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Why did India drop the UAPA charges against US national Matthew VanDyke and six Ukrainian nationals after initially arresting them in a case involving alleged drone warfare training in Myanmar? The NIA had alleged that the seven entered India, travelled through Mizoram into Myanmar and trained ethnic armed groups in drone assembly, operations and electronic jamming. The agency also alleged that drones and components were brought from Europe through India.
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00:08what if the world's energy supply can be squeezed without shutting down a single oil field and what
00:14if India's next security threat crosses a border not with weapons but with knowledge to build them
00:20today two stories about strategic choke points and invisible warfare hormuz babal mandab and the
00:27Suez are becoming pressure points for global energy as Iran and the Houthis challenge vital shipping
00:32routes meanwhile India's Matthew Van Dyke case raises another question did a terrorism case
00:38collapse because the evidence fell short or did something else happen behind the scenes the UAPA
00:44charges are gone but the investigation continues one battle is over narrow waterways the other is over
00:52dangerous technology hello and welcome you're watching Statecraft with me Gita Mohan the war in
00:58West Asia is no longer staying in one theater Iran and the United States are trading fresh threats the
01:05Houthis are warning Pakistan and Turkey and in Europe intelligence chiefs are warning that Russia could
01:11test NATO within months three flashpoints one dangerous question how far can this escalation
01:18really spread first Iran US president Donald Trump has warned Tehran that it faces economic collapse or
01:25the destruction of its leadership if it refuses a deal Iran's military has responded with its own
01:31warning any fresh attack it says will trigger a harsh retaliation the threats come as Iranian president
01:39Massoud Pazeshkian is expected in New York for the UN General Assembly Trump has said he's open to meeting
01:45him so even as the military confrontation remains unresolved diplomacy has not completely disappeared
01:51but the conflict is already spilling outward in Yemen the Houthis have issued a direct warning to
01:58Pakistan and Turkey their message is clear intervene on Saudi Arabia's side and face retaliation the
02:04warning follows renewed Saudi Houthi fighting and growing attention on the Saudi Pakistan Turkey defense
02:11fact however many are now saying that the Mecca alliance is just a paper agreement as none of
02:17the member countries has actually shown any sign of intervention to defend Riyadh and then comes Europe
02:24European intelligence officials are warning that Russia could test NATO's resolve within months not
02:30years Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has warned of possible Russian drone or missile attacks on NATO
02:37territory French president Emmanuel Macron has described the intelligence as serious and well documented from
02:44Tehran to Yemen and now to NATO the flashpoints are on your doorstep the pressure points are multiplying the
02:51question is no longer whether the next crisis begins it is where it spreads next what if the world's oil
03:00supply
03:00could be held hostage without shutting down a single oil field what if three narrow waterways could decide
03:07how much energy reaches the world and how much it costs that is the battle now taking shape around the
03:14Arabian Peninsula Hormuz Bab al-Manda Suez three choke points one enormous vulnerability the ceasefire that
03:24halted the two-month Iran US war on the 8th of April now exists largely named at the Strait of
03:30Hormuz the
03:31confrontation continues the United States is escorting oil tankers through the strait while imposing an
03:37economic blockade on Tehran Iran has responded with attacks on US warships and ballistic missile
03:43barrages at Movafak Southi airbase in Jordan but the biggest shift may be happening thousands of kilometers away
03:52at the southern gateway to the Red Sea because the Houthis have done something that could fundamentally
03:59change the map Iran aligned Houthi forces have captured the islands of greater and lesser Harnish
04:05and that means the group is no longer attacking shipping only from mountain hideouts it can now
04:11threaten shipping directly from the coast think about that a 26 kilometer wide strait packed with ships
04:20connecting the Red Sea to Gulf of Aden and now controlled along its coastline by a force hostile to
04:28western shipping since the 7th of October 2023 Israel Hamas conflict the Houthis have used drones and
04:36missiles against western linked shipping but their capture of the port city of Mokha and islands
04:42including Mayun and Perim gives them a new strategic advantage the Bab al-Manda is no longer just a
04:49maritime passage it is becoming a potential battlefield and this is where Hormuz Bab al-Manda and
04:56Suez become one story the Arabian Peninsula is roughly the size of India it accounts for around 20% of
05:04global
05:04energy supplies and much of that oil and gas has to pass through these three choke points close one threaten
05:11another disrupt the third and the consequences travel far beyond West Asia the warning was
05:19visible in oil prices on the 14th of September oil surged 208 dollars a barrel a 54% increase from
05:2728th February
05:29when the conflict began for India the exposure is enormous every one dollar rise in oil prices means a foreign
05:37exchange outgo of around 2 billion dollars roughly 19,000 crore rupees so this is not simply about
05:45ships moving through distant waters it can hit India's economy directly and Saudi Arabia is right in the
05:53middle of it Saudi Arabia supplies nearly eight percent of India's oil much of it moves through Yanbu on
05:59the Red Sea but the Houthis have already strangled Saudi Arabia's Red Sea oil infrastructure and Riyadh's
06:06alternative route has also come under attack on 11th of September Saudi Arabia shut its 1201 kilometer
06:14east-west oil pipeline a pipeline specifically built to bypass the Strait of Hormuz
06:21the pipeline was struck by drones launched from Iraq by the Houthis
06:26at the same time Saudi crude production fell by 2.3 million barrels per day in August reaching 6 million
06:34barrels per day its lowest level in more than three decades that is the real strategic battle Iran does
06:42not necessarily need to close Hormuz completely to create pressure the Houthis do not necessarily need
06:48to sink every ship passing Babel Mandam the threat itself can be enough because when shipping becomes
06:54dangerous insurance rises routes become uncertain suppliers become vulnerable and oil prices respond
07:03Iran appears to be preparing the battlefield accordingly on the 2nd of September Iran's National
07:09Security Council secretary Mohsen Razai warned of a new Iranian strategy involving the battlefield
07:15diplomacy and resistance to the economic siege and the Houthi advance appears to fit into that broader
07:22strategy after remaining largely out of the conflict for months the Houthis suddenly moved they rolled
07:30back Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces capturing territory nearly twice the size of Goa and there is
07:37another twist Saudi Arabia asked its strategic partner the United States for intervention but
07:43Washington declined Trump said the Houthis had called and told the United States they did not want to
07:50fight Saudi Arabia Pakistan and Turkey despite their August 17th Makkah defense agreement are also
07:56staying away from sending forces so Riyadh is facing a battlefield where its military options are being tested
08:03and its energy infrastructure is absolutely exposed and then there is Suez the Suez canal is the northern
08:12gateway connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean if Babal Mandib becomes too dangerous the problem does not stop at
08:19the strait
08:19ships can be forced to reconsider the entire route that means longer journeys higher costs greater pressure on energy markets
08:30and that is why this is bigger than one war Hormuz controls the Gulf's energy exit Babal Mandib controls the
08:38southern entrance to the Red Sea
08:40Suez connects that route to Europe three choke points one interconnected energy artery and every
08:48conflict around them can squeeze the world's oil supply without a single barrel disappearing underground
08:56Oman has already postponed a crucial September 14 meeting between Gulf Cooperation Council states and Iran saying more time
09:04was needed to create conditions for constructive dialogue meanwhile Donald Trump has suggested the Iran war could
09:11continue until after the 3rd of November US midterm elections the US president described the current choices on the table
09:19as wiping Iran out letting them rot economically or making a deal the battlefield meanwhile is expanding so the real
09:30question is no longer simply who controls the next stretch of territory it is who controls the roots that
09:36carry the world's energy because in this war the most powerful weapon may not be a missile it may be
09:42a narrow strip of water
09:45Pakistan has taken the fight across the Afghan border in the early hours of Monday Pakistani fighter jets and drones
09:52reportedly struck alleged militant hideouts in Afghanistan's Qunar and Paktika provinces but Kabul says civilians paid the price and once
10:01again the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is turning into a battlefield
10:06the strikes came between roughly 3 and 4 45 in the morning Pakistan says the targeted militant sanctuaries linked to
10:13the
10:14Tehreeki taliban paakistan pakistan or ttp and the balochistan liberation army also known as bla but afghanistan tells a very
10:21different story
10:22taliban officials say at least 3 members of one family were killed in kunar four others were reportedly injured
10:30Pakistan's claim of militant casualties has not been independently verified the strikes follow a deadly escalation
10:37inside Pakistan a suicide attack and gun battle in kohart killed at least 24 people last week
10:44Pakistan has repeatedly accused Kabul of allowing anti-Pakistan militants to operate from Afghan
10:50soil. The Taliban government denies the charge. Instead, Kabul says militancy inside Pakistan is
10:56Islamabad's own problem. Now, Pakistan has once again crossed the border with air power and Kabul
11:03is warning of a response. That raises the bigger question. Is this another limited strike against
11:08militants or the beginning of another dangerous cycle of Pakistan-Afghanistan retaliation?
11:14Because after months of clashes, the border is once again on edge.
11:19What if India's biggest problem in the Van Dyke case is not who crossed the Myanmar border,
11:25but what may have crossed with them? The NIA arrested seven foreigners under India's anti-terror law.
11:32It alleged drone warfare training, cross-border movement, the movement of drone components
11:38through India. Then just days later, the UAPA charges disappeared. So what changed? Did the
11:45evidence fall short or was something else at play? U.S. National Matthew Van Dyke and six Ukrainians
11:52were arrested after the NIA alleged that they entered India, crossed into Myanmar and trained
11:59ethnic armed groups in drone warfare. The alleged training included drone assembly, operations and
12:05electronic jamming. The agency also alleged that drones and components had been brought from Europe
12:11through India. And then came a much bigger allegation. On the 4th of September, the NIA told a Delhi court
12:19that it had information linking the 7 to an attack on a civilian aircraft in Myanmar. A drone had struck
12:27a
12:27Myanmar National Airlines ATR 72600 at Mith Kiena Airport in February. The aircraft was damaged, no one was injured, but
12:38the attack
12:39showed just how dangerous drone warfare has become in Myanmar. The NIA said the 7 had traveled through Mizoram, conducted
12:48training on two occasions and imported large consignments of drones and components from Europe.
12:53Their digital devices were also being examined. At that point, the case appeared to be moving towards a serious
13:00terrorism prosecution. Then four days later, the direction changed. On 8th September, the NIA charge sheet did not
13:09invoke the UAPA. Instead, it invoked sections 21 and 23 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act 2025, dealing with illegal
13:18entry, movement and state. The 7 were no longer facing the UAPA charges under which they had originally been arrested.
13:28NIA says it needs more time to establish whether UAPA offenses were indeed committed. It has left the door open
13:35for a
13:35supplementary charge sheet. But for now, terrorism charges are absent. And that raises obvious questions.
13:43Why? One possibility is simple. The evidence may not have been enough or strong enough yet for a terrorism
13:50prosecution. An allegation is not the same thing as proof. The NIA itself says it needs more time to
13:57establish whether UAPA offenses were committed or not. But there is another question hanging over the case.
14:04Did American pressure matter? Van Dyke is a U.S. citizen. His detention involved consular contact
14:11between Washington and New Delhi. Reports said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to
14:17India Sergio Gore raised the issue with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. But here is the crucial point.
14:24There is no established evidence that the UAPA charges were dropped because of American pressure.
14:30That remains speculation. And that is why the Van Dyke case is bigger than Van Dyke himself.
14:37Because look at the geography. India shares a 1,643-kilometer border with Myanmar. It cuts through
14:44Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. This is some of India's most difficult terrain. And it is
14:51also a border where ethnic and family ties existed long before the modern international boundary.
14:58For years, security threat was familiar. Militants, weapons, drugs, contraband. But the Van Dyke
15:06investigation points to something much harder to see. Military expertise. A drone can be dismantled
15:14into components. A specialist can enter with a passport. And knowledge of how to build,
15:20operate or jam a weapon can cross a border without carrying a weapon at all. India has already tried
15:28to tighten this frontier. The free movement regime once allowed people living along the border to travel
15:34up to 16 kilometers across it with simplified documentation. India suspended the regime in 2024
15:42before and has moved towards tighter controls and fencing. But fencing cannot answer every question.
15:48Who is crossing? Why are they crossing? And what are they crossing or carrying?
15:54But fencing cannot answer every question. Who is crossing? Why are they crossing? And what are they carrying?
16:02Those questions are especially important because foreign nationals have already been traveling through
16:07Mizoram. Government figures indicate around 1240 foreign nationals transited through the state between
16:14February and May of 2024, followed by reports of nearly 2000 more between June and December.
16:22Security agencies suspected some foreign fighters were using the route to enter Myanmar,
16:27train armed groups and return through India. Now add drones to that equation. Myanmar has become a major
16:35testing ground for drone warfare. In 2025, the Kachen Independence Army claimed a drone and rocket attack
16:42that brought down a Myanmar military MI-17 helicopter. And in February 2026, an FPV drone struck a civilian
16:50passenger aircraft at Myat Kiyana airport. This is no longer just battlefield technology. It can threaten
16:57military and civilian targets. And the expertise required to build, modify, operate and jam these
17:05systems can travel much faster than conventional weapons. There is no evidence yet that the techniques
17:11allegedly taught in Myanmar have reached Indian insurgent groups. But the possibility matters.
17:17Because Myanmar's ethnic armed organizations have long-standing links with networks in India's northeast.
17:24And then there is the geopolitical layer. The Ukrainians allegedly brought experience from a war where drones and
17:31electronic warfare have become central to combat. They were then allegedly involved in training groups,
17:38fighting Myanmar's military. Some reports have also suggested Russian intelligence helped Indian
17:43authorities track Ukrainian nationals moving through Mizoram. If true, that would point to an
17:50extraordinary development. The Russia-Ukraine conflict potentially reaching India's northeast through
17:56intelligence cooperation. But India's immediate challenge is much simpler. Indian territory cannot
18:01become a corridor for foreign conflicts. That means tighter coordination between immigration authorities,
18:08airports, state police, intelligence agencies and border forces. It means greater scrutiny of foreign
18:14nationals traveling towards sensitive areas. And it means tracking dual-use drone equipment and technology.
18:21Because the next person crossing the Myanmar frontier may not be carrying a rifle. He may be carrying the
18:27knowledge to build one of the most disruptive weapons of modern warfare. And that brings us back to the Van
18:35Dijk case. Did terrorism case weaken because the evidence did not yet support it? Or did something else happen
18:42behind the scenes? For now, NIA's charge sheet does not answer that question. The UAPA charges are gone,
18:49investigations are not over, and the biggest question remains unanswered. Was India forced to step back
18:56from a terrorism case? Or did the evidence simply fail to take it that far? Across Europe, the debate over
19:04Burka and Niqab is entering a new phase. At least Georgia Maloney is now targeting face covering
19:09Wales and schools alongside tighter rules for foreign students. From France to Switzerland,
19:15restrictions are spreading. But where does integration end and individual freedom begin?
19:20Here's a report by Aryan Kumar.
19:33Italy is taking a hard new line on the Burka, the Niqab and foreign students in its classrooms.
19:39Prime Minister Georgia Maloney has announced a package of measures that would cap the number
19:45of foreign students in each class, require some parents to learn Italian and ban Burka and Niqabs in
19:52schools. A measure will soon be presented to a cabinet meeting to legally establish a maximum
20:00number of foreign students per class. It also requires parents of foreign students facing serious
20:06difficulties integrating into the school system to learn Italian and bans Burkas and Niqabs in schools.
20:14But Maloney's message on the veil goes beyond classrooms and language.
20:18She says no tradition can be used to force a young woman to hide herself.
20:27In Italy, no one in the name of a real or supposed tradition can decide that a young
20:33woman must hide herself. And when it comes to foreign students, Maloney says there is a point
20:39where integration itself stops working.
20:46If there is only one child in a class who does not understand Italian, that child will likely be
20:52able to learn the language and integrate quickly with the help of classmates and teachers. However,
20:59if the number of children who don't understand the language becomes large, or even the majority,
21:04that is no longer integration, it is neglect. But Italy isn't starting this debate. It is stepping into
21:13one that has been running across Europe for years. France was first. In 2010, France passed a law
21:20banning clothing that conceals the face in public. The ban came into force in 2011. And France had already
21:28banned religious clothing, including headscarves, in public schools in 2004. Then came Belgium. It
21:36followed France with restrictions on face covering clothing in public. Denmark joined in 2018. Its
21:43parliament banned face whales in public, meaning women wearing the niqab or burqa could be stopped by
21:49police and fined. Then Bulgaria. In 2016, it banned clothing, hiding the face in public places,
21:56including government offices and schools. And Austria. It brought in a law requiring people
22:03to keep their facial features visible in public. Then there is Netherlands. Its ban is narrower with
22:09schools, hospitals, government buildings and public transport are covered. And the restrictions
22:15don't stop there. Germany has imposed partial restrictions. Civil servants, judges and soldiers
22:22have been barred from wearing full-face whales at work, while individual states have adopted
22:27additional restrictions. Then came Switzerland. Swiss voters approved a nationwide ban on face coverings
22:35in the 2021 referendum and the ban took effect in 2025. So look at the map. France, Belgium, Denmark,
22:44Bulgaria, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland. And now Italy is preparing its own burqa ban.
22:53But here is the key point. There are no identical laws. Some countries prohibit full face coverings
23:00across public spaces. Others target schools, government institutions, hospitals or public transport.
23:07And these laws are aimed at the burqa and niqab, not the hijab.
23:11The distinction matters. The hijab covers the head but leaves the face visible. The niqab covers the face
23:18except the eyes. And the burqa covers the face and body. So what began as isolated national restrictions
23:25has become a much wider European debate. How far can a government go in regulating religious dress in the
23:33name of integration, security and public life? And with Georgia Meloni now bringing the issue into
23:39Italian classrooms, Europe's bail debate has entered its new chapter. With Arun Kumar, Bureau Report, India Today Global.
23:50That's all in this edition of Statecraft. Before we go, Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai
23:55has confirmed the death of his younger brother, Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Monday. In an official
24:01statement, the Dubai government announced a 10-day period of mourning. The cause of death has not been
24:06disclosed. In a personal tribute, Sheikh Mohammed expressed his prayers for his brother saying
24:12he hoped Sheikh Ahmed had been granted a place in paradise and that his family and loved ones
24:17would find patience and solace. And on that note, goodbye and take care.
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