"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis" — Dante Alighieri”
It appears that Dante’s chilling thought, apparently, hasn't quite reached the power corridors of New Delhi which is adapting a sophisticated strategy of neutrality amidst the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
There is a WhatsApp post viral which in a nutshell asks why should India respond and condemn the US-Israel alleged military aggression against Iran when many countries including China and Russia were maintaining a strategic silence.
The viral post’s logic is simple: If Russia and China, the supposed "big brothers" of the East and other nations across the world, are playing a high-stakes game of "The Quiet Game," why should India be the one to scream first?
So, the Middle East is currently the set of a high-budget action movie nobody auditioned for, and everyone’s asking why India isn’t live-tweeting its outrage at the US-Israel "Epic Fury" strikes on Iran.
Look, the post has a point and honestly, everyone who is patriotic has to respect the government’s vibe, while it also points to the cautious positions taken by several other countries, restraint can sometimes be a deliberate diplomatic strategy.
As Shashi Tharoor so elegantly put it, they’re just making the "least-bad" choices they can right now to keep India’s interest from falling off a cliff, meaning that every other option comes with its own set of terrifying consequences, so the leadership is basically playing a high-stakes game of “wait and watch”.
Sure, the opposition and the critics are losing their minds over the "Great Indian Mute Button," but let’s be real, isn’t sitting quietly in the corner the ultimate "Masterstroke"?
When the alternative is drawing red lines that might actually annoy the US and Israel, the folks with whom our leadership has such "iconic" bromances with, why risk a perfectly good selfie? Why bother with a backbone when you can have a "Strategic Corner"?
Sometimes, the most "masterful" thing a global powerhouse can do is play an intense game of diplomatic hide-and-seek until the dust settles.
Once the dust settles and the missiles stop flying, let the leadership step out of the shadows, give its kurtas a quick brush, and announce to a "stunned" world that its bold policy of doing absolutely nothing, oops, read “unwavering commitment to dialogue”, has miraculously saved humanity!
Then enact the grand finale with a high-budget promotional ad featuring a teary-eyed kid looking at a TV screen with the ultimate caption: “Papa, Uncle ne war rukwadiya!” (Papa, Uncle stopped the war!)
It’s the perfect end to its “Jo uchchith samjo wo karo” saga, proving that if you wait long enough for others to finish fighting, you can always take the credit for the silence that follows. It’s not just a stance, but “diplomacy of convenience”.
It’s a bold move, pretending the neighbourhood isn't on fire while its own interests could be on the ravage in the blast zone.
But for its detractors, its art of "sovereign autonomy" is a “Masterclass in Diplomatic 'Vassalage”.
The leadership’s unique meditative state is being seen by the opposition as an act of hiding under the diplomatic bed while the neighbourhood is on fire, ignoring that the further escalation of the conflict, if any, would hurt its very economic and geopolitical interests.
For a leadership that never tires of thumping its chest about being the "Vishwa Guru" (Global Teacher), this stony silence sounds remarkably like a hollow drum. No matter how broad that chest may be, it’s hard to project "powerhouse" energy when your energy security depends on a 30-day "firmaan" (waiver) from Washington, infers the opposition in its scathing umbrage.
After US Treasury just granted India a brief 30-day window to buy Russian oil currently "stranded at sea", shattering its much hyped "independent foreign policy”, the firmaan sounds as if India, the Vishwa guru, is waiting for a permission slip from the US Treasury Secretary to meets its energy requirements.
It’s an illustration that while India maintains its "stoic silence" on the bombing of Iranian sites, it’s essentially operating on a month-to-month lease from its US bosses, a reminder that this "stop-gap" relief is tied to expectations that India will ramp up purchases of American oil later.
Critics are starting to wonder if its silence is being "coordinated" by Washington. It’s a bit awkward to preach about "dialogue and diplomacy" while your strategic partners are busy choosing targets.
Indian leadership loves being the "leader of Global South at all kinds of International summits, but when it comes to the Middle East, it’s sitting in the back row hoping nobody calls on us.
India isn't just a spectator, but it’s acting like one with a very expensive ticket. As oil prices flirt with $85 and the Strait of Hormuz faces a "gridlock," its silence isn't just strategic, it's starting to look like a vassal state's obedience.
It turns out that "strategic autonomy" is a volume knob that the US controls, and right now, it has set India to 'Mute' while it handles the pyrotechnics.
Nobody is asking Indian leadership to draw red lines or send warships. But many opine that as a major power whose inflation, shipping costs, and energy security are directly tied to the consequences of extended war, maintaining a “Grave silence” in a war zone isn't "strategic", it's enacting a vassal’s subservience.
If India could tell Europe that their problems aren't the world's problems, surely it can tell its friends in the US and Israel that their "Epic Fury" is furthering its economic misery.
But the bottom line is that the leadership, whatever might be its strategic diplomatic constraints, might do well to take a moment and reflect that its interests lay in ending this war, by somehow and some means, using all its diplomatic channels and particularly its rapport with the US and Israel.
After all, a broad chest is great for photos, but a broad diplomatic reach might not only be protecting its own oil prices and interests, but also actually give a legitimate receipt to file for that Nobel Peace Prize nomination.
After all, it’s much easier to claim you "stopped the war" when you actually do something besides waiting for the smoke to clear to film your next promotional ad.
