India's Diplomatic Dilemma

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran has taken their bilateral diplomacy into an abyss.

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Their economic credentials also stand challenged—a phenomenon which is characteristic of any war in any part of the world. However, as is the nature of this highly globalised world, fallouts of conflicts are barely limited to the nations involved. Pundits of geopolitics would confirm that this undoubtedly holds true for the Israel-Iran conflict. India, whose geopolitical and economic stakes have risen phenomenally across the world, must be the last nation on this planet to serve as an exception to the abovementioned general norms of conflict.

The country currently finds itself straddling a geopolitical tightrope wherein every step has to be calculated, cautious, and consequential. New Delhi's decision to distance itself from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) condemnation of Israel's military strikes on Iran speaks volumes about the prevailing nuances of India's foreign policy doctrine. Much is already said and speculated about India's position in the gravest conflicts of the contemporary era—be it the Gaza crisis or Russia-Ukraine war. India, according primacy to its national interest—a main driver of foreign policy—while finding a principled, though not effective, ground has been the norm lately.