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The latest edition of Statecraft covers the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran, with US forces conducting a sixth consecutive night of strikes on Iranian military and civilian infrastructure.
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00:07was a reshaping alliances technologies reshaping economies and two countries now face two very
00:14different tests pakistan wanted to play peacemaker in west asia but one houthi missile strike on
00:20saudi arabia may have forced islamabad to choose between diplomacy and military commitments meanwhile
00:27global tech giants have placed a staggering 95 billion dollar bet on india but attracting
00:32billions is one thing can india build the infrastructure to match that confidence two
00:38stories one about surviving a crisis the other about seizing an opportunity hello and welcome
00:44you're watching statecraft with me gita mohan all this and more but first up the headlines
00:49former greater manchester mayor andy burnham has been confirmed as the new leader of britain's
00:55labour party this paves the way for him to become the country's next prime minister
00:59after kia starmer steps down on monday according to united kingdom maritime trade organization
01:05armed assailants are believed to have boarded the chemical tanker asana off the southern coast of
01:10yemen in the gulf of aden and are in control of the vessel based on initial assessments the incident
01:15appeared to be related to somali piracy rather than yemen's iran-aligned houthi militia an anti-trump
01:21billboard in tehran asked who is next following the death of senator lindsey graham another anti-trump
01:26banner hanging in tehran depicting us president donald trump drowning alongside israeli prime
01:31minister benjamin netanyahu and u.s secretary of defense pete hexett meanwhile chinese foreign
01:36minister wongi met pakistan's deputy prime minister and foreign minister mohammad ishagdar in shanghai as
01:42both sides called on the united states and iran to cease fire and resume talks smoke from canadian
01:48wildfires enveloped much of the northeastern u.s prompting officials in more than a dozen states
01:54to issue air quality alerts smoke blanketed the white house and stretched across states along the
01:59eastern seaboard reaching as far west as minnesota the escalation in the u.s- iran conflict reached
02:06its sixth night as major strikes were carried out by u.s military on iran killing eight and wounding
02:12around 20 people iranian officials reported damage to civilian infrastructure including power
02:17facilities bridge and a train station in bandar abbas region three bridges in bandar khamir in the
02:24hormozgan province were damaged video footage showed bridges were severely damaged and fire engulfed them
02:31the bridges in bandar khamir are strategic transportation routes connecting local communities
02:37a train station was also damaged in the area the kahuristan bridge bandar khamir was also target of
02:45the u.s military emergency and other relevant officials brought the situation under control
02:50a video taken during the daytime shows the damage u.s forces including fighter jets aerial drones and
02:57warships launched precision munitions that hit dozens of iranian military targets such as coastal
03:03surveillance and air defense sites military logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities
03:09this was the sixth consecutive night of u.s strikes against iran ibrahim azizi the head of the
03:15iranian parliament's national security committee has condemned the attacks in southern iran and
03:20said it reveals the hypocrisy of those who preach human rights a day earlier u.s marines from the 11th
03:27marine expeditionary unit conducted a verification boarding of the mt venyao in the gulf of oman
03:34american forces have redirected three commercial vessels attempting to breach the blockade disabled one
03:40vessel that did not comply and boarded another to ensure full adherence to the ongoing u.s naval
03:47blockade against iran the strait of hormones and surrounding waters remain open and free except for
03:53vessels attempting to violate the u.s blockade meanwhile shipping activity in the strait of
03:59hormones remains at low levels amid escalation and the blockade by iran the iranian armed forces retaliated
04:06by targeting u.s bases and facilities in kuwait bahrain and jordan irgc said its naval and aerospace
04:13forces carried out joint missile and drone attacks against u.s targets the irgc said it destroyed a
04:20c-ram radar system a satellite communication center and an assembly site at kuwait's ali al-selem air base
04:27it also struck a fighter jet ramp and a command center at jordan's al-azraq base and attacked a
04:35wharf at kuwait's shuaiba port the iranian army has deployed homegrown arash drones to target u.s radar
04:43systems patriot battery and oil depots at ali al-selem as well as communications and radar facilities at
04:51bahrain's sheikh isa air base it also downed an mq9 drone over the southwestern city
04:56of andimeshk in khosestan province is the g2 bromance and trouble as the u.s midterm elections
05:04draw closer and a war being waged in west asia the prime time address by president donald trump seemed
05:11like a masterstroke to deviate his countrymen from the issues of inflation and price rise resulting
05:17from months long war but it perhaps failed the address was not about future strategy but about the
05:232020 election that the president claims was stolen from him but it was not russia that he blamed for
05:29the interference rather china trump unveiled declassified intelligence on vulnerabilities
05:35in u.s 2020 election infrastructure but none of the declassified material supports the claims that any
05:42past u.s election including the 2020 presidential election that trump lost was due to any foreign
05:48interference that changed the outcome but president trump insisted that his ouster in 2020 was because
05:55of china as the documents we are releasing show cia reporting explicitly stated and i quote in mid 2018
06:05the chinese communist party's policy was to leverage all domestic and foreign elements that were opposed
06:13to the u.s president in an effort to reduce the u.s president's votes and make him resign or
06:19prevent his
06:20re-election the president said he was declassifying sensitive information that showed china had illicitly
06:27acquired 220 million u.s voter files including names addresses and other data used to register to vote he
06:35asserted that members of the u.s intelligence community deliberately suppressed information about the extent of china's
06:42political activities his allegations contradict an unclassified 2021 u.s intelligence community
06:48assessment that found no indications any foreign actor attempted to alter or succeeded in altering any
06:55technical aspect of the 2020 presidential election vote including voter registrations ballots tabulations
07:03or results the 25-minute address underscored trump's effort to make election security a central political
07:10issue ahead of november's midterm elections when republicans will be defending their congressional
07:16majorities and face the possibility of losing control of one or both chambers the address is also
07:22an attempt to pass the save america act under which cards will be issued to legitimate citizens which
07:29will prove their citizenship and guarantee their right to vote the address comes amid a recent bipartisan
07:36proposal bill to impose hundred percent tariffs on china and india for purchasing russian oil it also comes
07:43after the recent visit of president trump to china in may the people's republic of china carried out what is
07:51believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history resulting in china's illicit acquisition of
08:00220 million u.s voter files that information includes names addresses phone numbers political party preferences and
08:10other sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote and engage in other nefarious activities which
08:18is exactly what was happening this data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare the
08:26intelligence even shows that china has signed a data exploitation unit specifically to this new
08:33project compounding the travesty the second set of documents we are releasing reveals that members of
08:41the deep state very very famous group of people many cases in our intelligence agency work to actively
08:49suppress and downplay information about the extent of china's sinister election meddling
08:56the relevant allegations by the u.s are entirely fabricated and aimed at vilifying china it has long
09:03been proven to be groundless china has been upholding the principle of non-interference in other countries
09:09internal affairs we have no interest in interfering in u.s elections and have never done so we urge the
09:15u.s to reflect upon its own actions stop making groundless accusations against china stop making an
09:21issue of china and its elections and do something conducive to china u.s relations
09:29for years the american dream drove thousands of indians to risk death debt and deportation today
09:34that dream appears to be collapsing illegal crossings have crashed deportations have surged
09:40and donald trump's hardline crackdown is reshaping migration like never before but has fear finally
09:47defeated the american dream rood rishish kanji laal with this report
10:01for decades the american dream was powerful enough to make thousands of indians risk everything they
10:08borrowed money they crossed jungles they walked through deserts they trusted human traffickers all for one goal
10:16setting foot on american soil but today that dream is colliding with a harsh new reality the numbers are
10:23now telling a dramatic story illegal immigration by indians into the united states has collapsed so
10:30what changed did the american dream fade or did donald trump's immigration crackdown make the risk
10:36simply too great the latest figures from the u.s customs and border protection reveal a stunning trend
10:43through may of the 2026 financial year u.s authorities recorded 20 614 encounters with indian migrants
10:52compare that with 67 000 encounters in financial year 2023 the highest level ever recorded that is 69
11:01percent decline in just three years the biggest fall has come along america's land borders at the us mexico
11:08border encounters involving indians have plunged by an astonishing 99 percent along the us canada border
11:15they are down 91 compared to the same period in the previous financial year the route that once saw
11:22thousands of indians attempting illegal entry has nearly dried up so what is driving this dramatic reversal
11:29the answer appears to lie in one word deterrence since returning to the white house for his second term
11:36president donald trump has made illegal immigration one of his administration's top priorities border
11:42enforcement has intensified deportations have accelerated and the message has been blunt enter illegally
11:50and you will be sent back the impact is visible according to india's ministry of external affairs 1076 indians
11:58were deported from the united states in just the first six months of 2026 last year the total crossed
12:063 500 deportations the highest number in 16 years the crackdown has also produced powerful images in early
12:142025 aircraft carrying deported indians landed in amritsa and delhi some deportees including women and
12:21children were transported in restraints triggering outrage and a diplomatic discussion over the treatment of
12:28deportees those images travel far beyond airport runways they became a warning to thousands considering
12:34the same journey and for many families the calculation has changed is risking life savings months of dangerous
12:41travel and the possibility of deportation still worth it increasingly the answer appears to be no
12:47experts say the economics of illegal immigration are no longer adding up many migrants reportedly spend
12:54enormous sums paying trafficking networks only to face tighter border controls detention and deportation
13:01potential migrants have realized that the massive financial cost and physical danger of these journeys
13:06no longer match the chances of successfully entering and remaining in the united states the risk has gone up
13:14the reward has gone down so will tougher immigration policies permanently end the dangerous business of
13:21illegal immigration or will desperate migrants simply begin searching for a new route and new
13:26destinations the numbers have changed whether the dream has changed forever that story is still
13:33unfolding with rudrishish kanjalal pura report india today global pakistan thought it had escaped the
13:40iran war it thought it could play peacemaker it thought it could balance tehran riyadh and washington at the
13:46same time but one missile attack by yemen's iran-backed houthis may have shattered that illusion because
13:53this is no longer just saudi arabia's problem it is pakistan's problem too islamabad has a defense
14:00packed with saudi arabia thousands of pakistani soldiers are deployed on saudi soil and now pakistan's
14:06biggest diplomatic gamble may be on the verge of collapse for weeks pakistan celebrated its growing role
14:13as a regional power it helped broker an interim understanding between the us and iran it projected
14:19itself as a bridge between bitter rivals but diplomacy only works when the guns fall silent
14:26the moment houthi missiles crossed into saudi arabia pakistan's balancing act began to unravel
14:32the same country trying to mediate peace could now find itself preparing for war the houthi attack
14:39has done something iranian missile strikes failed to do earlier this year it has rattled pakistan's
14:44security establishment why because pakistani troops are not sitting thousands of kilometers away
14:50they're deployed close to saudi arabia's border with yemen if the houthis widen their attacks pakistani
14:56soldiers could suddenly find themselves on the front line of someone else's war and islamabad is not
15:03hiding its anger according to reports senior pakistani officials have delivered a blunt warning to tehran
15:08attacks on saudi arabia they said are attacks on pakistan that is not diplomatic language that
15:15is the language of deterrence it reveals how seriously pakistan views its military commitment to riyadh
15:21it also raises an uncomfortable question if saudi arabia invokes the defense pact can pakistan really
15:28refuse this is where pakistan's foreign policy runs into reality for years islamabad has tried to keep
15:35one foot in tehran and the other in riad it shares a border with iran it depends on saudi arabia
15:41for
15:41economic support oil supplies and strategic backing it wants good relations with both but west asia
15:48rarely allows countries to sit on the fence forever and the danger goes beyond missiles and military
15:54alliances pakistan's economy is already fragile every escalation in the gulf pushes up energy prices every
16:02threat to the red sea or the strait of hormuz sends shock waves through global shipping pakistan imports
16:08most of its energy it has already faced fuel shortages during earlier regional tensions another
16:15prolonged conflict could push inflation higher strain foreign reserves and deepen economic pain for
16:22ordinary pakistanis there is another worrying trend islamabad cannot ignore pakistani officials
16:28increasingly believe far inside iran is shifting away from elected leaders and towards the islamic
16:35revolutionary guard corps if military commanders are driving decisions in tehran predictability
16:41disappears diplomacy becomes harder miscalculations become more likely and countries like pakistan
16:47are left preparing for crises they never wanted ironically pakistan's biggest diplomatic success
16:54may now become its biggest strategic headache mediation brought prestige it gave islamabad influence but
17:03mediation only works if both sides trust you the moment pakistan is forced to honor its defense
17:09obligations to saudi arabia that neutrality disappears there are may no longer see islamabad as an honest
17:16broker the bridge pakistan spent months building could collapse overnight pakistan now faces a choice
17:23that has spent decades trying to avoid continue chasing neutrality or stand firmly with its closest arab
17:30ally officially islamabad still speaks the language of restraint dialogue and diplomacy but behind closed doors
17:36officials admit the calculation is changing one pakistani source put it bluntly according to some reports
17:43everyone wants the war to end but if saudi arabia calls pakistan will answer this is no longer just
17:51another chapter in west asia's endless conflicts it is a defining moment for pakistan itself the country
17:57wanted to emerge as a regional mediator instead it risks becoming another participant in the region's
18:04expanding war one houthi missile has exposed the limit of pakistan's balancing act and if the conflict
18:11spreads islamabad may discover that in west asia neutrality is often the first casualty indian air
18:20forces rafale fighter jets have arrived in australia to participate in exercise pitch black 2026 the
18:27exercise which will be held from july 20th to the 7th of august brings together air forces from 19 nations
18:34the indian contingent comprises of four rafale fighter jets two c-17 transport aircraft and more
18:40than 120 air warriors the iaf said rafale fighters will train with other forces to enhance
18:46interoperability and strengthening operational cooperation the indian high commission and
18:52canberra confirmed that indian contingent had arrived in darwin exercise pitch black is the royal
18:58australian air force's premier by a new multinational air combat exercise and one of the largest military
19:05aviation drills in the indo-pacific the partner nations include brunei canada fiji finland france
19:12germany india indonesia japan malaysia new zealand papua new guinea the philippines the republic of
19:21korea singapore sweden thailand and the united states of america global ceos have placed a 95 billion
19:29dollar bet on india while the world argued over tariffs trade wars in west asia boardrooms quietly
19:35reached a very different conclusion bet on india in just five months global companies announced
19:41investments worth almost 95 billion dollars that is not charity that certainly is not diplomacy that
19:49is hard-nosed business google came with ai amazon doubled down air trunk bet on data centers rca brown
19:57bavaria or abb expanded manufacturing and san goban opened its wallet again nobody writes billion dollar
20:04checks because they feel generous they write them because they smell opportunity but here's the
20:10uncomfortable question can india actually handle this flood of money or are we inviting formula one
20:17cars onto roads built for hatchbacks so why is global capital rushing to india even as the world
20:24struggles through trade tensions and geopolitical crises because when the global economy looks uncertain
20:30investors hunt for the next growth engine and right now india sits right at the center of that
20:36conversation the numbers tell the story google announced a 15 billion dollar ai infrastructure plan
20:42amazon pushed its india commitment to 48 billion dollars air trunk promised 30 billion dollars to build
20:49five gigawatts of data center capacity abb expanded manufacturing san goban committed another billion euros
20:57cpp investments backed india's digital infrastructure add everything together and the total touches 94.95
21:06billion dollars in just five months that's not one company taking a chance that's an entire queue outside
21:13india's door but are these tech giants building the world's next ai engine or simply chasing india's massive
21:20market the answer is both google isn't just building data centers it wants subsea connectivity cloud
21:27infrastructure ai capacity and ai skilling amazon isn't just adding warehouses it wants ai and cloud
21:36infrastructure air trunk isn't building ordinary server rooms it wants five gigawatts of data center
21:42capacity by the year 2030 this isn't about selling one more app subscription these companies want india
21:50to become part of the digital backbone of the ai economy then comes another question is india finally
21:57closing the gap between software power and manufacturing power for years india earned praise for software
22:04talent but criticism for weak manufacturing now the picture looks different abb is expanding manufacturing
22:11and research san goban is putting another billion euros into industrial growth digital infrastructure
22:18grows alongside physical production but let's not pretend the story is only about india's strengths
22:24is this investment boom powered entirely by india's own rise or because global companies desperately
22:31need another supply chain option the answer lies somewhere in the middle india offers scale talent and
22:38growth at the same time companies also want alternatives nobody wants to depend on one destination
22:44forever diversification has become good business india happens to be in the right place at exactly the right time
22:53opportunity met necessity and billion dollar deals followed now comes the reality check can india's
23:00infrastructure actually sustain this boom india doesn't suffer from a lack of electricity on paper
23:06by january 2026 installed power capacity crossed 520.5 gigawatts while peak demand stood at about 242.4 gigawatts
23:17sounds comfortable right not quite the problem isn't generating electricity the problem is
23:23delivering huge amounts of power exactly where ai data centers need it these facilities don't sip electricity
23:31they gulp it imagine watering your garden with a hose versus trying to fill an olympic swimming pool
23:37through the same pipe the water exists the pipe simply cannot keep up that is why india is investing 9
23:45.15
23:46lakh crores to expand its transmission network through 2032 because the next bottleneck isn't silicon chips
23:54it's power lines and ai makes that challenge even tougher traditional server racks needed between 5 and
24:028 kilowatts of power ai racks demand anywhere from 20 to 50 kilowatts that's not an upgrade that is an
24:10entirely different league older facilities cannot simply bolt on new hardware they need stronger power
24:16systems and advanced cooling or those expensive servers literally cook themselves then comes the invisible
24:24challenge nobody talks about enough water data centers generate enormous heat and cooling takes them
24:31enormous amounts of water indian data centers used around 150 billion liters in 2025 alone capacity could
24:39grow from roughly 1.5 gigawatts today to around 6.5 gigawatts by 2030 that means water demand climbs sharply
24:49to suddenly choosing a data center location isn't just about land prices it's also about whether enough
24:56water exists to keep the machines alive so what is the solution companies no longer want to depend entirely
25:03on the grid many now secure their own renewable power through dedicated power purchase agreements equinix for
25:10example locked in a fully renewable solar wind project for its mumbai facilities the message is simple
25:16winning the ai race isn't just about brilliant software engineers it demands reliable power smarter grids
25:23advanced cooling and resilient infrastructure working together global ceos have already placed their bets
25:30but attracting investment is only half the job as john f kennedy once said the time to repair the roof
25:37is
25:37when the sun is shining india sun is shining today the real question is whether we'll strengthen the roof
25:43before the storm arrives and if shortages do hit who comes first the companies writing the billion
25:49dollar checks or the people who keep the country running that's all in this edition of stagecraft do
25:56stay tuned for all the latest news and updates thank you for watching goodbye and take care
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