New Delhi, Sept. 26 -- Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday welcomed the defense pact between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as the beginning of a "comprehensive regional security system" in what seems to signal the rise of an Islamic security bloc.

When the leader of Iran, the sole Shia-majority country, applauds coming together of the bastion of Sunni Islam, Saudi Arabia, and the sole Sunni Islamic nuclear power Pakistan, it portends a geostrategic reordering of significance.

It is a matter of particular concern for India whose relations with the United States have become unmoored. To add to New Delhi's terrible uncertainty, US President Donald Trump and leaders of Muslim countries met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly...