Iran-Israel war: Will India need to pick a side? – DW – 06/20/2025
The escalating conflict in the Middle East presents India with tough choices — balancing energy security, economic stability and its delicate diplomacy between Israel and Iran.
India maintains amicable relations with both Israel and Iran, which is the result of a delicate balancing act stretching back many years.
Now, New Delhi finds itself in a precarious position as the Israel-Iran conflict seems to be escalating into a broader confrontation with mounting death tolls and rising uncertainty.
India's diplomatic tightrope
Over the last decade, India has strengthened ties with Israel, particularly in defense and technology. India has acquired advanced weaponry, including Barak 8 defense missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), loitering munitions and sophisticated radar systems.
In last month's short-lived conflict between India and Pakistan, New Delhi reportedly utilized various Israeli-origin weapons, underscoring the importance of the strategic defense partnership.
At the same time, India values its historical and cultural connections with Iran, as well as its strategic role in regional connectivity, energy security, and geopolitical balance. Tehran is also New Delhi's second-largest supplier of crude oil.
Israeli civilian sites hit by barrage of Iranian missiles
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Importantly, Iran acts as India's gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia. The Chabahar Port project on the Gulf of Oman, developed jointly by India and Iran, is central to this strategy, providing India with direct access to this region while bypassing Pakistan.
Shanthie Mariet D'Souza, a regional expert monitoring current events, said that "India needs to maintain its balancing act to protect its security ties with Israel and protect its strategic interests and economic commitment to the Chabahar Port."
"With such contrasting objectives, strategic ambiguity serves the purpose of India being dragged into the conflict, which is bound to widen if the war drags on," D'Souza, founder of the Mantraya Institute for Strategic Studies, told DW.
Safeguarding New Delhi's interests
Last week, India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement expressing deep concern at the recent developments between Iran and Israel.
"India urges both sides to avoid any escalatory steps. Existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy should be utilised to work towards a de-escalation of the situation and resolving underlying issues," said the statement.
"India enjoys close and friendly relations with both countries and stands ready to extend all possible support," it added.
Sticking to its policy of strategic ambiguity and nonalignment, India distanced itself from a recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) statement denouncing Israel's attacks on Iran.
The SCO is a 10-member bloc created by China and Russia to counter the Western-led global order.India is also a SCO member, despite its regional rivalry with China. Responding to the escalation between Israel and Iran, the SCO expressed "serious concern" and strongly condemned the Israeli military strikes.
Indians seek jobs in Israel amid high unemployment
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
P R Kumaraswamy, a professor of Middle Eastern studies specializing in Israeli politics at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, told DW that India's strategic silence on the Israel-Iran conflict, mirrored by its decisive refusal to endorse the SCO, reflects a "calculated, nuanced and matured approach" rooted in its national interests and geopolitical balancing.
"This approach, akin to its neutrality during the Ukraine-Russia war, also recognizes the sentiments in several Arab capitals as they are caught between Israeli actions and a nuclear Iran as their neighbor," said Kumaraswamy.
"Strategic autonomy can also be pursued through calculated and minimalist responses without any rhetorical declarations."
D'Souza, however, said such a policy will be useful as long as the conflict between Israel and Iran is short.
"If it drags on, every move of India will be analyzed and assessed, and its impartiality will be tested, which will be a test case for India's diplomacy," she said.
"It will come under pressure if the conflict prolongs. However, being a votary of diplomacy and dialogue is a prudent policy that will maintain India's principle of non-alignment," she added.
Will India's hand be forced?
Earlier this week, India launched "Operation Sindhu" to evacuate Indian nationals, starting with 110 Indian students from northern Iran. These students were assisted in crossing into Armenia by road under the supervision of Indian diplomats.
Iranians protest Israeli strikes
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Following the successful evacuation from Iran, India extended the operation to include its nationals in Israel. Indian citizens who wish to leave Israel are being evacuated through land borders and then brought to India by air, according to India's Foreign Ministry.
Former diplomat Anil Wadhwa said India would resist the pressure to take a clear side in the conflict unless New Delhi's vital interests like energy, connectivity, or security, are directly threatened.
"Strategic autonomy has been prioritized by India. In the Middle East itself, opinions are divided over Iranian nuclear activities. India, therefore, works on a bilateral basis with its Middle East partners to develop trust and enhance its interests," Wadhwa told DW.
"India will not want to be drawn into bloc-based confrontations. It is building trust through tailored partnerships," he added.
Edited by: Keith Walker
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Germany
3 hours ago
- Local Germany
German air force evacuates 64 citizens from Israel
The country's foreign and defence ministries said in a joint statement that two Airbus A400Ms had flown to Israel for the operation to bring home "families with children and other vulnerable people". The ministries' statement stressed this had been a diplomatic operation carried out in close cooperation with the Israeli authorities, as any military operation would have required the approval of Germany's parliament. Germany's foreign ministry has already organised the evacuation of 345 people on two chartered flights via Amman. Another such flight is due to leave the Jordanian capital on Saturday. Germany is among several countries to organise evacuations for their citizens by land, sea and air from both Iran and Israel, as the two continue to bombard each other.
DW
3 hours ago
- DW
Will India step in to mediate amid Iran-Israel escalation? – DW – 06/21/2025
With close ties to both Israel and Iran and as a self-proclaimed leader of the Global South, could Delhi help end the current conflict? DW's security podcast Global Eyes takes a look. With close ties to both Iran and Israel, India has the opportunity to mediate between the two as their confrontation continues and risks further geopolitical escalation. Delhi has increasingly sought out Israeli military technology but also long maintained good relations with Tehran for energy and other economic reasons. As a self-proclaimed leader of the Global South, will India step out of its traditional role of avoiding any strong position? Khinvraj Jangid, Director of the Jindal Center for Israel Studies in Delhi and Nicolas Blarel, a researcher on Indian foreign policy at Leiden University in the Netherlands, join the hosts of DW's security podcast, Global Eyes, to examine India's ties to both Israel and Iran. Should Delhi step up or stay on the sidelines?
DW
6 hours ago
- DW
Israel says it launched strikes on Iran missile facilities – DW – 06/21/2025
Renewed strikes in Israel and Iran come after Tehran ruled out a return to nuclear talks until Israel halts its strikes, and Israel's army told Israelis to brace for a "prolonged campaign." According to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar's estimates, Israel's attacks on Iran have slowed down the Islamic Republic's development of a nuclear bomb by several years. "I believe, according to the assessments we hear, we have already delayed their ability to obtain a nuclear bomb by at least two or three years," Saar said in an interview with the German tabloid newspaper. "The fact that we have eliminated those individuals who led and advanced the weaponization of the nuclear program is extremely important in terms of the results," he said. "We have already achieved a lot. But we will do whatever we can. We will not stop until we have done everything possible to eliminate this threat," Saar said. The conflict between Israel and Iran erupted a week ago with Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. The Iranian state news agency Tasnim named the "martyred" scientists as "Abdolhamid Minouchehr, Ahmadreza Zolfaghari, Amirhossein Feqhi, Motalleblizadeh, Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi." Israel is convinced that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon, an accusation that Iranian leadership has repeatedly rejected. Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is meant for civilian rather than military purposes. However, experts and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN watchdog which inspects nuclear facilities, have questioned and criticized the Iranian claims. The German air force evacuated 64 citizens from Israel who arrived in Cologne on Friday. The Airbus A400M military aircraft touched down at Cologne/Bonn Airport. This is the first time the German air force has flown German citizens out of Israel since the conflict with Iran escalated about a week ago. The group of German citizens was flown out of Israel as part of a "diplomatic evacuation," the German government said. "The flights were carried out at short notice in close coordination with the Israeli authorities and were primarily intended for families with children and other vulnerable persons." In the past two days, Germany had begun evacuating its citizens on special flights, though not directly from Israel, but rather from Jordan. Around 2:30 a.m. in Israel (2330 GMT on Friday), the Israeli military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran, triggering air raid sirens across parts of central Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel said its defense system intercepted the missiles over Tel Aviv. The Israeli air force also said Saturday it had launched a new wave of airstrikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran, on the ninth day of conflict between the two countries. Israel's armed forces chief, Eyal Zamir, warned that his country should be "ready for a prolonged campaign" against Iran, as the war entered its second week. Zamir's statement echoed earlier remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the fighting would continue "for as long as it takes." A meeting of the foreign ministers of three European countries with their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, came to an end Friday in Geneva, with the ministers from Germany and France voicing hope over future talks. Araghchi, meanwhile, said Iran would not return to talks about its nuclear program until Israeli "aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes." US President Donald Trump said on Friday Iran has a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible US military strikes, one day after stating he would decide within a fortnight whether to take action. Welcome to DW's coverage of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. The nuclear talks in Geneva ended on Friday with no conclusion. The date for the next round of talks has not been decided. Meanwhile, Iran and Israel have resumed attacks against each other. In addition to the latest news, this blog will bring you photos, videos, analyses and on-the-ground reporting from DW correspondents.
