India’s Stand on Iran- Israel Conflict

General Studies Paper-2 

Context: Iran launched drones and cruise missiles against Israel under Operation True Promise (Also called “Operation Honest Promise”).

About

• India issued a statement expressing India’s “serious concern” at the escalation of hostilities, and called for “immediate de-escalation”.
• The Iranian attack was in response to the suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian consular building in Syria’s Damascus that killed 12 people.

Significance of the Region for India

• Threat to Indian Community: There are about 18,000 Indians in Israel and about 5,000-10,000 Indians in Iran, about 90 lakh people are living and working in the Gulf and West Asia region.
  • Any conflict that expands will end up posing a risk to the Indian community that is based in the region.
• Energy Security: The West Asia region contributes to India’s 80 percent of oil supplies, which a potential conflict will impact.
  • India has been able to minimise the impact of oil prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war by buying Russian oil at discounted prices, but this conflict will have an adverse impact on energy prices.
• Investment and Strategic Importance: India has invested in a strategic relationship with major Arab countries, Iran, and Israel.
  • India sees the region as its extended neighbourhood, and it has been pushing for the India-Middle-East-Europe Economic corridor, which has strategic as well as economic benefits.
  • Chabahar in Iran is another strategic economic project, which acts as a gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia — since Pakistan denies land transit to Indian goods.
• Defence Relations with Israel: India has a very deep strategic relationship with Israel, especially in the context of defence and security partnership.

India’s Neutral Stand

• Maintaining a Balanced Stand: India’s stakes in the bilateral relationships with both Israel and Iran are huge, India will hope that Israel will avoid new military actions that will trigger a dangerous and wider war in the region.
  • Earlier India was seen as taking “Israel’s side”, but today its position urging restraint will be viewed as “balanced” and in favour of regional peace.
• Based on the Complex Regional Politics: Inter-state and intra-state conflicts in the Middle East are deep and pervasive, and India will have to forever balance its engagement with key regional actors — Egypt, Iran, Israel, Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — whose orientation and interests are different and often in conflict.
  • India’s call for de-escalation between Israel and Iran is about recognising the complexity of the region’s politics.
• Non- Ideological Engagement: The non-ideological engagement with the region is a necessary complement to India’s expanding interests in the Middle East.
  • India’s interests in the region are no longer limited to oil imports and labour exports.
• The Gulf Arab states — especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — have emerged as major economic and political partners for India.

Way Ahead

• India has strategic ties with both Iran and Israel — and for decades, it has been able to balance between the two sides. But if the conflict widens, it would be difficult for it to maintain an ambivalent position.
  • In the context of such deep ties with both Israel and Iran, India has difficulty in choosing sides.
• India’s position that there should be “immediate de-escalation” and “step back from violence” and “return to the path of diplomacy” is, therefore, crucial to its national interest.