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This edition of India First covers major international and regional developments. In West Asia, the ceasefire between the United States and Iran has collapsed, leading to military strikes and shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
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00:00Good evening. West Asia remains a tinderbox and the future of the Memorandum of Understanding
00:07is also being questioned now. Over the last two days, or should I say 48 hours, missiles
00:15have been flying thick and fast following US President Donald Trump's declaration that
00:20the ceasefire with Iran is over. Attempts are being made to bring the two sides back
00:26to the talking table. Behind the scenes, mediators are scrambling to revive diplomacy, but every
00:32effort is being overshadowed by fresh threats, hardening rhetoric and warnings from both Washington
00:39and Tehran. And adding to the chaos are reports from the United States that Israel shared new
00:45intelligence with Washington about an alleged Iranian plot to eliminate Donald Trump. US
00:52media reports say that intelligence was among the factors that influenced Washington's decision
00:59to launch fresh strikes. The latest escalation has also rattled global energy markets, with
01:05shipping through the Strait of Hormuz severely disrupted. Crude oil prices have climbed past
01:11the $70 barrel mark, reigniting fears over global supplies. For now, an uneasy calm hangs over West
01:21Asia. But is this merely the lull before another storm, or the fragile beginning of a return to
01:27diplomacy? India Today's War Council will be decoding the latest escalation. But first up, here's a report.
01:38Three weeks after Washington and Tehran signed the interim peace deal to end the war and reopen the
01:43Strait of Hormuz that fragile truce is unravelling fast.
01:47To me, I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum. You know what scum
01:54is?
01:54They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And they're vicious, violent people.
02:01And if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd use it. As far as I'm concerned, it's over.
02:07Iran provoked first by striking three ships passing through the Strait on the 6th and 7th of July,
02:12accusing them of transiting without its approval.
02:18Washington hit back hard, striking dozens of targets across Iran to specifically prevent Iran
02:23from weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz. An angered President Trump declared a ceasefire to be over
02:28as U.S. forces followed up with the second round of devastating airstrikes.
02:33Iran's military command has vowed a crushing response to what it calls U.S. aggression,
02:38insisting that only Iran-designated routes through Hormuz are safe passage.
02:42They run retaliated by firing on Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, triggering air defense alerts across the Gulf.
02:49According to U.S. media reports, Israel has passed Washington fresh intelligence on a new Iranian plot
02:55to assassinate Trump, deepening tensions just as the ceasefire buckles.
02:59Reportedly, Trump administration sources have noted that the United States had already been tracking
03:04a stream of related threat intelligence. Some U.S. officials suspect the Israeli report
03:09may partly be aimed at pushing Trump towards tougher military action against Iran.
03:14The U.S. leaders, they're gone. Now they have another set of leaders. They may be gone.
03:18Who knows? And you know what? I may be gone too. Because I'm their number one target.
03:24It's out all over the place. I'm their number one. Because they're scum. That's the way they act.
03:28And that's the way they've done it for 47 years. But I'm doing what's right for the country.
03:33I'm doing really what's right for the world. They have to be stopped.
03:38Amidst all the uncertainty, one thing is certain. The state of Hormuz has become an albatross around
03:43the neck of the global economy. With oil markets rattled and Gulf states under fire,
03:48the entire world is bracing for yet another oil shock.
03:51Bureau Report, India Today.
03:55And to explain the entire implication of this is India Today's war council that joins me here.
04:01Siddharth Zarabi, group editor of Business Today is here with us. Pranayapadhyay,
04:06editor of India Today Global and Sandeep Unnitan, veteran journalist right here with me.
04:11Siddharth, let's understand the state of Hormuz. What are we seeing and should we be prepared
04:15for spike in the prices of oil and oil?
04:19At the centrality of it, the conflict now, the most recent outbreak is around Iran insisting that
04:30shipping go through a certain route and lanes that it has designated and lanes over which it wants to
04:38exercise a quasi-sovereign right of passage and possibly also charge ships for transit. The US
04:46US is rejecting that and that is why there have been three ships, tankers that have been hit including
04:54a Qatari tanker and that has sent negative signals for the resumption of shipping bulk transit from the
05:02straight. So that's the core of the latest fresh breakout as we see it. It obviously has multiple
05:11consequences and those consequences and those consequences could be a repeat of what we saw
05:17in the past when this conflict originally broke out and possibly a newer dimension because remember,
05:24oil supplies pre-February, March versus what is now in stock with many nations have changed drastically.
05:33One final point, there was a lot of shipping that was happening in the dark of the night with ship
05:41transponders switched off and the US and its naval assets were helping that happen. If that continues,
05:50then the consequences may not be as stark, but if that were not to continue and if the Hormuz were
05:56to
05:56be quasi-blocked again, then we see a fresh round of economic uncertainty. You say it's quasi-blocked.
06:02What does it actually mean? The US is not officially declared a blockade. In fact,
06:08it's doing the reverse. Remember the naval blockade by the United States was a very key step in economic
06:14terms. What the US has now done is that it is protesting or rejecting Iran's attempts to control
06:21a part of the Hormuz and exercise the right of passage over it. Okay, so let me ask a more
06:28direct
06:28question to both of you here. Sandeep, is the ceasefire over? Well, Maria, that's a good question.
06:36The world's asking if the ceasefire is over, but how I see it is both Iran and the United States
06:42are
06:42caught in an unhappy marriage. Both of them are unhappy in this relationship, but they don't want to call it
06:47quits. They'll throw the kitchen sink at each other. They'll throw utensils. There's a lot of
06:52shouting and there's a lot of fighting and screaming. And as we've seen in the last couple of
06:56days, people have died. It's unfortunate. There have been attacks by both sides.
07:01But the fact is that both people need the ceasefire to continue. They want that MOU. There are enormous
07:07stakes for the United States in this. The fact that President Trump is going to a very crucial
07:13midterm elections just a few months from now. He cannot afford to lose what he's already got, which is
07:20some level of Iranian compliance to agree to the ceasefire and then after that, a peace deal.
07:26No, but with the second round of firing which has happened, is there any compliance on the Iranian side?
07:33Well, you know, it's interesting that the United States is trying to do what it did in 1988,
07:40when the new Iranian regime tried to attack tankers. The United States Navy entered. They destroyed a
07:49lot of Iranian assets. That was the end of it. It was the end of the Iran-Iraq war as
07:53well. But in 2026,
07:55the United States seems to have grossly miscalculated Iran's ability to choke the Straits of Hormuz.
08:02Iran has invested enormous resources. It's invested enormous military resources and capabilities in
08:08blockading the Strait of Hormuz to the extent that it's able to hold the United States at bay. The
08:15most powerful military the world has ever known seems to have run out of options to get the Iranians
08:21to comply. And that's the kind of standoff that we're facing. Maria, the conflict began on the 20th
08:26of February on a completely different note. It was all about Iranian nuclear weapons program, missiles.
08:32The Iranians have changed the game. They've just moved it to the Strait of Hormuz. The game has completely shifted.
08:39The world is affected because of the Strait of Hormuz.
08:41And all these developments happening in the last 48 hours, Pranay, this is coming at a time when the state
08:47of
08:48mourning is over in Iran officially with the burial of late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran has launched drone
08:57strikes on U.S. military bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. Qatar obviously was not invited for
09:07that period of mourning. Are we seeing more action from the Iranian side now that they have realized
09:15that the burial is over? Maria, I would say that taking forward the points mentioned by Siddharth and
09:23Nusandeep, let's see what exactly the situation. In past 21 days, especially after the signing up of this
09:31so-called MOU in Bergenstock of Switzerland between United States and Iran, there is an escalation trap.
09:38The entire situation is caught up into a vicious loop where neither they can exit the situation, call this entire
09:44ceasefire off and go back to war because of their own political compulsions. On the other side,
09:50there are interests involved to keep it at a certain threshold. And if you see the trajectory, this is
09:56not the first time the breach of ceasefire took place. In fact, in past 21 days, there were multiple
10:02locations where United States carried out similar military action in response to so-called Iran
10:08targeting some cargo vessels. And as Siddharth mentioned that United States is encouraging many
10:14commercial vessels to pass the state of Hormuz, openly defy the so-called enforcement of PGSA,
10:21Persian Gulf Strait Authority, imposed or established by the Iranian authority or Iran.
10:27And in fact, what United States is trying to do here, United States is trying to encourage other
10:32partners. And I think the major miscalculation by the U.S. military or White House was that they thought
10:39that eventually they will drag or they will make other partners, be the Gulf countries or be the
10:44European partners, to get engaged and make it a multinational effort against Iran, which did not
10:49happen. If you see these Gulf countries, despite sustaining so many losses and targeting of their
10:57establishments, they did not get into this conflict directly. And here, United States is trying to make
11:03them feel that unless you get into this conflict, then there is going to be more threats coming
11:09towards your side. But Siddharth, is this entire situation causing concern in the energy market?
11:15Or would you say that with the MOU still in place and the indications are that both sides are keen
11:23on
11:23ensuring that this MOU is respected in letter and spirit, the energy market is not reacting much to
11:30Donald Trump's words. A full-fledged conflict, once again, does not serve President Trump's
11:37political objectives back home. I think that's very plain reading. But to your specific question
11:42on the impact on energy, look at it this way. Prior to the conflict breaking out earlier this year,
11:49close to 60 to 70 percent of our crude oil transited through this strait. That has now come down to
11:57between 20 to 30 percent. What that means is we are diversifying our crude oil supplies. We were never
12:03purchasing in any case from one geography. And we are now purchasing it from all over the world.
12:09Russian crude oil still accounts for nearly half of our crude oil imports. The situation is different
12:15when it comes to gas. 90 percent is still concentrated in supply terms from this region. So crude oil,
12:21one permanent feature that I see, Maria, is that our and many other countries, but just for our
12:31particular case, our strategy of sourcing crude has now permanently changed. We will not remain exposed to
12:39a situation where, you know, maybe two thirds of our supply is coming from one particular geography.
12:45That world is over. We will diversify. U.S. sanctions will, of course…
12:51Sirajad, are there credible bypass routes as well? Because the escalation in the crude oil prices are not
12:57to the level of say about 200 dollar per barrel, which was, you know, being estimated at certain point
13:03of time. And they have managed to keep it at certain optimal level. How did it happen?
13:06You know, that's a very good point. The last point first. Did we see a repeat of what we have
13:13seen
13:13several decades ago in the sense that West Asia was able to hold the world hostage due to crude oil
13:20pricing? That is no longer the case. So that is a fundamental change. There are other suppliers.
13:27Venezuelan sour grade crude is back on the market. Russian crude oil is still flowing despite everything.
13:34And even if Russian crude oil were to be stopped from flowing all across the world, it will still
13:41flow into China. That the United States cannot… But then what is the leverage that Iran still
13:47have? The leverage is that narrow state of water, the military ability to strike at will, to hit the
13:55engine room of a Qatari oil tanker so much so that it had to be evacuated, the crew had to
14:01be evacuated.
14:01Please understand after four months plus and of so many claims being made, Sandeep, step in on that
14:08in terms of the so-called alleged degradation of the Iranian, the Farsi state's military capabilities.
14:16I am zapped. If you are able to take out the engine room of a Qatari oil tanker despite so
14:21much military
14:22presence and forward deployment of the United States, then hello, they can end up doing anything.
14:29A very important aspect of this conflict, Maria, is the fact that, just to take forward the point
14:33that Siddharth made, is the fact that there are seven choke points in the world. Iran today dominates
14:39three of them, right? It has the entire Arabian Peninsula in a bag. It can literally attack. There is
14:46no spot in the Arabian Peninsula. And that geography cannot change.
14:49Geography cannot change. So, while there is a lot of talk about the Gulf states, particularly Saudi
14:54Arabia and the UAE, diversifying their oil, the crude oil, they are putting down a lot of metal.
15:01Pipelines are now going to go into the Red Sea, they are going to diversify away from the state of
15:06hormones. But the fact is that geography does not permit them to take it beyond a particular range of Iranian
15:12missiles.
15:12I mean, on this point, that if you see the incident of ever lovely Singapore flagship,
15:17even after that and after this Qatari ship incident, every time United States is hitting
15:22at the entire coastline of Iran. And this time, especially, they have hit certain targets deep
15:27inside. In fact, targeting of the Iran-China rail link is also there. What US is trying to convey in
15:35terms of the military strategy here? But you know, so Pranay, what they're trying to do is to basically
15:39degrade the Iranian regime's capability to attack shipping to, you know, project power across the
15:45region. But the fact is that Iran retains its missile capabilities, its drone capabilities,
15:50all of that is untouched. It's, in fact, being revived even as we speak. There have been,
15:55you know, estimates of those factories have started producing missiles.
15:58In fact, New York Times reports that almost 80 to 90 percent of the capability is still intact.
16:03Yes. So if it has been replenished, Iran has sent a diplomatic message of near victory.
16:10Yes. Politically and domestically, they are completely in control. Shah, you know,
16:16Reza Pahlavi is still watching and he has been hoping for some kind of rebellion that hasn't happened.
16:23So what are we seeing now? We're seeing a regime that's deeply entrenched in Iran. And the
16:29the fundamental mistake that the United States and Israel made was to look at this conflict in purely
16:35military terms. Whereas what the Iranians have done is to escalate horizontally and vertically.
16:41They've gone into the political thing. They've gone into the economy. They've started hitting
16:45economic targets around there. They've run a pretty smart strategy, if you can call it that,
16:51for the limited resources that they had. They struck very hard at this. And this is something that
16:55what we call India, out of syllabus questions. I mean, Iran has got legitimacy in this war.
17:01You know, and they have managed to ensure that they managed to sell their story.
17:07Let's look at it from a broader perspective. Two conflicts that are running in parallel,
17:13and they started after COVID continue. The Russia-Ukraine war grinds on.
17:22Nothing has succeeded in drawing a full closure there. Even if you attack once,
17:28that conflict is still on. Russia was supposed to have been a massive military superpower that would
17:35have, you know, the tanks should have rolled in and taken over Ukraine in a matter of days.
17:40None of that happened. Similarly, the United States, which is still the world's preeminent military power,
17:47no other country has the forward deployment capability, the global reach to deploy within
17:53a matter of hours, a substantial expeditionary task force. I think no other country has that ability.
17:59If it is in this kind of quagmire, where one drone, one stray missile, one loitering
18:07munition can bring everything to a standstill, I would say that the age of one superpower being
18:15able to dominate the world in military terms is perhaps changed. Warfare is changing.
18:21And its consequences in terms of beyond economics. I have concentrated on the economic part of it.
18:29But there is a much bigger and deeper lesson that I hope that Indian military and strategic planners are
18:36already looking at. Because we are also in a hot spot. We have unfriendly, hostile, troublesome neighbors.
18:45And consequently… And we have vital interest there in the tradition.
18:48And yes. And our choke points in our terms of our import dependencies and the import burden that the
18:55Indian economy has have not substantially changed. Just recently, Maria, we dedicated an entire issue
19:01at Business Today to India's import dependencies. It is a scary picture. And I think the bigger
19:07leap that we have to make is to derisk ourselves in supply terms from these ongoing conflicts.
19:14You know, Prime Minister Modi was in Australia recently, did that agreement on uranium. Now,
19:21that agreement has been around since 2014. But today, you've got an urgency. You want to diversify
19:26your energy basket as well. You want to go to that 100 gigawatt target by 2050. And nuclear energy
19:32plays a very vital role in that. And even the appeal Prime Minister made regarding, you know,
19:37managing your foreign exchange, you know, reducing your import bill, because that is becoming a rising
19:43concern. But if you, you know, I would like to add, and I think, you know, Sandeep and Siddharth may
19:48add to
19:49it, that this entire situation does not leave world in a more safer way. Rather, it has complicated
19:57the situation. In fact, the West Asia conflict, Iran has not won this war very decisively, or you can say
20:04that the war has settled. Send a message of victory. It has rather unsettled the entire region.
20:08Yes. Because the way UAE has…
20:10If the West is in disarray, and we are not saying it, it is Western analysts themselves who are sort
20:15of
20:15agonizing over this fact. I believe that the loss of… It has rather activated the four lines.
20:21The moral loss for the United States as a nation that at least wants to, people may not agree,
20:29was believed to be a force for good, was believed to be a force for global peace through its aid,
20:36was believed to be a force for eradicating poverty. And look at the rollbacks that Trump has done,
20:42not just in terms of these shock military tactical decisions and surprises and what I call war by tweets,
20:51but through all of that. So, the decline of the West and what will replace it is a bigger medium
20:58to
20:58longer term question. And for India, I personally fear a situation where we have to live with the
21:07Chinese hegemon. And that Chinese hegemon is not thousands of miles away from us. It's right over
21:14there over our shoulders. So, let's start wrapping up this conversation and I'm going to begin with you,
21:18Pranay. What does this fragile peace right now indicate particularly to the GCC and the Islamic nations?
21:28As far as the GCC nations are concerned, they are kind of caught in a situation because they hosted
21:33all these US military bases as a security guarantee. That's not right. And that security cover is
21:39blown off now. Yes. And the threat from Iran is very real. They have seen those pictures and people
21:45in these Emirates and these sheikdoms have seen. And it is very difficult and a very challenging thing.
21:52They wanted, they have given ample time for United States and even Israel.
21:55That the umbrella has multiple holes in it. Absolutely. And now they are more worried and
22:01the very fracture by United Arab Emirates exiting that OPEC has its own repercussions and its own
22:10fallouts. And now, as I mentioned, that it leaves that entire region more vulnerable and the fault lines
22:16are more active now. Okay, but Siddharth, what does it do to the Dubai dream?
22:23Or the UAE dream? The Abu Dhabi dream? Okay, we've been holding multiple conversations and
22:28many of those conversations are right there on Business Today for people to see. I think there
22:33was a decline. A lot of the expats, temporary expats left back. Perhaps human reaction in a conflict
22:41zone. I think some amount of confidence is coming back. But in my most recent conversations, I think
22:48the sense is that perhaps another quarter or so, but it all is contingent upon this fragile peace and
22:57fragile truce actually holding. I don't believe there will be a permanent ceasefire because too much
23:05has changed for a permanent ceasefire to come in. As long as a fragile peace holds, there is no active
23:13exchange in military terms, then it's fine. Otherwise, the situation will remain a little bit rocky.
23:22So, will the investments and the hope of Dubai and Abu Dhabi continue? Will expats still choose
23:30those two countries? All in the past five years alone, any sort of out of expectation event,
23:37whether it was COVID, whether it was Russia, Ukraine, or whether this West Asia crisis,
23:44it leads to what is called de-risking by global corporations, and they look for alternative
23:50geographies. I can tell you for sure, I have been having these conversations that the Jebel Ali
23:56free trade zone, for example, when executives saw that for four months their containers have remained
24:06stuck there and they have lost thousands of dollars per day, they're all looking at alternatives.
24:12For India specifically, a faster development of alternative, similar trade zone. I personally believe
24:21that we should have perhaps said, hey, listen, three of our ports are free trade zones. Come to India, Habibi.
24:30Okay, but which is this alternate? When you say that if they are moving and they are trying to de
24:36-risk,
24:36which is this alternate place? You know, we have a blessed geography. Look at the coastline that India has.
24:41It's not been exploited. I only have to say that. And you know, it's tragic. This is not an
24:47environmental debate, but it is tragic that the strategic imperative and commercial significance of
24:54what is being attempted in Nekobar, for example, is being drowned out by a very partisan debate. I agree
25:02there should be a debate on the environmental consequences, but it is very partisan. We have to
25:07take a long-term view. But I think the government is going ahead because you see the development of
25:11the Sabang port and complement each other. And also, I think that is also to secure
25:17the important choke points which Sandeep mentioned because that is there, that is at the beginning of
25:23the Malacca Strait. And that is very important if India and Indonesia both…
25:27I just hope that the shipbuilding both on the commercial and the naval side plus the commercial
25:34port development by state as well as private entities really take off. It will take a few years,
25:41but that will fundamentally alter the situation and give us the benefit of a geography that the
25:50Almighty has blessed us with.
25:51Okay. Sandeep, you get the last word. It's an unhappy marriage, visibly.
25:56Yes.
25:56But will this marriage stay? I think both partners are heavily invested in this. The Iranians need
26:03this peace deal. They have actually, while they have outmaneuvered the United States, they have
26:08stalemated them, they cannot take a further battering of the kind that they have been hit
26:13with in the last couple of months. They need a way out. They need an honorable exit. That's what they're
26:18looking at, this MOU and then eventually some kind of a peace deal to be worked out. Trump as well
26:23needs this. He needs this because he's looking at his midterms. Literally, his political survival
26:29depends on not fighting this unending war which he promised he would never get the United States into.
26:36Opinion polls at home show that this is not a very popular war. Americans don't care. There's
26:42inflation that's rising. This one reason both sides have a compulsion to continue with this MOU,
26:48despite all those disagreements that they may have.
26:50Okay, so this is a fragile peace, but both sides will have to continue with this MOU.
26:56Sandeep Unitan, Sadha Zarabi and Pranev Padi, I really appreciate your time and thank you to this
27:01war council with subject experts who understand all the ramifications much better than most.
27:07The politics over the Ram Mandir Chandachori is heating up even as the probe continues to uncover who
27:14betrayed the faith of millions of devotees. Speaking in Ayodhya, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
27:20launched a sharp attack on the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, accusing them of using the
27:25donation theft controversy to malign the entire Hindu faith. Meanwhile, the Temple Trust has taken
27:32another corrective step. It has deactivated the digital IDs of former General Secretary Champat
27:39Rai and Trustee Anil Mishra, along with former special invitee Gopal Rao. The investigators suspect
27:47that these IDs were allegedly misused to generate VIP passes indiscriminately. Take a look at this report.
27:59With each passing day, the probe into the Ram Mandir Chandachori case is intensifying.
28:07Investigators continue to unearth more proceeds of the crime. In the latest development, police have
28:13recovered a car and gold items, including a chain and pendant from the residence of accused Anukalp Mishra.
28:22As per sources, the vehicle was registered in the name of the accused and was allegedly purchased using
28:29money stolen from temple funds.
28:34This belongs to Ravinder Kumar, son of Rajinder Kumar. Other details, address follows here and dates
28:41and everything out over here. So the big point is how a person who earns 13 to 15,000 a
28:47month
28:48can purchase swift desire car.
28:53Meanwhile, heat on former General Secretary of Temple Trust, Champat Rai,
28:57and other key members continue. Sources also informed India today that the temple trust has
29:04deactivated the digital IDs of Champat Rai, Anil Mishra and Gopal Rao.
29:10The IDs were allegedly misused to generate VIP passes indiscriminately and have been blocked to curb
29:17irregularities in the issuance of passes.
29:22Amid mounting scrutiny, the trust is preparing to implement wide-ranging changes to the temple's
29:28administrative functioning. Sources added that the proposed trust meeting on July 22nd
29:34is expected to give final approval to the new administrative arrangements.
29:42Meanwhile, in his visit to the Holy City, today, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath lashed out at the
29:48opposition for what he termed their fake bhakti towards Hindu faith.
30:17The opposition on the other hand has targeted the yogi government over the probe,
30:22raising
30:23questions about its credibility.
30:50The matter of faith has now reached the Supreme Court. A three-judge bench headed by
30:55CGI Surya Kant is scheduled to take up the case on Monday.
31:00With Samarit Srivastava, Bureau Report, India Today.
31:08For the first time since the tragic stampede at his rally claimed 41 lives,
31:13Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay visited Karoor.
31:17The TVK chief has announced a memorial for the victims and promised government jobs to their families,
31:22say he will never abandon them.
31:26Vijay also targeted his political opponents, the DMK, accusing them of politicizing the Karoor tragedy
31:32and trying to score political points over the loss of lives before the elections.
31:38Here's a report.
31:41The police department is in Odia, Manamaran and Nandrigal.
31:47Nine months ago, Karoor was rocked by a tragedy.
31:50A stampede claimed 41 innocent lives, leaving behind grieving families and unanswered questions.
31:57The victims had gone to see the cinema idol and newly launched politician,
32:02Talapati Vijay, who had called a public rally.
32:06On Friday, C. Joseph Vijay, now the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, returned to Karoor to stand with those who
32:12had lost their loved ones.
32:14Dressed in all black as a mark of mourning, Vijay paid tribute to the victims of the September 2025 tragedy.
32:21The TVK announced a memorial in honor of those who never returned home.
32:50But the visit also turned political.
32:53Vijay hit out at the DMK over the tragedy.
32:56The police got recently,
33:01And the police at the scene,
33:04And he said,
33:05About the first time.
33:05Of all the details are very important in the city itself.
33:07Why? Why?
33:08You must come when you talk about the police?
33:11Let's talk about the police?
33:12The police, the police revealed.
33:16That's an honor.
33:19The police, the police, the police and the police thing.
33:25The police and police,
33:27The Chief Minister then widened his attack, accusing the DMK and the Airdmk of corruption.
34:08He also responded to the poaching allegations made against his party.
34:43Away from the political rhetoric, Vijay met the families of those who have spent the last nine months learning to
34:49live with an irreplaceable loss.
35:02The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister reportedly even broke down while meeting the families of the victims.
35:08Every small thing, whether it is a support or a criticism, will again and again revoke the same emotion in
35:14the people who are affected, people who are supporting them.
35:17So even one point of time, the Chief Minister has completely broken.
35:21The biggest talking point of the visit, however, was the government's decision to hand over job appointment letters to the
35:27families of the 32 Stampede victims.
35:30The move reached the courts before it reached the beneficiaries.
35:34The Madras High Court rejected a plea challenging the appointments.
35:37Another petition was filed before the Madurai bench, but the court allowed the government to proceed,
35:42observing that offering jobs was akin to providing exgracia and declining to interfere in a policy decision.
35:48Yet the decision drew sharp criticism from the opposition.
36:11Even as the CPIM, part of the ruling alliance, voiced its opposition to the appointments.
36:39Politics may dominate the headlines, but the biggest question remains unanswered still.
36:44Who was responsible for the tragedy that claimed 41 innocent lives?
36:56From Diplomacy to the gentleman's game, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his Australia visit with a stop at one
37:03of cricket's most iconic venues,
37:05the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, accompanied by his counterpart, Anthony Albanese.
37:12Prime Minister Modi met Australian cricket legends, interacted with young players, paid tribute to Shane Warne and celebrated the shared
37:21sporting passion that binds India and Australia.
37:24And beyond the optics, the wizard underscored how cricket has become a powerful pillar of people-to-people ties, complementing
37:33the growing strategic partnership between the two nations.
37:37Take a look.
37:50Cricket has once again taken centre stage in India-Australia ties.
37:56In 2023, Anthony Albanese had joined Prime Minister Modi for a memorable lap of honour at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium.
38:03This magnificent stadium in front of a huge crowd.
38:08Today, the roles were reversed.
38:10After a day of deals, dosti and diplomacy, it was the gentleman's game that once again stole the spotlight on
38:16the second and final day of Prime Minister Modi's Australia visit.
38:19This time, he experienced the Australian cricketing hospitality as he stepped into one of the sport's most hallowed venues, the
38:26iconic Melbourne Cricket Grounds.
38:31Accompanied by his Australian counterpart, Alvin Neasy, Prime Minister Modi met budding cricketers,
38:37signed their jerseys,
38:39interacted with young players
38:42and even shared a light-hearted high-five with Australia's international mascot, Ruby the Root.
39:13The Prime Minister then paid tribute to Australian cricket legend Shane Vaughan.
39:17At the stand named in his honour.
39:22He also met former Australian captain Steve Vaughan and surprised him with a nearly two-decade-old photograph
39:27from their meeting when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
39:32Prime Minister Modi later met Australian women's captain Lisa Stalekar
39:36before joining his Australian counterpart for a photo-op at the Sir Donald Bradman cover-drive statue,
39:41a fitting tribute to one of the game's greatest icons.
39:45And in a major boost to cricketing ties,
39:47it was announced that the Big Bash League match will also be staged in India.
40:13Today I announced that Australia will bring the Big Bash League to India for the first time.
40:19The season opener for this summer's Big Bash between the Melbourne Renegades and the Perth Scorchers
40:25will be played in Chennai on Saturday the 12th of December.
40:30And it will kick off a week-long G'day Namaste Festival of Australian Sport, Culture and Business Engagement.
40:43With India preparing to host the Commonwealth Games and bidding for the Olympics,
40:46Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that New Delhi and Canberra can learn from each other's experience
40:51in sports administration, infrastructure and nurturing sporting talent.
40:56From 2036 to the Olympics, you will be glad to host the main event for a third time.
41:06In 2022, the Olympics will be displayed in the early future in the early future.
41:34The Prime Minister also welcomed Australia's landmark decision to
41:38bark children under the age of 16 from accessing social media calling it an
41:43important step towards ensuring a safer and healthier digital future for the
41:47next generation.
41:50I am always following you together and also in the world of IT and social media, in which
42:01you are changing the rules and working to save the society, it is very inspiring for the world.
42:16With cricket diplomacy adding another memorable chapter to the India-Australia partnership,
42:22Prime Minister Modi wrapped up his engagements in Melbourne and landed in New Zealand, the
42:27third and final stop of his three-nation tour.
42:33After reinforcing strategic ties in Indonesia and celebrating a shared love for cricket
42:38in Australia, the Prime Minister now turns his focus to Auckland, where the final leg of
42:42his diplomatic outreach is set to begin.
42:45And that brings me to the last story on India First tonight.
42:54The Pakistan-Afghanistan border remains tense following deadly airstrikes and escalation
42:59in the conflict.
43:00Residents living along the disputed Durand line say they continue to live in fear, worried
43:07that another round of bombing could come without warning.
43:11India Today's Mir Farid travelled to Chamkani village in Afghanistan's Pakhtia province, one
43:19of the worst hit locations in the June 28th strikes, where locals accused Pakistan of targeting
43:26civilians in the name of counter-terror operations.
43:30Here is his ground report from the Durand line.
43:34I'm leaving you with this.
43:35Thanks so much for watching.
43:38It's a world exclusive.
43:40India Today team, the only news crew who has managed to come this close to the Durand
43:45line.
43:46The flash point, the tension point, which has ensured escalation in hostilities between
43:51Pakistan and Afghanistan.
43:53But before I touch that, behind me, the devastation you're seeing, this is ground zero.
44:00On 29th of June, this place literally woke up to thunderous sounds.
44:08It was around 9.30pm late night and there was a massive blast.
44:15And as locals came in, it was an aerial strike and 26 people, mostly children and women.
44:24This was basically also confirmed by the Taliban government.
44:28They were killed.
44:29But more importantly, this was a strike like none in the past.
44:35Because while this strike happened, as the locals came in to check what had happened, launch
44:40a rescue operation, the second aerial strike happens and there are more casualties.
44:46Taliban government rallied it.
44:48Next day, there was a drone strike against targets inside Pakistan.
44:53So clearly, this location they're seeing is still the damage for everyone to see.
45:01Locals we spoke to say that this was a house where there were women, children, and this
45:07had nothing to do with terror activity.
45:10Pakistan has a different version.
45:12Even day after the Karachi attack where a ranger position was targeted, they again blamed
45:18Afghanistan.
45:19The Taliban government were harboring TTP elements, the splinter group.
45:24And according to them, it was here that the plot was hatched.
45:27But ground reality is obviously different.
45:30Local version is different.
45:31They say there were locals, there were children, and there were civilians.
45:36And this was not a non-combatant target.
45:39But as we came to this location, one can clearly feel the tension.
45:46A lot of tension around, a lot of Taliban troop movement.
45:50The positions around have been fortified and the guns are locked and loaded.
45:56Clearly, while since there has been no further incident, but it's only a matter of time.
46:02One can feel that the garment here is also on the edge.
46:08And they have made it clear that if there is more aggression from Pakistan, they will retaliate
46:13in equal measure.
46:15Once more, I'll just give you a glimpse of what really happened here and the kind of damage.
46:23You can clearly see we really went inside.
46:26There were household items that were absolutely destroyed.
46:30There were mattresses.
46:31There were clothes that were really scattered all around.
46:35And that obviously really backs the version of the locals that this was not a terror target.
46:43But as I said, tension still on the edge.
46:46And it seems here, it's only a matter of time before there is escalation again on the Durand Line.
46:52And while no one knows what really would lead to that, but definitely a lot of tension here.
46:58Things on the edge here on the Durand Line between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
47:04Meet Fareed, Shamkhani Durand Line for India today.
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