Goa, Jan. 6 -- India's former Ambassador to Venezuela, Y.K. Sinha, has warned that the reported US military assault on Caracas and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro marks a troubling return to "a bygone era of gunboat diplomacy." He cautioned that the development could "open a Pandora's box" in global affairs by encouraging other powerful nations to adopt similar tactics.

Sinha, who served as India's envoy in Venezuela from 2007 to 2010, compared the reported operation to the 1989 US intervention in Panama that resulted in the arrest of then-leader Manuel Noriega.

"It reminds me of an earlier era of gunboat diplomacy. Noriega of Panama was also captured and brought to the US for justice," Sinha said, suggesting the US appeared to ...