after they would cross over to Egypt. Flying under blackout conditions, IAF C-17s landed in hostile zones to pull civilians to safety. Nearly 10,000 citizens of India were living in Iran. Israel has around 26000 Indians.
The last six days remind us of one thing: the world is always one spark away from chaos. And every move—every handshake, every missile, every lunch—shapes what happens next.”
