INDIA PERSPECTIVE

The Times of India deploys massive, detailed coverage with headlines that don't hesitate to dramatize: 'Iran downs F-15, A-10 jets: First US combat aircraft losses in over 20 years.' The article cites retired general Houston Cantwell: 'The fact that this hasn't happened before is absolutely miraculous. We run combat missions, they get shot at every day.' A second article details minute-by-minute what a pilot shot down over enemy territory experiences: SERE procedure (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape), risks of multiple fractures during ejection, a handgun as sole weapon. The Times also publishes a specific article on the Iranian $60,000 bounty for the pilot's capture. India observes this war with calculated non-alignment: New Delhi buys Iranian oil at discounted rates through discrete channels, and each week of Hormuz blockade worsens India's domestic energy crisis. The downing of two US jets isn't read as a military incident but as a signal the war will last longer than expected—and India's energy bill will keep climbing.