Commentary: GE2025 cements Workers’ Party as Singapore’s leading opposition party

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SDP AND PSP LACKLUSTRE Effects

SDP and PSP both expressed sorrow with their lower-than-expected performances as they moved up the ranks. Dr. Paul Tambyah’s voting share in Bukit Panjang SMC dropped 7.7 %. Since GE2020, the PAP’s Liang Eng Hwa’s surface activities have contributed to this damage. Mr. Liang seized the position’s presidency benefits and worked the ground to turn votes in the PAP’s favor.

That makes Dr. Chee Soon Juan’s performance extraordinary, winning by almost 47 % when he faced off for the first time at Sembawang West SMC against Poh Li San. Dr. Chee may be on the verge of becoming an NCMP or MP in the upcoming GE.

PSP at West Coast-Jurong West GRC, who cited restored restrictions as the main factor in its decline, suffered the most from the sorrow. Every election has a” known unfamiliar” that can have an impact on vote share, regardless of whether it is contested.

It is interesting why Tan Cheng Bock, Leong Mun Wai, and Hazel Poa’s A-team did not receive more than 40 % of the vote. Was the Biden issue, in which old age is taken into account, influence voters ‘ opinions of Mr. Tan? Were electors turned off by Mr. Leong’s antagonism in parliament?

While we examine how voters perceive the PSP, we cannot deny the PAP’s achievement in West Coast-Jurong West GRC and the “anchor secretary effect” provided by National Development Minister Desmond Lee. His agency’s most recent HDB plan modifications may include stifled PSP criticisms in this regard.

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Commentary: AI is taking entry-level jobs. Who will train the next generation of workers?

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THE EQUITY QUEST is a challenge

This change has a particular impact on students and young people from less affluent backgrounds. &nbsp,

Prior to now, on-the-job education had helped level the playing field. However, those without industry contacts face significant obstacles if entry-level jobs now demand pre-existing experience without providing teaching opportunities.

This is already being seen in rising expectations for portfolios and paid internships. In Singapore, 68 percent of young employment seekers reported that apprenticeship experience is now viewed as “essential” rather than “preferred” for entry-level positions, according to a survey conducted by the 2024 National Youth Council.

We filter both the richness and depth of potential skills when only those who can “fake it” with AI equipment or safe mentorship through private networks are considered hireable.

A STRUCTURED Alternative

Singapore might take the initiative of launching a nationwide apprenticeship program that is based on the SGUnited Traineeships program from COVID-19 but redesigned for the AI era.

Such a strategy might include:
Give 12 to 24 month paid placements for new graduates, polytechnicians, and ITE students.
• Emphasise AI-augmented job with true mentoring &nbsp, &nbsp, &nbsp
Include structured opinions, not only important performance measures to strike;
• Recognize and honor senior staff ‘ contributions to shaping coming talent by explicitly encouraging them to do so;

Similar programs have produced encouraging results in other nations. Youth unemployment rates in Germany are 5.7 %, which is significantly below the European Union average of 14.5 percent. &nbsp,

The SkillsFuture Earn and Learn program in Singapore has a 93 % job placement level in technical fields. It is time to apply this achievement to other areas of knowledge. &nbsp,

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Better coverage, but exploited for crime? Southeast Asia confronts Starlink internet dilemma

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CAUTION IN INDONESIA 

Indonesia faces similar issues. 
 
About a-fifth of the population in the vast archipelago lacks adequate internet access, according to the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association.  
 
But while the Indonesian government welcomed Starlink to the country and granted business licences in May last year, analysts say it remains wary about allowing the company to fill the gaps. 
 
It is currently unclear how many Starlink devices are operational in Indonesia and the company’s initial investment was modest at US$1.8 million. 
 
Still, with Musk in attendance, Starlink launched with fanfare in Bali with a project to connect medical centres to fast internet service. In at least one centre though, the service was disabled shortly after due to an apparent unstable connection. 
 
There is pressure from traditional telecom companies on the government to ensure the playing field is even after decades of investing in an infrastructure network that could be made redundant by Musk’s satellites, said Karl Gading Sayudha, an analyst who focuses on defence, security and international relations at Kiroyan Partners, a Jakarta-based consulting firm. 
 
“These telecommunication providers have invested billions of rupiah. So they are questioning the government’s effort and government’s responsibility to make sure that this will be a fair game,” he said.

“They are asking for the government to regulate this before it goes too far.” 
 
The Indonesian Internet Service Provider Association urged the government in the middle of last year to freeze Starlink’s licence, because it had “the potential to disrupt the sustainability and independence of the local ISP industry”, said its chairman, Muhammad Arif Angg. 
 
Telkom, Indonesia’s state-owned telecom giant, and the Indonesian Telecommunications Providers Association have also called for a level playing field in terms of regulations. 
 
Starlink “may appear aggressive” to these companies, causing them to feel insecure about how Starlink might expand, said Darynaufal Mulyaman, a lecturer at the International Relations Study Programme at Universitas Kristen Indonesia.
 
“Because on paper, it’s a really unbalanced competition,” he said, noting that Starlink has minimal local staffing and does not contribute to Indonesia’s territorial network infrastructure.  

The cost of Starlink remains high, however, and this is an obstacle to widespread adoption. Its residential package starts at 750,000 rupiah (US$45) per month, putting it only within the grasp of higher income earners. That is about double the cost of a local operator, not including installation costs. 
 
But as has occurred in other countries, the Starlink price could quickly drop as more users sign up.  
 
It also has plans sometime this year to offer mobile plans, which if permitted, would put the company in direct competition with other telecom providers for a lucrative market of hundreds of millions of customers. 
 
Its prices are far cheaper than other satellite internet providers, which prompted complaints from the Indonesia Satellite Association, which labelled Starlink’s offers “predatory”. The country’s anti-monopoly watchdog ruled last year that they were promotional, not unfair. 

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Cambodia, Laos restrict livestock imports

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PUBLISHED: 8 May 2025 at 04: 55

Disease control personnel on Tuesday sterilise the ground where butchering occurred in Mukdahan. Public Relations Department
Condition control personnel on Tuesday clean the surface where slaughtering occurred in Mukdahan. Public Relations Department

Cambodia and Laos have temporarily banned the trade of livestock and related animal products from Thailand to avoid bacillus outbreaks.

According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries has taken the move, and is carefully monitoring the bacillus outbreak in parts of Thailand.

” Now, there are no cases of the disease reported in Cambodia, but as a precautionary measure, the government has imposed a temporary moratorium on the trade of livestock and related pet products from all Thai border intersections”, it said.

It added that officials have worked closely together with several state firms at those borders bridges to enforce the ban. No expression was to hand on how much it will last.

However, Laos has imposed restrictions on imports of meat, beef, chicken and horses meat from Thailand since May 5 to lessen the risk of an leptospirosis epidemic in the country.

All cars from Thailand may be disinfected before entering Laos, according to Thai advertising.

In Thailand, all 636 at-risk people have completed a seven-day period of observation after being exposed to the condition, Dr Narong Chankaew, commander of the Mukdahan Provincial Public Health Office, said on Wednesday.

Dr Narong said all of them received treatment to prevent disease during the study period and they can then resume normal actions.

While the pandemic, in which one man died and four people were hospitalised, has raised awareness of the condition, many people are also afraid of consuming meat, he said.

He insisted it is safe to eat foods that is completely cooked at a temperature of at least 120C or boiled for 30 minutes to remove any possible anthrax bacteria.

The Department of Disease Control said the current outbreak in Mukdahan is confined to an region in Don Tan area.

Those who were infected were exposed via body email or eating poisoned foods.

Anthrax is typically found in animals, bull, goats and sheep, but in this situation, meat is believed to be the source.

Dr Narong said wellness investigators are certain that they have located the cause of the disease– the killing of a calf on April 12 on a plastic planation in Ban Khok Sawang in tambon Lao Mee. He claimed that the victim died from involvement in the butchering and developed illness on April 24.

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Ex-police bigwig nabbed for fraud

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PUBLISHED: 8 May 2025 at 04: 17

The former police officer was arrested. (Photo supplied)
The original policeman was taken into custody. ( Photo provided )

Former police station superintendent in Pathum Thani has been detained by the National Anti-Corruption Commission ( NACC ) for embezzlement.

The NACC on Wednesday apprehended Pol Col Chaiwat ( surname withheld ), who was wanted in 2020 under an arrest warrant issued by the Region 1 Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct cases.

Pol Col Chaiwat, who has been on the move ever since, is accused of stealing more than 260 000 dollars from his colleagues.

The incident dates back to the year 2020, when Pathum Thani’s Lat Lum Kaeo municipal police station’s director was in charge. He at the time mandated the setting of many police checkpoints. Eventually, the Provincial Police of Pathum Thani approved a 283 ringgit allowance for the officers involved.

But, Pol Col Chaiwat ordered that he be given the concessions so he could forwards them to the soldiers under his control. He gave the soldiers a total of 20 500 baht, and he kept the soldiers ‘ remaining 262 676 baht for himself.

The original director acknowledged being the man named in the warrant following his arrest. He was taken to the NACC office for constitutional trials under the Enforced Departure and Prevention and Suppression of Torture Act.

With the assistance of NACC Region 1 associate secretary-general Chadarat Anakaorn and other officers, the arrest was carried out under the path of NACC secretary-general Saroj Phungramphan.

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Huge changes in South Korean political system afoot as vote looms – Asia Times

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As South Korea approaches what may become the most consequential presidential election in its modern democratic history, two principal democratic institutions – the judiciary and the legislature – are accelerating toward a critical inflection point.

At the heart of this confrontation lies Democratic Party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, whose ongoing legal entanglements have triggered an institutional contest between the imperatives of the rule of law and the legitimacy of an electoral mandate.

What began as a legal proceeding involving alleged violations of the Public Official Election Act has rapidly evolved into a broader institutional contest with long-term implications for South Korean democracy. With just weeks remaining before the June 3 national election, both the judiciary and the legislature appear determined to assert their respective domains and competing visions of democratic authority.

The result is an escalating struggle that may redefine the nation’s democratic foundations for decades to come.

Accelerated judicial process

The judiciary, notably the Supreme Court and Seoul High Court, has pursued Lee’s case with exceptional urgency. At issue are statements he made during a prior election campaign. Prosecutors charged him with violating the Public Official Election Act by knowingly disseminating false information – an offense that carries criminal liability under South Korean law.

After years of conflicting rulings in lower courts, the legal process took a dramatic turn in April 2025 when the Supreme Court overturned an appellate court’s acquittal. The case was remanded to the Seoul High Court with instructions to re-examine it under a presumption of guilt. Within hours of receiving the file, the High Court assigned the case to a criminal division, scheduled the first hearing for May 15, and issued a personal summons to Lee – an unusually expedited move aimed at accelerating proceedings.

Even the Supreme Court’s own timeline was extraordinary. The verdict was issued just 34 days after the appeal was accepted and only nine days after it was referred to the Grand Bench – a procedural velocity virtually unprecedented in the South Korean legal system.

Legal analysts view this swift action as judicial activism intended to ensure that voters are fully informed about the case ahead of the election, reinforcing institutional accountability amid political turbulence.

Legislative response

In parallel, the Democratic Party-led National Assembly has launched a series of legislative initiatives that, if enacted, would dramatically reshape the balance of power among South Korea’s democratic institutions.

On the same day the High Court announced Lee’s retrial, the Democratic Party introduced a bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Act. This amendment would suspend criminal proceedings against any presidential candidate once elected – effectively granting temporary immunity while in office.

At the same time, the party has proposed changes to the Court Organization Act to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from 14 to 30. While publicly framed as a response to case backlogs and judicial inefficiency, critics argue it is a transparent attempt at court-packing – a way to shift the ideological balance of the judiciary in favor of the ruling bloc.

Most controversially, an amendment to the Constitutional Court Act has been proposed that would permit constitutional petitions against final court rulings. Currently, such decisions are immune from constitutional review – a safeguard meant to preserve judicial independence and finality.

Critics warn that if enacted, the amendment would open the door to retroactive legal challenges initiated for political reasons, eroding judicial impartiality. Legal observers are increasingly concerned about the lasting damage this could inflict on the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.

Taken together, these reforms would represent a sweeping redefinition of institutional power. Supporters argue they reflect necessary modernization of outdated systems. Detractors, however, warn they pose an existential threat to South Korea’s constitutional equilibrium.

Far from being reactive measures, these reforms appear to be part of a broader legislative effort to recalibrate the country’s governance architecture in anticipation of a political transition.

Geopolitical undercurrents and the strategic stakes

This constitutional face-off is playing out amid significant geopolitical flux in East Asia. Under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, South Korea has aligned closely with the US and Japan, deepening trilateral defense ties and embracing the broader US Indo-Pacific strategy.

Yoon’s foreign policy has emphasized deterrence against North Korea and strategic decoupling from China.

Lee Jae-myung, by contrast, is widely viewed as favoring a pragmatic foreign policy reset. He has advocated diplomatic engagement with North Korea, greater economic cooperation with China and Russia, and a more balanced posture between Washington and Beijing.

Should he win the presidency, South Korea’s foreign policy could pivot toward a multipolar alignment – reshaping its Indo-Pacific positioning and accelerating its outreach toward Eurasia.

This potential reorientation is of keen interest to Korean strategists and global observers alike, as it could redefine Korea’s international standing amid rapidly shifting geopolitical dynamics in the region.

In that light, the judiciary’s urgency and the legislature’s reformist drive are no longer seen as mere procedural moves, but as expressions of deeper ideological alignments. The judiciary, rooted in legal conservatism, seeks to preserve continuity and institutional stability. The legislature, led by progressive forces, is pushing for structural transformation in response to shifting geopolitical and domestic realities.

Democratic divergence: rule of law vs. rule by mandate

The unprecedented speed of institutional activity underscores a profound philosophical divergence over how democracy should function. The judiciary champions procedural legality and institutional restraint, rooted in constitutionalism and separation of powers. The legislature, in contrast, argues that true democratic legitimacy arises from the electoral mandate – and that lawmakers have a moral duty to reshape institutions in accordance with the will of the people.

Lee Jae-myung’s candidacy embodies this divide. He presents himself as an agent of change – socially progressive, economically redistributive and diplomatically balanced. His critics describe him as a populist cloaked in technocratic reform, warning that his proposed structural changes could concentrate power and destabilize institutional checks and balances. In this view, the judiciary’s rapid intervention is seen as a safeguard against democratic erosion.

Meanwhile, South Korean voters are caught in the middle of this institutional contest. One segment of the electorate embraces systemic reform in response to growing inequality and elite inertia. Another warns that rushing changes under the banner of progress may weaken the very institutions that protect democracy. The increasingly polarized discourse is not just about Lee’s case – it is about the future of governance itself.

A nation at the crossroads

South Korea is now undergoing a historic test of democratic resilience. The judiciary’s attempt to ensure legal clarity before the vote and the legislature’s drive to assert electoral legitimacy are not simply procedural decisions – they represent opposing visions of democracy. Both institutions are acting in defense of democratic principles, but through fundamentally divergent frameworks.

The consequences of this institutional divergence will echo long after June 3. What is at stake is not just a presidential election but the integrity of South Korea’s legal framework, its strategic orientation and its standing in the world.

Whether the country emerges stronger or more divided will depend not only on who wins the presidency but on how well its institutions endure and adapt under pressure.

As the world watches, South Korea’s election has become more than a democratic milestone. It is a referendum on the meaning of power, legitimacy and the future direction of a nation navigating a rapidly shifting global order.

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Struggles at the farm gate

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Calls for govt help as prices for key crops plunge, write Sitthipoj Kebui, Assawin Pakkawan and Panumet Tanraksa

Farmers across Thailand are sounding the alarm as plunging prices for key crops push rural communities deeper into debt, prompting urgent calls for government intervention.

In Phichit, watermelon growers are grappling with a price slump that has left tonnes of fruit unsold in fields.

Kanda Sawangsuk, a village head and farmer in Moo 15, tambon Nong Plalai of Wang Sai Phun district, said she planted 38 rai of watermelons this season.

While previous years brought wholesale prices of 7–9 baht per kilogramme, this year prices have plunged to as low as 2 baht for smaller fruit — and even then, buyers are scarce.

“Big watermelons over 3kg fetch just 5 baht/kg, medium-sized ones 3 baht, and small ones only 2 baht,” she said.

“We’ve got sweet, crisp fruit but no market. I ask fellow Thais to support us by buying locally grown watermelon — it’s delicious, refreshing, and affordable.”

Meanwhile, in Mae Hong Son, garlic farmers are in dire straits. Pharuhas Suntornsitsak, a village head in tambon Na Pu Pom, Pang Mapha district, said garlic prices have fallen to 30 baht per kilogramme, with no traders turning up to buy — a stark contrast to previous years. The lack of buyers has left farmers with no income to pay off debts, especially with the school term looming and families in need of money for uniforms and supplies.

Some, like Yupadee Praipattanajit, said frustration has boiled over: “We typically sell our entire harvest to traders, and are now left with unsold stock. No one is buying, and some farmers are so stressed they’ve begun burning their garlic crops in despair.”

Local farmers blamed middlemen for withholding purchases in early harvests to drive prices down, leaving growers at a disadvantage as they scrambled to repay loans, many from the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) or informal lenders.

Further north in Chiang Mai’s Omkoi district, the chilli crisis has reached critical levels. Villagers are abandoning their harvests as prices for green and bell chillies fall to below 5 baht/kg — the lowest in ten years.

Phra Khru Aod, a monk from Wat Chedi Luang, has stepped in to provide relief by purchasing produce and distributing it to city residents.

He joined locals in harvesting chillies and organised the donation of over 8,000 kilogrammes of fresh produce — including tomatoes, pumpkins, and leafy greens — to communities across Chiang Mai.

Ms Nadue, a representative of the local Muser ethnic group, said the crisis has persisted for over two months.

Some farmers have only managed to sell a fraction of their harvest, while others are forced to let their crops rot as the cost of labour and transport outweighs the potential earnings.

“Our hope of supporting our families through farming has crumbled,” said farmer Nadue. “Even if we manage to sell, it doesn’t cover loan interest.”

Community leader Nanla said many farmers across Omkoi and nearby districts like Mae Sariang are similarly affected.

Despite efforts to distribute produce, most crops go to waste, highlighting the urgent need for market solutions and systemic support.

In the South, durian farmers face a different but equally devastating crisis. Torrential rain has caused widespread flower drop, decimating yields in provinces like Phatthalung and Yala.

Ismael Chuayphrik, a grower from Tamot district, said over 50% of his durian crop was lost due to storm damage in April.

Even large-scale growers, like Kampanat Wongchuwan in Yala, report massive losses. Some orchards have seen entire trees fail to fruit, and the spread of fusarium wilt — a fast-moving fungal disease — is compounding the problem.

“There’s hope for an off-season yield later in the year if we get a dry spell,” said durian adviser Prawan Choomai, “but the disease threat is real and needs immediate attention.”

Across the country, farmers are urging the government to intervene with emergency purchases, debt relief, and sustainable market access. But systemic support remains elusive.

“Thai agriculture cannot survive on hope alone,” said Supap Musikasiri, chairman of the Phatthalung Farmers Council. “The government must act — not just with short-term relief but long-term strategies to stabilise farm incomes.”

Rural communities are suffering under the weight of debt, failed crops, and market neglect, he said.

“We urgently need government intervention to stabilise farm prices, provide financial relief to struggling growers, and address the systemic issues that leave farmers vulnerable.”

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Ukraine’s war lessons for India – Asia Times

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India, the world’s largest democracy, has stayed on the sidelines while Ukraine fights on the front lines to defend democratic values and the international order against an imperialist Russia. Moscow seeks to subjugate and colonize Ukraine, as it has done for centuries, but Ukraine has resisted fiercely and is now bringing the fight to Russia. Despite this, India has remained cautious and continues to maintain close ties with Moscow.

Both Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh have canceled their trips to Moscow for Russia’s May 9 Victory Day parade. Instead, India will send a lower-ranking official, with reports suggesting the decision is partly linked to ongoing tensions with Pakistan. India also launched fresh strikes against Pakistan, sparking worries about a larger conflict brewing between the nuclear states.

For other leaders who plan on attempting the parade in Moscow, there are real concerns that Ukraine could threaten the parade. As a result, Putin is desperate for a three-day ceasefire to help protect his parade. 

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico condemned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for warning foreign delegations not to attend Russia’s May 9 Victory Day parade, calling Zelensky’s comments disrespectful.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of keeping “nothing sacred” after he rejected Vladimir Putin’s proposal for a temporary ceasefire during Russia’s Victory Day commemorations, claiming Zelenskyy had “hit rock bottom” by warning of possible threats to veterans attending the May 9 events. 

“They are responsible for your safety. We will not provide any guarantees, because we do not know what Russia might do on those dates,” Zelensky said. Meanwhile, for the third year in a row, occupied Sevastopol was forced to cancel its Victory Day military parade, citing safety concerns amid ongoing Ukrainian strikes on Russian military targets across Russia. Ukrainian drones over the last few days have continued targeting Moscow. 

Ukraine has come a long way. In February 2022, many Western governments expected it to collapse within days. Now, Ukraine has developed a domestic arsenal of long-range drones and missiles and is striking targets deep inside Russia. Putin may hope that parading alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping will project strength, but the reality is that he is facing a symbolic defeat. The Kremlin is now reduced to quietly pleading with Ukraine not to strike Moscow. Ukrainian drones have continued to target Moscow in the days before the parade. 

Yet while Ukraine demonstrates military ingenuity and defiance, India continues to walk a careful line of neutrality. To understand why, it’s helpful to examine the deeper strategic logic behind India’s positioning.

“I don’t think India is going to commit to either side,” said Branislav Slantchev, a political science professor at UC San Diego. “They have never done this and they are in a complicated neighborhood.”

Treston Wheat, chief geopolitical officer at Insight Forward and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, explained that India’s position on the war in Ukraine stems more from tradition than indifference. “India’s stance isn’t about a lack of democratic solidarity,” he said, “it’s about strategic tradition.”

Wheat pointed out that “since the Cold War, India has maintained a posture of non-alignment, preferring to avoid choosing sides in conflicts between major powers.” That legacy, he noted, continues even as India increasingly asserts itself on the global stage.

“Its relatively cautious response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reflects both historical ties with Moscow and a deep-rooted preference for strategic autonomy,” Wheat added. “India sees itself as a regional and eventually global power, but one that moves at its own pace, balancing relationships across geopolitical divides.”

“Supporting Ukraine more forcefully,” he concluded, “would require redefining that balancing act, something New Delhi has not yet shown it’s ready to do.”

Wheat added, “India isn’t looking to replace its relationship with Russia, and aligning too strongly with Ukraine could undermine its defense ties with Moscow. India is still a major purchaser of Russian military hardware, and it prefers not to alienate a long-standing supplier while it’s still building its own defense manufacturing base.” 

But over the long term, Wheat argued,“India could benefit significantly from a deeper partnership with Ukraine, particularly in defense innovation. Ukraine’s experience with adaptive warfare, battlefield innovation, and drone production could offer insights that align well with Modi’s ‘Make in India’ vision for the defense sector. The question isn’t whether Ukraine offers value; it’s whether India is ready to shift its geopolitical calculus to embrace that value.”

“Ukraine has effectively turned into a real-time laboratory for modern asymmetric warfare, particularly in the use of drones, loitering munitions, electronic warfare, and rapid battlefield adaptation,” said Wheat. “These are exactly the kinds of capabilities India would need in a high-intensity conflict with China along the Line of Actual Control or in the maritime domain.”

Wheat argued that India stands to gain more than just tactical insights. “More importantly, Ukraine has demonstrated how to mobilize civil society, private sector innovation, and field-level experimentation to solve tactical problems quickly. India could learn not just about the hardware, but about the organizational mindset required to wage modern war.”

The question, he said, is not about relevance but about receptivity. “The challenge is whether India is politically willing to learn from a country that isn’t part of its usual strategic orbit. If it is, there’s a great deal of value waiting to be absorbed.” Other experts agree that the strategic logic for closer ties with Ukraine is mounting, not just politically, but tactically.

“Russia’s war has exposed both supply-chain fragility and quality issues in Russian kit, accelerating India’s shift away from Moscow as its primary arms source,” said Fedir Martynov, a partner at Trident Forward. “Any extra political or technical backing New Delhi gives Kyiv therefore doubles as leverage on the Kremlin and as insurance against a tighter Moscow-Beijing axis.”

Martynov emphasized the operational edge that Ukraine has built under fire. “Ukraine has built a battlefield drone complex that ranges from $400 FPV kamikazes to multi-domain swarms, powered by a start-up ecosystem and a streamlined acquisitions pipeline that moves ideas from garage to front line in weeks,” he noted.

“Its operators have learned to fight through aggressive GNSS jamming by using visual navigation and decentralized control, skills India will need along a GPS-denied Himalayan frontier.” 

That value becomes even clearer when viewed through the lens of Ukraine’s battlefield innovations, something defense experts believe India would do well to study closely.

Bill Cole, founder of the Peace Through Strength Institute, commented on the strategic urgency of India needing to learn from Ukraine’s experience: “India is staring down a PLA that has spent years investing in drone warfare.” The solution, he argues, lies not in theory but in lived experience. “You want to neutralize that? Ukraine is the partner who has already bled for that knowledge.”

“India cannot claim to counterbalance China while indirectly enabling Russia. Sooner or later, that contradiction will collapse,” said Cole.

He pointed to Ukraine’s maritime ingenuity as another lesson in adaptive strategy. “Ukraine didn’t have a navy. So they built one – from garage tech and courage. And they’ve punched a hole in the Russian Black Sea Fleet. That’s the blueprint for asymmetric warfare,” noted Cole. “If India ever faces a maritime threat from China, it’ll need the same mindset. Nimble, fast, precise, and unpredictable. Ukraine is showing the world how to fight smart.”

David Kirichenko is a freelance journalist and an associate research fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank. He can be found on X @DVKirichenko.

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‘It felt like the sky turned red’, says witness to India strike in Pakistan

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17 minutes before
Umer Draz Nangiana

reporting from Muridke, Pakistan

EPA A man standing on the rubble of a building in Muridke EPA

Different people gathered on Wednesday night to witness the damage done to a sprawling complex in the Muslim town of Muridke.

This webpage, which is located close to the American border in Pakistan’s Punjab region and is only a short drive from Lahore, is where American missiles immediately bombed buildings.

No one was permitted inside the challenging, but the damage was unmistakable perhaps from a distance as BBC investigators scurried through the barbed wire fence that surrounded it.

The BBC spoke with those who were on the floor who first-hand witnessed the assault.

One man claimed that “it was the primary mosque that got targeted.” The horizon lit up, and it appeared to have turned dark.

Another claimed that a bomb exploded as a result of a rapid missile’s appearance. I left the house right away.

There were three more subsequent storms, indicating that I had only recently reached the dome close to my home. I actually heard all three of them, which was very quiet.

Safety service personnel were tightly regulating access to the site when a BBC group arrived in Muridke.

BBC Urdu A damaged building, with its ceiling collapsedBBC Urdu

The BBC’s crew could see a half collapsed building and dust strewn over a vast area from a path that is surrounded by deep cover.

Emergency personnel were also looking for any dead or injured in the aircraft.

Why was this complex targeted when India claimed to have attacked websites linked to what it calls terrorist organizations and that this intricate houses a hospital, university, and mosque? The solution appears to lie in its history.

It was first used by Lashkar-e-Taiba ( LeT ), a militant group with a base in Pakistan and designated by the UN as a terrorist organization, until a few years ago.

It was later used by Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which spectators have described as a LeT before class.

Both organizations have been declared out of the Muslim government, which has since taken control of Muridke services.

EPA The view from inside a building damaged in a missile strike EPA

However, this advanced was in the sights of an American military that has vowed to act in response to the recent massacre of visitors in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The Indian government claims that what it called criminal facilities was targeted during its attacks in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The government of Pakistan has denied any involvement in the Pahalgam harm.

Even though it was mostly evacuated a week ago, a man claimed that the Muridke complex typically houses students from miles away who commute to the madrasa.

Later in the day, lens crews were permitted to go to the page and observe the damage up close.

One building’s rooftop had crumpled as a result of an blast.

A lot of dirt was scattered across the floor and holes had been torn through one wall.

People all over this area are hoping that won’t be any more particles in the near future.

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