India’s positions on conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, reflected in its vote on resolutions and statements at multilateral forums in recent days, lay bare a clear reluctance on its part to support, or even participate in discussions on, motions that call out Israeli aggression.
On June 12, India abstained from a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire by all parties” in Gaza. The resolution “strongly condemned the use of starvation and the denial of aid as tactics of war” and demanded that “Israel immediately lift the blockade on Gaza and open all border crossings for aid deliveries.” 149 countries voted for the resolution, with the United States and Israel voting against it. India was among 19 countries that abstained.
Two days later, on June 14, India distanced itself from a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) statement that “strongly condemn[ed]” Israel’s military strikes on the night of June 12-13 that targeted military bases, missile facilities, and nuclear installations in Iran. The strikes killed top military officials and nuclear scientists as well as civilians.
“Such aggressive actions against civilian targets, including energy and transport infrastructure, which have resulted in civilian casualties, are a gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter,” the SCO statement said, adding that “they constitute an infringement on Iran’s sovereignty, cause damage to regional and international security, and pose serious risks to global peace and stability.”
India was the only South Asian country, as well as the only member of BRICS and the SCO, to abstain on the UNGA’s latest Gaza ceasefire resolution.
As for the SCO statement on the Israel-Iran war, India’s decision to distance itself made it not only the only outlier in the regional organization but also one that did not stand in support of a co-member of the group. Incidentally, Iran, the SCO’s youngest member, joined the grouping in 2023 when India was its chair. India’s support to Iran back then is said to have played an important role in Iran’s membership.
Among the countries that were at the forefront of support for the Palestinian cause for several decades, India established diplomatic ties with Israel only in 1992. Bilateral relations grew rapidly thereafter, especially since 2014 when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, a long-time advocate of close ties with Israel, came to power. In the 11 years since, technological, intelligence, and military cooperation has deepened significantly, with counterterrorism cooperation being particularly robust.
If previously India’s position on the Israel-Palestinian conflict saw it routinely vote in support of the Palestinians in global bodies, that has changed over the past decade.
As Nicholas Blarel, author of “The Evolution of India’s Israel Policy: Continuity, Change, and Compromise since 1922,” told me in an interview in 2023, New Delhi shifted away “from systematically voting in support of Palestine in multilateral settings like the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to hedging between supporting Palestine, abstaining on some votes condemning Israel explicitly and not the actions of terrorist groups like Hamas, and to sometimes voting, albeit rarely, in support of Israel when the votes were specifically about condemning terrorist outfits.”
“Rather than a clear re-alignment with Israel, India under Modi had begun to adapt its position on the merits of particular cases, and what it perceives to be in its national interest,” he pointed out.
Increasingly, prioritization of what the Modi government deems to be India’s national interest has determined its position on the Gaza war in the U.N. And supporting Israel, or at least not criticizing it, is seen by New Delhi to be in India’s interest. The recent abstention at the UNGA is the fourth time in three years that India has abstained on a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, “indicating a growing trend in the Modi government’s policy not to vote on statements critical of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.”
As for the Iran-Israel war, India has “close and friendly relations” with both countries.
India has strong civilizational and economic relations with Iran. It has invested in the development of Iran’s Chabahar deep-sea port, and cooperation with Iran is key to New Delhi realizing its economic and strategic ambitions in Afghanistan and Central Asia.
My colleague at The Diplomat, Akhilesh Pillalamarri, pointed out in his October 2024 article, “India has done a good job of cultivating good relations with sets of countries that are hostile to each other, such as… with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.”
This has seen it do a careful balancing act in statements on Israel and Iran during their faceoffs in recent years.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) statements were careful not to apportion blame. Following the Iranian missile strike on October 1 last year and the Israeli retaliation soon after, MEA statements referred merely to the “evolving situation” and called on “all concerned to exercise restraint.”
Its June 13 “Statement on the situation between Iran and Israel,” which was issued hours after the Israeli attacks, was similarly cautious. India was “deeply concerned at the recent developments between Iran and Israel,” it said, urging “both sides to avoid any escalatory steps.” It called for utilizing “existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy… towards a de-escalation of the situation and resolving underlying issues.”
It was with the SCO issuing a statement that was explicitly critical of Israel that India was forced to take a clearer stand. While it did not vote against the statement, its abstention laid bare its unwillingness to call out Israel on its aggression.
Explaining its abstention from the SCO statement, the MEA said: “India’s own position on the matter had been articulated” in its June 13 statement. India’s “overall position… was communicated to other SCO members. Keeping that in mind, India did not participate in the discussions on the SCO statement,” it said.
India’s support for Israel has been growing over the past decade. It is likely to grow stronger in the coming months and years.
Following the terrorist attack at Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22, when 26 men, mainly tourists, were killed, Israel was among many countries that condemned the attack and expressed solidarity with India’s fight against terrorism.
However, unlike other countries, including India’s friends, who were neutral or non-committal when it launched airstrikes on Pakistan on the night of May 6-7. Israel stood solidly with India.
“India has the right to self-defense, Israel’s Consul General in Mumbai, Kobbi Shoshani, said soon after India launched Operation Sindoor. “That was an action of self-defense, and I’m very proud of this operation.” Importantly, Israeli drones and weapon systems played an important role in the damage inflicted on Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Tehran was shifting away from India’s positions. In the past, Iran had strongly supported India on the Kashmir issue. In the 1990s, for instance, when the militancy in Kashmir was at its height and India was being censured for human rights violations, Iran blocked anti-India statements and resolutions in the OIC and UN human rights bodies. However, in more recent decades, its positions on Kashmir were critical of India. In 2019, for example, when India revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s autonomy, several of Iran’s Grand Ayatollahs and top clerics slammed India’s move as an “ugly,” even “barbaric act.”
“We have good relations with India, but we expect the Indian government to adopt a just policy towards the noble people of Kashmir and prevent the oppression & bullying of Muslims in this region,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted.
Indian officials told The Diplomat that India is not comfortable with Iran pursuing a nuclear weapons program. “Yet another nuclear weapons power in the region is hardly in India’s security interests,” one official said.
Consequently, India may not be averse to Israel striking blows on Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
However, the political and military weakening of Iran as a result of the Israeli attacks is not in India’s interest either. Iran has kept Pakistan in check. A weakened Iran would impact the geopolitical balance in South Asia.
