'India on the Side of Aggressors in Mid-East War & It’s Damaged Our Credibility as a Partner': Srinath Raghavan

The well-known and highly regarded historian, author and strategic affairs analyst Srinath Raghavan has said that “India is objectively on the side of the aggressors in this war”. In an interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire, Raghavan said that what matters is not what India says but what it does and how its actions are perceived by others and, in this instance, India is perceived to be on the side of the aggressors.

Speaking of the prime minister’s visit to Israel, 36 hours before the war began, Raghavan said: “The timing … was extraordinary … there was no substantive reason to go to Israel on the eve of the war … and it’s inconceivable that the Indian government was unaware of the impending attack.” This was the first clear sign that India was aligning itself with Israel and against Iran.

In his speech to the Knesset, the prime minister said: “India stands with Israel, firmly, with full conviction, in this moment and beyond.” That not only sounds like an endorsement of whatever Israel might choose to do – and what it did was the strikes on Iran – but it also sounds like an endorsement of the genocide Israel has carried out in Gaza since October 2023, said Raghavan.

Raghavan also spoke about India’s failure to condemn the assassination of the Iranian supreme leader and its delay in condoling his death. He spoke about India’s very noticeable silence after the torpedoing of the IRIS Dena.

He said that clearly India underestimated Iran’s resilience and capacity to retaliate.

Raghavan said that this will affect India’s credibility, reputation and standing in the eyes of the West Asian countries. As he put it: “By our unseemly embrace of Israel and post-haste dumping of Iran, we have dented our future credibility as a partner.”

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