A geopolitical wake-up call for India
US aircraft and missile destroyers helped Israeli forces in the interception of the Iranian missiles earlier too.
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The Wire
12 minutes ago
- The Wire
If You Are Cheering for Bombs on Muslim Lands, You Are Not a 'Nationalist'
When Israel conducted unilateral and unprovoked attacks on Iranian territory on June 13, 2025, Iran retaliated to defend its sovereignty by firing missiles, including hypersonics, into Israel. For Israel, barrages of missiles bypassing their famed air defence system, the Iron Dome, were beyond tolerable. In this context, Israel has been desperate for the US to join the war under the garb of destroying Iran's nonexistent nuclear weapons. US president Donald Trump earlier showed all the signs of using a level-headed approach by stating that he would not enter the war for at least two more weeks, but then his own unpredictability or the pressure of the lobby that funds most political campaigns in the US prevailed over him. And on June 21, the USA conducted airstrikes on Iran's three nuclear facilities – Fordow, Isfahan, Natanz – almost against the will of its own people and his own poll plank. The conflict in West Asia is unfolding in the wider context of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza of which Iran has been one of the harshest critics and hence a legitimate target for Israel and its chief sponsor, the USA. The war is likely to have far reaching ramifications across the world. But India's digital sphere is not responding with strategic analysis, diplomacy, humanitarian concern or even wisdom. It is flooded with tank emojis, fanboy hashtags, and recycled Modi–Netanyahu selfies. This, however, should not be mistaken as solidarity for Israel. It is a digital hate theatre where communal rage is dressed up as foreign policy. In the aftermath of Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel and Israel's indiscriminate war on Gaza, a significant portion of anti-Palestinian disinformation on social media and pro-Israel propaganda, often using violent or communal language, was traced to India and in some cases has been amplified by verified Indian handles, including some linked to the ruling party. This online behaviour reflects not geopolitical strategy, but a deeper domestic pathology - one where communal aggression finds its outlet under the cover of international conflict. The right-wing hate-mongers in India don't debate. They bait. 'But what about Hamas?' 'What about Pakistan?' 'What about Muslims and Masjids and skullcaps?' 'What about 1947?' If these were rational questions, one could engage with arguments. Much to our dismay, instead, these are smokescreens, designed to blur moral clarity and reframe nationalism as a shouting match. The tactic employed in the process is whataboutery – probably now the cornerstone of political discourse in India, under the Bharatiya Janata Party. The ruling party, its political influencers and troll networks routinely deploy whataboutery to deflect criticism – on issues ranging from economy, communal violence, human rights, or foreign policy. Rather than engage with facts or ethical questions, their rhetorical moves are designed to shift the spotlight – ensuring no accountability, just perpetually performative outrage. BJP took the good old statecraft. And replaced it with stagecraft. When Israel bombed Iran's consulate in Damascus in April 2024 – a direct violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations – there was no outcry from India's hawkish media or foreign policy circles. No prime-time outrage. No tweets about sovereignty. No talk of international law. This silence was not accidental. It was ideological. Iran is a Muslim country and for a large section of India's right-wing digital ecosystem, that alone is reason enough to suspend all concern for legal norms or moral consistency. Strategic thinking? No. It is a segregatory reflex, mistaken for strategy. And like every other, this mistake has a cost. Iran is not an enemy. It's a strategic partner. India defied US sanctions to invest in and develop the Chabahar Port – a critical trade and connectivity route to Central Asia and Afghanistan, and a calculated counterbalance to China's investment in Gwadar Port, Pakistan. In fact, India signed a 10-year agreement to operate Chabahar in May 2024, underscoring its long-term strategic importance despite US pressure and threats of secondary sanctions. Undermining Iran doesn't weaken Pakistan – it weakens India. Every cheer for Iran's isolation is, in effect, a cheer against our own regional leverage and long-term interests. India's foreign policy and strategic partnerships are the culmination of decades of deliberate and principled diplomacy, not accidental alignments. Jawaharlal Nehru's unwavering support for Palestine and Indira Gandhi's leadership in the Non-Aligned Movement laid the foundational groundwork for India's foreign policy. Atal Bihari Vajpayee's proactive engagement with West Asia and Manmohan Singh's careful calibration of relations with Tehran further solidified India's position, ensuring a delicate balance between strategic autonomy, economic imperatives, and moral consistency. This legacy has been instrumental in securing critical oil partnerships, protecting the interests of millions of Indian workers in the Gulf, and maintaining a credible stance with both Israel and Iran. Yet, under the current administration, this hard-earned diplomatic legacy is being squandered, as the BJP prioritises petty politics of hate over the grand strategic vision that once defined India's global standing. The BJP's actions, marked by disinformation campaigns and a disregard for international norms, have not only undermined India's credibility but also jeopardised the delicate balances that previous leaders worked tirelessly to maintain. This indictment of the BJP's approach reveals a troubling shift, where short-term domestic gains are pursued at the expense of India's long-term geopolitical influence. And of course, it never helps to have an external affairs minister who is always on an official visit to some country or think-tank on the taxpayer's money but has somehow miserably failed at converting all these opulent trips into diplomatic gains for the nation. Meanwhile, there is a world beyond hashtags. And it is watching. A January 2024 poll across 16 Arab countries showed 92% identifying Gaza as a personal cause. 97% reported psychological stress. Saudi opposition to normalisation with Israel jumped from 38% to 68%. Clearly, these are not fringe sentiments. They are tectonic shifts in public perception. India has reduced itself to a spectator, scoffing at the world's changing views from behind a screen. Now for the legal truth – not spin, not sentiment. The UN has unequivocally called Israel's siege of Gaza collective punishment – a textbook violation of the Geneva Conventions. The International Court of Justice has gone further, warning of a plausible genocide. And again, these aren't fringe claims. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and UN-appointed experts have documented systematic attacks on hospitals, schools and refugee camps, forced mass displacement, and the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon. They are well-documented war crimes – codified in international law, recorded by the world's leading human rights bodies and broadcasted across the world in real time. And still, we cheer. Not because it helps India. But because it fits a narrative – a deeply entrenched one, where violence against Muslims is always seen as understandable, even justified and celebrated, and any dissent from that worldview is cast as anti-national. In this framework, foreign policy is not guided by strategic interests or moral principles. It's an extension of domestic bigotry projected onto the global stage. The suffering of thousands of innocent civilians killed in Israeli strikes become irrelevant – because acknowledging it would mean confronting the moral contradictions of the majoritarian politics at home. Support for Israel, in this context, is not about geopolitics. It's about reinforcing a domestic message: that Muslim lives are expendable, Muslim grievances are illegitimate, and any empathy for them is a betrayal of the nation. This is not foreign policy. It is hate and bigotry masked as politics. And in the long run, however, it does not just dehumanise others. It corrodes India's own moral standing, erodes its credibility abroad, projects India as thoughtless at the global stage, and turns legitimate dissent into a punishable offence at home. India today could have occupied a rare and enviable position in global geopolitics - one of moral credibility and strategic relevance. As one of the few major powers with working diplomatic ties to both Israel and Iran, India was uniquely positioned to act as a bridge in an increasingly fragmented world. With the region teetering on the edge of a wider war – and with the ever-present threat of nuclear escalation – India could have used its channels to urge de-escalation, mediate dialogue, and prevent the deepening of a catastrophic conflict. This did not just have to be naïve hope. It could have been a genuine strategic opportunity. At a moment when the world is desperate for calm, India could have been a voice of restraint and a platform for negotiation - projecting not just power, but wisdom. Instead, unfortunately, under the BJP government, our foreign policy is now a sub-genre of digital hooliganism. Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iran – all Muslim-majority countries are legitimate targets that fit the BJP's script. What's been branded as nationalism is, in truth, egotistical hate politics – a cynical rebranding of Orwellian control, where the idea of Indian democracy is to be contained, not celebrated. In the process, it has culminated into the slow, deliberate sabotage of India's moral and strategic standing in the world. Congress rejects this collapse. We call for a humanitarian ceasefire, for the two-state solution, for a return to law, principle, and strategic maturity. And here is the catch. If you cheer bombs on Muslim lands – even when they damage India's interests – you are not a nationalist. You are a saboteur. This is not love for India. It is its calculated undoing. Pawan Khera is chairman of media and communications of the Congress party.
Hindustan Times
16 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Bitcoin slides below $100,000 after US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
Bitcoin slid below $100,000 for the first time since May and Ether sank sharply after President Donald Trump said US bombers attacked Iran's three main nuclear sites, triggering risk aversion in weekend trading in digital-asset markets. File photo - A bitcoin is seen in an illustration picture. (Source: Reuters)(REUTERS) Bitcoin sank as much as 3.8% to $98,904 as of 12:05 p.m in New York in the aftermath of the attacks. Ether, the second-largest, token fell as much as 10% to about $2,157, its lowest intra-day level since May 8. 'Markets are nervously eying ongoing geopolitical developments,' said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets, a provider of liquidity for crypto derivatives. The focus of markets will be largely on oil when traditional markets reopen, she said. The latest losses come after Trump said the Iranian sites of Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan were struck in the operation, specifically describing a 'payload of BOMBS' dropped on Fordow, a key location of uranium enrichment that has raised international concern that Iran was preparing to create a nuclear weapon. 'The overhang of whether the US would strike Iran caused a selloff through the week and into the weekend,' said Cosmo Jiang, general partner at Pantera Capital Management. Total liquidation of crypto bets over the last 24 hours was more than $1 billion, with about $915 million and $109 million in long and short positions closed respectively, according to data compiled by Coinglass. Jiang said Bitcoin 'tends to lead the market out of a bounce' in times of geopolitical uncertainty.
Deccan Herald
19 minutes ago
- Deccan Herald
Indian stocks set to slip after US attack on Iran's nuclear sites
The US attacked key Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.
