By M. K. BHADRAKUMAR Join us on Telegram , Twitter , and VK . Contact us: info@strategic-culture.su A massive Iranian retaliatory strike on Dimona, Israel’s “nuclear city,” following latter’s attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear plant, caused large-scale destruction and casualties, Demona, March 22, 2026 The salience of the two readouts of the phone call on Saturday by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian is that the bilateral relationship between the two ‘civilisation states’ has become fraught lately. The divergence of opinion is all too apparent. The call appeared to be a dialogue between a deaf and a blind person. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can congratulate himself for creating this unthinkable situation — a tiny country of 8 or 9 million people bending a Leviathan of 1400 million to dance to its tune. But there is no question that the buck stops at Delhi in its failure to allow Israel to enter the Indian policymakers’ tent and eventually take it over — a catastrophe that could have been foretold from Israel’s track record. Second, India’s transformation as a co-habitant of the US-Israeli orbit is evident from the Indian readout. PM just couldn’t bring himself to call a spade a spade even when the plain truth stares at him — that Trump at Netanyahu’s urging ordered a naked aggression against Iran that threatens international security. What more empirical evidence would he require one doesn’t know. Third, the government decision to practise the maxim of the three wise monkeys — ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ — ie., dealing with impropriety by turning a blind eye, won’t fly. It only tarnishes India’s reputation. Pezeshkian tried hard to draw out Modi by underscoring “Iran did not begin the war and the aggressor enemy conducted a military aggression against Iran without any reason, logic and legal basis in the midst of nuclear negotiations.” He pointed out that the US and Israel assassinated the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, top military commanders and defenceless civilians, including innocent school children (over 200 in one primary school alone), and also targeted public infrastructure. He reiterated Khamenei’s fatwa against building or possessing nuclear weapons. Pezeshkian reiterated Tehran’s readiness for international verification and monitoring of its peaceful nuclear activities. But what effect Pezeshkian’s entreaties made on Modi no one knows. Modi on his part instead stressed the critical importance of Iran respecting freedom of navigation and ensuring international shipping lanes remain open and secure — and, “condemned the recent [Iranian] attacks on critical infrastructure in the region, noting that such actions threatened regional stability and disrupt vital global supply chains.”
But Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi had explained in detail to his Indian counterpart S. Jaishankar a few days back only the consequences of the US-Israeli aggression for regional and global stability and security and “emphasised the firm resolve of the Iranian government, nation, and armed forces to exercise their legitimate right to self-defence against the aggressors.” Frankly, self-defence is a thought process that Indians are familiar with; after all, Operation Sindoor needed no other plausible justification. Fourth, Delhi keeps batting for the oil-rich regional states of the Gulf, remaining silent on their double standards. They professed peace but effectively facilitated the US aggression. Doesn’t Delhi know that these vassal states are on a self-destructive trajectory if the war spreads and the Arab Spring would look a picnic? Modi has one or two good friends among the Gulf region’s rulers. Has anyone attempted to counsel moderation and put sense into them? When Saudis convened a regional meeting of regional states with US backing last week, they invited Pakistan and excluded India. It must be Jaishankar’s idea to do yeoman service unilaterally to the US-Israeli agenda to whip up xenophobia — driving the sheikhs back into the American camp just when they began realising that the US bases gave them no real protection when the crunch time came. What has India got to lose if these regional states follow an independent foreign policy?
Plainly put, do not try to fish in troubled waters. We will look incredibly stupid when, in a post-war scenario, the Gulf states return to the reconciliation track with Iran. Tehran’s serious intent to consolidate relations with its eastern neighbours is not in doubt. This war is a last-ditch US-Israeli attempt to set the natives of West Asia against each other. This should be something familiar to Indians who lived thorough colonial rule. Finally, it is evident that the Iranians harbour a sense of deep hurt over the Indian stance. What Pezeshkian told French President Emmanuel Macron upfront in a phone conversation, he might as well have told Modi too — viz., France’s involvement “in support of the aggressors will constitute complicity in the US-Israeli ‘unlawful’ war against the Islamic Republic… Such moves will only lead to further complications and intensification of the situation in the region.” Pezeshkian also warned Macron that Iran will respond in kind to the US-Israeli strikes on civilian targets such as schools, hospitals and infrastructure. Macron promptly responded that Paris considered the ongoing war against Iran inconsistent with international law, adding that his country had no involvement in the conflict — and, furthermore, France was holding consultations with some countries to control and prevent escalation. Finally, a word of caution. India is in serious danger of not being taken seriously by the world community if the leadership walks in goose step with Trump and Netanyahu. Observe and learn from Islamabad’s footfalls despite being in military alliance with Riyadh. Iran’s new Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba in his Eid greetings described Pakistan as a “great country” and expressed his affinity for it. A course correction is possible, as both Pezeshkian and Araghchi have taken up with the Indian counterparts the importance of BRICS as a forum for developing multilateral cooperation, and the possibilities that exist for the institution to play a constructive role at the current juncture in supporting regional and global stability and security. Alas, the Indian readout does not even touch on BRICS. It is a catch-22 situation. India’s vital interests are at stake in the ongoing war but Delhi is no longer a free agent, because Trump works on zero-sum terms that either India is with him or against him. And our elites, most certainly, want to be with Trump only. India has a readymade diplomatic tool available in BRICS, being the chairman of the group in 2026. But it is petrified that Trump will punish India if Delhi exercised its prerogative to issue a BRICS statement. Virtually, India is becoming Trump’s Trojan horse in the BRICS tent.
India’s stance brings ridicule, whether the ruling elites realise it or not, given Trump and Netanyahu’s sordid reputation as baby killers. But if the Indian leadership were to assert its dignity, Trump may come down like a ton of bricks. The best course under the circumstances is to restrict itself to forestall collateral damage if the war moves further up the escalation ladder and Israel uses its nuclear weapons in sheer frustration. Iran’s devastating retaliatory strike at Dimona yesterday left Israelis shell-shocked. The Gulf situation is poised to turn into an explosive crisis as things stand, and a Plan B is necessary. Close to 10 million Indians live In that region. Rajnath Singh flagged the urgency, but did not offer any contingency plan. First of all, a national consensus is needed to tackle such a tsunami before it hits our shores — or worse still, a nuclear holocaust erupts in our neighbourhood. What are we waiting for? Yesterday, Israel attacked Iran’s Natanz nuclear site for the second time provoking a massive retaliation. Original article: www.indianpunchline.com