INDIA PERSPECTIVE

New Delhi leads with the human angle. The Free Press Journal publishes the headline that sums up the Indian position: 'India Condemns Iranian Strike On Kuwait Airport After Indian National Killed'. India's condemnation is a diplomatic rarity — New Delhi almost never publicly condemns a state. The dead man in Kuwait, identified as an Indian national by the embassy, becomes a moral casus. The Times of India runs the slow-motion video: 'Watch: Air defence battle over Kuwait as Patriot missiles respond to Iranian strike'. The paper documents the interception of Iranian missiles by American Patriot batteries with a military precision that mirrors India's own strategic culture. The Hindu Business Line covers the practical consequences: flights suspended, diverted to other airports, impact on Indian nationals in Kuwait — the Indian diaspora in Kuwait numbers about one million. Swarajya pushes the geopolitical analysis: the US strike on Qeshm is presented as a legitimate response to Iranian fire on Kuwait and Bahrain. Indian coverage is implicitly aligned with Washington — a country that shares with the US the goal of pacifying the Gulf to keep energy flowing. New Delhi has already released a $1 billion fund to help Indian airlines absorb rising fuel costs.