United States: In the middle of present border and diplomatic standoffs, how much the entire world would suffer if either India or Pakistan were to use their nuclear weapons is something that most people do not realize. 

Regional Conflict With Global Fallout 

Beneath all that is said about national security and defence, we have a serious and frightful reality: This regional nuclear war between these two countries may become a global humanitarian, environmental, and economic disaster. 

Casualties Could Surpass World War II 

In a 2019 study published in Science Advances, a full-scale nuclear war between India and Pakistan could claim the lives of between 50 and 125 million people within seven days – a death toll that would be higher than that of the entire Second World War. 

The level of destruction carried out on the opposing side would be fueled by a growing nuclear arsenal of both sides, tbsnews.net reported. 

Expanding Arsenals Fuel Rising Danger 

Until the last estimate, India and Pakistan together have between 400 and 500 nuclear weapons, numbers that will continue growing to 2025. 

As far as these weapons go, they vary in strength from 12 up to over 45 kt, and some could even extend to hundreds of kilotons. The destruction would not be limited to nations’ borders. 

The same study discusses the climatic ramifications of regional nuclear war, one such effect known as a nuclear winter. 

Onset of a Nuclear Winter 

The firestorms resulting from a blast would emit between 16 and 36 teragrams (Tg) of black carbon smoke, scattered into the stratosphere and disseminated globally over the period of weeks. 

Such a thick layer of soot would trap 20% to 35% of sunlight, so that surface temperatures on Earth would drop by 2°C to 5°C. 

Global Food Supplies at Risk 

Rainfall would fall by 15%-30%, especially disturbing the already fragile South Asian monsoon cycle. The overall effect would be catastrophic to agriculture and water access, and worsen humanitarian catastrophes in areas that are already sensitive to climate shocks, tbsnews.net reported. 

The repercussions for world agriculture are very alarming as well. According to a 2022 study by Nature Food, a nuclear war between India and Pakistan would have devastating effects on the health of global food security. 

United States: The first drone war in the world between nuclear-armed neighbours has begun in South Asia. 

On Thursday, Islamabad was accused by India of sending waves of drones and missiles into the three military bases of Indian territory and Indian administered Kashmir; an accusation swiftly denied by Islamabad. 

More about the news 

Pakistan claimed it had shot down 25 Indian drones in the past few hours. Delhi remained publicly silent. 

Experts say this tit for tat phase of the war, this dangerous new chapter of the decades long rivalry has both sides shooting more than just artillery across a hot border line into each other’s territory using unmanned weapons. 

As Washington and other world powers call for gaps in restraint, the region is poised at the brink of escalation as the drones – silent, remote, and deniable – are beginning a new chapter in the India-Pakistan conflict. 

According to Jahara Matisek, a professor at the US Naval War College, “The Indo-Pak conflict is moving into a new drone era – one where ‘invisible eyes’ and unmanned precision may determine escalation or restraint. Thus, in South Asia’s contested skies, the side that masters drone warfare won’t just see the battlefield – they’ll shape it,” BBC News reported. 

Pakistan states that, since Wednesday morning, Indian air strikes and cross-border fire have claimed the lives of 36 and wounded another 57 in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. 

On the other side, India’s army reports at least 16 civilians dead from Pakistani shelling. 

India insists its missile aggression was a retaliation for a deadly militant incident on Indian tourists in Pahalgam last month, an attack, which Islamabad claims no part in, the BBC reported. 

Pakistan’s military said on Thursday it had shot down 25 Indian drones in different cities such as Karachi, Lahore, and Rawalpindi. 

The UAVs – reported to be Israeli-made Harop drones – were reported to have been intercepted using technical and weapon-based countermeasures. 

India said it had neutralized many Pakistani air defence radars and systems, including one from Lahore, whose claim was denied by Islamabad. 

United States: The February Oval Office confrontation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy was “beneath America,” according to former US president Joe Biden. 

More about the news 

During his first media appearance post-January departure from the White House, Biden criticized Trump’s diplomatic achievements and depicted the White House scene where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suffered degradation at Trump’s hands with Vice President JD Vance by his side. 

As Biden stated, “I found it beneath America in the way that took place,” Politico.eu reported. 

“The way we talk about now that ‘this is the Gulf of America’, ‘maybe we’re going to have to take back Panama,’ ‘maybe we need to acquire Greenland’ … what the hell’s going on here?” He continued. 

Furthermore, he added, “What president ever talks like that? That’s not who we are.” 

Biden says Trump-Zelenskyy clash was ‘beneath America’. His term in office was beneath America. Open borders, worst inflation in forty years and Hunter. https://t.co/s3TLPSfwFv

— fred gotit (@gotit_fred) May 7, 2025

During an Oval Office meeting in February, President Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart that he was ungrateful for American assistance. Both countries reached a minerals agreement after President Trump and President Zelensky met at Pope Francis’ funeral. 

Biden Questions Trump’s Foreign Policy Rhetoric 

Biden criticized Trump’s methods of engaging with Ukraine when he called it “modern-day appeasement.” 

“Listen to what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said when he talked about going from Kyiv into Ukraine. And why. He believes it’s part of Mother Russia,” Biden stated. 

The U.S. withdrawal from its position as Europe’s security guarantor became a matter of serious concern to Biden, who warned that NATO’s fate would transform global history if America loses its military commitment. 

Also, in between the signs of US retreat from its role as guarantor of European security, Biden said the future of the NATO military alliance was now of “grave concern” to him and warned “it would change the modern history of the world if that occurs,” Politico.eu reported. 

Biden Rebukes Vance and Hegseth 

Further, when asked if Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been right to take issue with America subsidizing European defense, Biden pushed back: “They don’t have a point. When we were attacked, what happened on 9/11? They all responded and supported us.”