India is in both crisis in Iran-Israel conflict
Both Iran and Israel are allies of India. However, due to the recent conflict between the two countries, the country is in crisis. New Delhi is particularly concerned about trade relations with both countries. India has not taken any side in this situation so far. However, it said that the country will take a policy decision only after a full assessment of the consequences of the current crisis.
After Iran’s drone and missile attack on Israel last Saturday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs urged both countries to “be patient”. At the same time, the country suggested solving the crisis through ‘dialogue and diplomacy’. New Delhi termed the conflict as a ‘humanitarian disaster’, disrupting security and peace in the region.
Israel has a strategic alliance with India. The two countries have been advancing relations in various sectors including defense technology for the past few decades. However, after the current National Democratic Alliance or NDA coalition government led by Narendra Modi came to power in 2014, the relationship between the two countries deepened.
Modi even visited Israel as the first Indian Prime Minister. Modi has a warm personal relationship with the country’s current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. All in all, Israel is a very important partner for India, especially in the security sector. Israel is India’s largest supplier of defense equipment after the US, UK, France and Russia.
Meanwhile, India’s relationship with Iran is historic. Several hundred years old. After India’s independence in 1947, both countries took the relationship further. Even after the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, the relationship between the two countries did not decline.
Iran is one of the major oil suppliers to India. Iran was India’s second-largest oil supplier before sanctions imposed over Tehran’s nuclear program. Even though India has not been able to buy any fuel from Iran for the past four years, the relationship between the two countries is still intact.
Iran and India last signed a defense pact in 2022. A year ago, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanam Jaishankar himself visited Iran to discuss the relationship between the two countries. Besides, India has huge investments in Iran. A significant investment project is the construction of Chabahar port in Iran.
However, as a result of this conflict, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, seized an Israeli-owned cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Several sailors of that ship are Indians. However, Iranian authorities have told New Delhi that they will arrange for the Indian sailors to meet the country’s officials and ensure security.
All in all, New Delhi is quite worried as India’s two allied countries like Iran and Israel are involved in a terrible conflict with each other. However, the country does not want to take any policy decision now on whether or not to take forward relations, especially commercial relations, with the two countries. Rather, it wants to wait and proceed after assessing the full picture of the situation.
In this regard, India’s Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwale said, “We are used to regional conflicts. It is true that if there was no conflict, the export of our products would have increased. He further said, ‘Only after fully understanding the problems faced by the traders, the government will do whatever is necessary to solve the problems. ‘