The Modi government’s stand on the US-Israel aggression on Iran has starkly exposed the heart of the foreign policy it has been pursuing for the past nearly 12 years. There is no semblance of an independent foreign policy or strategic autonomy left. Instead, what is in place is a foreign policy aligned to the strategic interests of the United States, in other words, the foreign policy of a subordinate ally.

When the US and Israel launched their massive bombardment of Iran on February 28,  there was no condemnation or disapproval of this blatant aggression and violation of Iran's sovereignty. When the first round of attacks led to the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader and Head of State, there was not even an official statement of condolence, leave alone condemnation. This silence is all the more remarkable as it pertains to a country that is considered to be a strategic partner with  historical and civilisational ties.

Pro-US, right wing foreign policy

Much of the criticism of the Modi regime's diplomatic silence stems from a position that there is a serious departure from India's foreign policy. This is based on the assumption that the basis for an independent foreign policy still exists under this regime. This, however, is completely misplaced. Though the Modi regime pays lip service to a foreign policy based on national interest and strategic autonomy, these have been given up ever since the BJP came to power in 2014. The foreign policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government cannot be separated from the domestic policies and the class character of the regime. Far-right governments everywhere are allied to US imperialism. The Modi government belongs to this far-right genre - a Hindutva corporate regime.

The bedrock of Modi's foreign policy has been to strengthen and deepen the strategic alliance with the US. Under Modi, the four foundational agreements for military cooperation spelt out in the India-US Defense Framework Agreement were finalised. This made India a major defence partner of the US. This was followed by India joining the Quad, which comprises the US, India, Japan, and Australia. During the Biden presidency, India joined the I2U2 initiative for West Asia, comprising Israel, India, UAE, and USA. This was clearly meant to be against Iran and the growing influence of China in the region.

US-Israel-India axis

Hindutva has always had a special affinity to Israel, right from the days of Savarkar. During the Vajpayee government, the contours of an US-Israeli-India axis were explored. Under Modi, this axis has become a reality. Israel is not only a major supplier of weaponry to India, but it is also involved in internal security and provides surveillance and spying equipment like Pegasus.

Iran is the only major country in West Asia which refuses to accept the US-Israel hegemony in the region. It has thus been a target of the US and its gendarme for over three decades. During the first Trump presidency in 2017, the US imposed sanctions on Iranian oil, and India complied by stopping purchase of oil from Iran, which was commercially the best suited for it. When Israel launched an unprovoked attack on Iran in June 2025, a bombing campaign which lasted 12 days, the Modi government did not condemn the aggression, nor did it say a word when Trump bombed three nuclear sites in Iran during this period.

Prime Minister Modi paid an official visit to Israel on February 25-26. The speech he delivered at the Knesset (parliament) did not have any critical remarks about the situation in Gaza, where Israel has been conducting a genocidal war, or about the persecution of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Instead, he talked of strengthening all-round ties with Israel and promoting the India-Middle East-European corridor and the I2U2, both US-sponsored proposals that involve Israel. The visit was planned in a premeditated fashion by Benjamin Netanyahu to provide a cover for the impending military aggression that he was planning to launch against Iran in coordination with the US. The US had already assembled a massive armada in the neighborhood to target Iran. Yet Modi thought it opportune to visit Israel at this juncture and flaunt his close ties with Netanyahu, who is indicted by the International Criminal Court  for war crimes in Gaza. 

Silence of Complicity

So, it is no surprise that the Prime Minister and the BJP government are silent on the war on Iran being waged by its two allies. This silence is not out of cowardice, as some outraged critics have charged. It is a silence born out of complicity. It is also a silence arising out of embarrassment as to how to justify or defend this complicity. Some of this embarrassment is due to the sinking of the Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, in international waters near Sri Lanka. This was one of the three naval ships which had participated in the Indian Navy's fleet review at Visakhapatnam. The killing of over a hundred sailors, who had been the guests of the Indian Navy a few days earlier, put the Modi government in a difficult spot. Yet there was no official statement expressing even regret over the incident and offering condolences to Iran and the affected families. The statement of External Affairs minister to Parliament on the situation in West Asia on March 9 was an anodyne one which just noted casualties in the Iranian leadership (without mentioning Ayatollah Khamenei) and the sinking of the Iranian ship. There was no criticism of the US-Israeli aggression.

The killing of 165 schoolgirls in Minab in Iran by a US missile strike, the sinking of an Iranian ship and death of over a hundred sailors who were returning from India - nothing seems to move the Indian government to even express regret for these horrific deaths. We have seen the same callous approach to the genocide of Palestinians, including the killing of tens of thousands of women and children in Gaza. By hitching up with the US-Israeli powers and condoning their military crimes, India’s foreign policy has lost its moral compass.

Sovereignty compromised

We have come a long way since the days when we had some semblance of an independent foreign policy. Even in 2003, when the Vajpayee government was seeking closer strategic ties with the US, the political consensus for an independent foreign policy had not  yet been fully eroded. That is why the Lok Sabha in April 2003 adopted a unanimous resolution which deplored the US military action against the sovereign state of Iraq and stated that regime change through military action was unacceptable. That concern for national sovereignty under attack by US imperialism does not exist amongst our present-day rulers. That is because we have compromised our own sovereignty at the altar of the Indo-US strategic alliance. It is this surrender which explains our acquiescing in an unequal trade agreement

The betrayal of the Palestinian cause and the abandonment of Iran in the face of the brutal US-Israeli aggression calls into question the very bona fides of India's claim to be a leader of the Global South. When the Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was abducted and the country subjected to a military assault, India did not condemn it. In contrast, the two other major countries of the Global South in the original five-member BRICS - Brazil and South Africa - have been taking firm positions on all these issues, whether it be Gaza/Palestine, Venezuela or Iran. Thus, India being chair of the BRICS this year does not bode well for the Global South.

Congress to introspect

When discussing about the aggression against Iran, one should look back at an earlier occasion and period when Iran was being targeted by the US. It is good that the Congress party leadership is opposing the Modi government's craven stand on the war on Iran. But the Congress leadership should also seriously introspect. Back in 2005, the Manmohan Singh government sought to forge strategic ties with the US. For this, it signed a defence framework agreement in April 2005 and followed it up with talks for the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. The Bush administration at that time demanded that India cooperate with it to isolate Iran. The US and its allies had moved a resolution against Iran in the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) on the nuclear issue. India had earlier opposed the move to target Iran in the IAEA. But in September 2005, India reversed its stand and voted against Iran. It followed this up by a second vote against, in February 2006. This resolution laid the basis for the UN Security Council taking up the Iran nuclear issue and imposing sanctions on Iran, the start of the US-led multi-faceted attack on Iran, which has culminated in the current military aggression.

It is this strategic tie-up with the United States, the foundation of which was laid by the Manmohan Singh government, that has now been taken forward by the Modi government to another level of a full-fledged pro-US foreign policy and an axis with Israel and the US. The ruling class of India, with the advent of neoliberalism and the rise of Hindutva, has dispensed with an independent foreign policy and is ready to see national sovereignty and strategic autonomy being circumscribed. The Modi regime has given the fullest expression to the stance. It has done so under the cover of ultra-nationalism and a fake atmanirbharta.

Political struggle for independent foreign policy

 The struggle for a renewed independent foreign policy based on national sovereignty and national interest has to be waged as part of the political struggle against the Hindutva corporate regime. The recent period provides opportunities for taking the struggle forward. The Modi government caved in and accepted an unequal trade deal with the US which affects the vital interests of farmers, workers and domestic industry. This has created the conditions for the people to understand the link between a pro-US policy and the surrender of the Indian people's interests faced with Trump's bullying tactics. Moreover, even BJP supporters fed on a diet of national pride are unable to appreciate the craven attitude of their leader, Modi, towards Donald Trump and express their disquiet at the flagrant manner in which the Iranian ship which was in India as our guest was torpedoed .

The war on Iran and Iran's fight back is creating a global economic crisis with the oil crisis at the heart of it. The deteriorating conditions for the Indian people due to shortage of cooking gas, fertilisers and rising inflation is another opportunity to expose the subordinate relationship with the US and the harmful effects of the Hindutva love for Israel.

The left and democratic forces should utilise these opportunities to rouse anti-imperialist consciousness and mobilise people to demand that the pro-US policies be reversed. This must be accompanied by the relentless struggle against the neoliberal policies, - privatisation, succumbing to the demands of international finance capital and corporate loot - which form the class basis for the strategic tie-up with US imperialism.