Why in News?

• The ongoing conflict in West Asia and the disruption of maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz have significantly affected Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supplies to India.
• To manage the supply shock and protect essential consumer sectors, the Government of India has invoked emergency powers under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to regulate and prioritise the allocation of natural gas.
• The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has issued an order diverting gas supplies to “priority sectors” such as households and transportation while curtailing supplies to certain industrial sectors.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• Strait of Hormuz Disruption
• India’s Dependence on Imported Gas
• Government Measures to Manage the Gas Shortage
• Curtailment of Gas to Non-Priority Sectors
• Measures to Secure Supply
• Challenges and Way Ahead
• Conclusion

Strait of Hormuz Disruption:

• The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman, connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
• It is one of the most critical energy chokepoints in the world, as it handles about one-fifth of global liquid petroleum consumption and LNG trade.
• Over 50% of India’s LNG imports from countries such as Qatar and the UAE transit through this route. Cargoes moving through the Strait account for about 30% of India’s total gas consumption.
• With Iran warning ships against transit and attacks reported on vessels, maritime movement has nearly halted, disrupting LNG shipments to India.

India’s Dependence on Imported Gas:

• India’s energy system is significantly dependent on imported natural gas.
• Out of the total gas demand of about 190 million standard cubic metres per day (mscmd), around 50% of this demand is met through LNG
• LPG imports meet nearly 60% of India’s requirement. Over 80% of LPG imports also pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Thus, geopolitical disruptions in West Asia have direct implications for India’s energy security. 

Government Measures to Manage the Gas Shortage:

• Invocation of the Essential Commodities Act: The government used emergency powers to regulate gas distribution, ensuring essential sectors receive adequate supplies while shifting the shortage burden to non-priority sectors.
• Four-tier priority allocation system: The MoPNG created a four-category priority system based on average gas consumption over the past six months.
  • Priority Category I – 100% supply, due to their direct impact on citizens - PNG (Piped Natural Gas) for households, CNG for the transport sector, gas used for LPG production, gas required for essential pipeline operations.
  • Priority Category II – 70% supply. Fertiliser plants - Gas allocation is strictly restricted for fertiliser production only, and units must certify compliance through the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).
  • Priority Category III – 80% supply. Tea industries, manufacturing and other industrial consumers connected to the national gas grid.
  • Priority Category IV – 80% supply. Commercial and industrial consumers supplied through City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks.

Curtailment of Gas to Non-Priority Sectors:

• To divert gas to essential sectors, supply to following industrial users has been reduced -
  • Petrochemical units
  • Gas-based power plants
  • Domestic gas consumers from difficult blocks
  • Refineries, whose gas supply has been reduced to 65% of their recent average consumption
• The public sector company GAIL has been tasked with managing these allocations.

Measures to Secure Supply:

• Increase in domestic LPG production:
  • The government directed refiners to maximise LPG output by using propane and butane streams. This has led to a 10% rise in LPG production.
  • Private companies such as Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) have also pledged to increase LPG output from the Jamnagar refining complex.
• Prioritisation of domestic consumers:
  • India has over 33 crore domestic LPG consumers, making uninterrupted household supply a top priority.
  • Measures include:
    • Prioritising domestic LPG over commercial LPG users (e.g., hotels and restaurants).
    • Increasing the minimum refill booking gap from 21 days to 25 days to prevent hoarding.
    • Ensuring daily distribution of about 60 lakh LPG cylinders, unchanged from pre-crisis levels.
  • A three-member committee of oil marketing company executives has been formed to review requests from commercial LPG consumers and allocate supplies where feasible.
• Diversifying LNG imports:
  • India is attempting to source LNG from alternative suppliers such as Norway and the United States.
  • However, diversification faces logistical constraints like shipping time from these countries is around two months, and LNG prices have surged from $6–8 per MMBtu to about $15 per MMBtu.
  • Despite higher costs, imports from distant markets become economically viable once prices exceed $10 per MMBtu.

Challenges and Way Ahead:

• Geopolitical vulnerability: Heavy dependence on West Asian energy supplies exposes India to disruptions during regional conflicts.
  • Diversification: India should expand LNG supply agreements with countries such as Australia, the U.S., and African producers to reduce reliance on West Asia.
• Chokepoint risk: Reliance on the Strait of Hormuz makes India vulnerable to maritime security disruptions.
  • Creation of strategic gas reserves similar to petroleum reserves could cushion temporary disruptions.
• Limited domestic gas production: Domestic gas output is insufficient to meet rising demand.
  • Encouraging exploration in deepwater, ultra-deepwater, and difficult basins can increase indigenous gas output.
• Time lag in diversification: Alternative LNG imports from distant countries involve long shipping lead times.
  • India must strengthen partnerships through long-term contracts and multilateral energy cooperation.
• Industrial disruption: Curtailing supplies to industries like petrochemicals and power plants may affect production and economic activity.
  • Accelerating solar, wind, and green hydrogen initiatives can reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Conclusion:

• The disruption of LNG supplies due to the West Asia conflict highlights the fragility of global energy supply chains and India’s vulnerability to geopolitical shocks.
• The crisis underscores the urgent need for energy diversification, domestic production enhancement, and resilient supply chains to ensure long-term energy security for India.

Context

• The rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence, particularly Generative AI, has intensified global debates about technological power, national security, and governance.
• Recent tensions involving Anthropic and Chinese AI firms such as DeepSeek, MoonshotAI, and MiniMax reveal how AI development is increasingly shaped by geopolitical rivalry and corporate competition.
• Disputes over model distillation, the military use of AI, and technological restrictions illustrate a struggle for technological dominance.
• Sustainable solutions require international governance frameworks rather than unilateral restrictions.

AI Competition and National Security Concerns

• Concerns emerged when Anthropic urged policymakers to classify certain Chinese AI laboratories as national security threats, alleging large-scale model distillation.
• Distillation allows a weaker model to learn from the outputs of a stronger system. The activity reportedly involved fraudulent accounts, deceptive access methods, and millions of interactions with Anthropic’s Claude model.
• Such actions violated terms of service and raised questions about intellectual property protection and technological access controls.
• At the same time, AI systems developed by American firms have reportedly been used by the United States military to accelerate the kill chain, linking target identification, legal approval, and military strikes.
• This highlights the dual-use technology nature of AI: tools designed for civilian applications can easily be adapted for military operations.
• Even Anthropic faced scrutiny when the Pentagon reportedly labelled it a supply chain risk, demonstrating the tensions between corporate autonomy, defence partnerships, and government oversight.

The Limits of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Analogy

• Comparisons between AI and nuclear weapons have encouraged calls for strict technology containment.
• However, the analogy is flawed. Nuclear non-proliferation works because fissile material is scarce, traceable, and controlled by governments.
• AI models, by contrast, are mathematical systems that can be copied, modified, and distributed with relative ease.
• Unlike nuclear research, historically driven by government programs such as the Manhattan Project, advanced AI development occurs primarily in private companies focused on commercial innovation.

Model Distillation and the Debate over Guardrails

• Arguments that distilled models will lack safety guardrails are weakened by the reality that frontier models themselves may support controversial applications.
• Leading firms including OpenAI, Google, and xAI possess technologies capable of enabling surveillance systems, cyberwarfare, and even autonomous weapons.
• Competitive pressure for lucrative defence contracts creates incentives for companies to adopt more permissive policies regarding military use.
• While some firms express concern over the ethical implications of these applications, others accept broader agreements with government agencies.
• This environment risks a race to the bottom, where ethical safeguards weaken in response to market competition

The Difficulty of Controlling AI Diffusion

• Efforts to restrict AI development face significant structural barriers. Talent mobility across borders ensures that expertise circulates globally.
• Many researchers currently employed by Chinese AI laboratories received education or professional experience in American universities and technology firms, illustrating the interconnected nature of the global research ecosystem.
• Restrictions on technological inputs such as advanced AI chips have repeatedly encountered circumvention strategies and partial policy reversals.
• Model distillation represents another pathway that is even harder to regulate because it relies on analysing model outputs rather than accessing proprietary code or architecture.
• Each new restriction tends to produce new technical solutions, limiting the effectiveness of input-based controls.

Power, Intellectual Property, and Market Dominance

• Debates surrounding distillation also raise complex questions about data ownership and market concentration.
• Frontier AI companies argue that distillation amounts to large-scale intellectual property theft.
• However, these same models are trained on enormous datasets composed of web content, creative works, and publicly available texts created by millions of individuals who did not provide explicit consent or receive compensation.
• From this perspective, learning from model outputs may not be fundamentally more extractive than training models on publicly produced knowledge.
• Although violating a company’s terms of service is legally problematic, framing distillation purely as theft overlooks deeper structural issues about data ethics and digital labour.

The Way Forward: Toward Global Governance of Military AI

• The integration of AI into military systems appears increasingly inevitable as states seek advantages in strategic competition.
• Corporate guardrails alone cannot regulate such developments because companies can be pressured, replaced, or compelled by governments.
• Effective regulation requires plurilateral agreements among states that define responsible military uses of AI.
• Key commitments should include meaningful human control over lethal decisions, prohibitions on mass civilian surveillance, and auditable technical standards governing AI-enabled systems.
• These rules must apply universally to avoid selective enforcement driven by geopolitical interests.

Conclusion

• The intersection of Artificial Intelligence, national security, and corporate competition is reshaping global technological politics.
• Attempts to treat AI like nuclear technology underestimate its decentralized innovation structure and the speed of knowledge diffusion.
• Restrictive policies may slow competitors but cannot prevent technological spread and may reinforce corporate monopolies.
• A balanced approach requires international cooperation, transparent standards, and shared commitments to responsible military use.

About Sinhagad Fort :

• Sinhagad, earlier known as ‘Kondhana’, is a fortress located near Pune, Maharashtra.
• According to history, the fort was built 2,000 years ago and it is said that the name Kondana was derived from sage Kaundinya.
• Early inscriptions and carvings suggest it served as a spiritual retreat and strategic outpost for ancient dynasties.
• Mohammed bin Tughalak captured the fort from the Koli tribal chieftain, Nag Naik in 1340 CE.
• In 1496 CE, Malik Ahmad, the founder of the Nizam Shahi dynasty took control of the fort.
• Nearly 200 years later, the Maratha leader Shahaji Bhonsale captured the fort.
• In 1647 CE, Shivaji held the stronghold.
• In 1665 CE, as per the Treaty of Purandar, Shivaji handed over Sinhagad to the Mughals and again captured it in 1670 CE, under the direction of Tanaji Malusare who was Shivaji's favorite general.
• It has witnessed epic battles, including the legendary Battle of Sinhagad in 1670, where valor, sacrifice, and strategy led to an unforgettable victory for the Marathas over the Mughal Army.
• While recouping the fort during Battle of Sinhagad, Malusare lost his life for which Shivaji Maharaj honoured the fort with the name Sinhagad Fort or Lion’s Fort.
• Aurangzeb laid siege to Sinhagad in 1701- 03 CE, but could not hold it for long.
• Finally the British seized the fort from the Marathas in 1818 AD. The fort was later used as a retreat for many European residents of Pune.
• Architecture:
  • It is a marvel of Maratha architecture and engineering.
  • The fort features two main entrances—the Pune Darwaza, facing Pune, and the Kalyan Darwaza, opening towards the Konkan region—both showcasing intricate stonework and strategic placement for enhanced security.
  • It has an advanced water storage system, which includes ancient rainwater harvesting techniques and natural reservoirs that ensure a continuous water supply.
  • The fort has several bastions, ramparts, walls, and gates that enclose its premises.
  • The fort also houses a temple dedicated to Goddess Kali, a brewery, some military sheds and the tombs of Rajaram Chhatrapati (Shivaji’s youngest son) and Tanaji Malusare.

About DART Mission:

• DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) was a NASA space probe dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact.
• It was launched in 2021.
• It was the first-ever space mission to demonstrate asteroid deflection by a kinetic impactor.
• It was the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration.
• It was aimed at finding out whether or not we could redirect the trajectory of a near-Earth object simply by crashing into it.
• The target of DART was a binary asteroid system consisting of a smaller moonlet, Dimorphos, orbiting around a larger asteroid, Didymos.
  • Because the two were linked by gravity, the theory went, knocking little Dimorphos off-kilter would affect both objects.
  • DART spacecraft successfully collided with Dimorphos in 2022.
  • The mission was a success. For the first time, humans have successfully demonstrated the ability to change the motion of an asteroid in space.