India, May 13 -- Although military tensions and clashes between India and Pakistan since the Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22 were a bilateral affair between the two principal antagonists, the varied roles played by external actors in this crisis offer insights into the kind of world we live in.

No war, quasi war or armed confrontation can be completely localised because it triggers high stakes considerations such as alliances and strategic partnerships, the regional balance of power, the efficacy and sales of weaponry, the norms and doctrines governing the use of force, and ripple effects in security in other parts of the world. Particularly in the present global context of renewed great power competition or the new Cold War, the c...