Narendra Modi has a penchant for diplomatic showmanship – but his latest adventure in West Asia may go down as the stunt that finally exposed the hollowness of the so-called “Modi Doctrine.” In late February, as fires raged in Gaza, India’s prime minister jetted off to Israel for a red-carpet welcome. He basked in the glow of the Knesset’s standing ovation, hugged an embattled Benjamin Netanyahu, and proclaimed India and Israel “brothers” for the world to hear. Barely 48 hours later, Netanyahu – joined at the hip with Modi’s friend Donald Trump – unleashed a massive air assault on Iran, killing hundreds and plunging our region into peril. If this was Modi’s idea of smart diplomacy, it has proven to be a strategic and moral catastrophe.
What did Modi think would happen? Seasoned diplomats across the world had smelled trouble brewing for weeks. The U.S. and Israel had been rattling sabres at Tehran, openly plotting something nefarious. The Congress party in India warned Modi not to go; opposition leaders pleaded that such a visit, at such a volatile time, would be disastrous. But true to form, Modi ignored all counsel. He was too intoxicated by visions of himself as a global statesman, striding the world stage alongside Bibi and The Donald. The trip went ahead – and in doing so, Modi handed Netanyahu a priceless gift. The Israeli PM plastered Modi’s visit all over his propaganda channels, touting it as an endorsement from the leader of 1.4 billion people. An Israeli commentator snarked that Modi had become a poster-boy in Netanyahu’s campaign, a cheap PR prop to boost a flailing government. Sure enough, Netanyahu extracted every ounce of political capital. And once Modi was safely on a plane home, Netanyahu’s jets pounded Tehran. The optics were unmistakable: India’s leader visits, offers effusive support – and hours later, Israel strikes. In Iran’s eyes, India now has blood on its hands.
Seasoned diplomats across the world had smelled trouble brewing for weeks.
For Pakistanis, the irony is rich. For years, Indian officials pontificated about their “strategic autonomy.” But look at who’s hosting U.S. warships now. So much for non-alignment – Modi has effectively turned India into the newest participant in the American-Israeli axis.
India likes to call itself a rising superpower, a nation that deserves a permanent UN Security Council seat. But its prime minister is behaving like a junior partner in someone else’s war, trading away principles for a pat on the back from Trump. That isn’t leadership – it’s subservience in a Nehru jacket.
I recall not long ago, Pakistan faced its own crucible with a powerful ally. In 2003, Washington leaned hard on Islamabad to send troops to Iraq. Under immense pressure, Pakistan’s leadership demurred – knowing the move would betray our principles and inflame our streets. We absorbed the diplomatic costs but kept our dignity. Narendra Modi, by contrast, volunteered his country’s credibility for a song. He flew to Israel at precisely the moment any prudent leader would have kept a distance. Why? Perhaps to please Trump, whose friendship Modi courts obsessively – remember the “Howdy Modi” spectacle in Texas, or Modi’s chants of “Abki Baar Trump Sarkar” (Trump again) on U.S. soil? Modi may have calculated that helping Netanyahu might ingratiate him with Trump. If so, it was a fool’s bargain: Trump got his war, Netanyahu got his photo-ops, and Modi got India mired in an unnecessary crisis.
This entire episode reinforces a fundamental truth: Modi’s hardline, Hindutva-driven approach to foreign policy is a failure. It may win him applause in certain domestic circles to align with Israel (since both he and Netanyahu market themselves as tough on “Islamic terror”), but it is disastrous for India’s real interests. The “Modi Doctrine,” insofar as one exists, seems to prioritise optics over outcomes – grand gestures over thoughtful statecraft. We saw it with his impulsive moves in Kashmir in 2019, which internationalised the dispute rather than resolving it. We saw it in 2020 when a chest-thumping Modi initially downplayed China’s incursions in Ladakh, only to eat humble pie when Beijing held its ground. And we see it now in West Asia, where Modi’s bias toward the U.S.-Israel camp has burned bridges with Iran and dented India’s standing as a reliable, independent voice.
Pakistan, to be sure, has had its share of foreign policy miscalculations. But watching India’s self-goal here, one cannot help but feel a mix of relief and vindication. Relief because, for once, it is not Pakistan facing global scrutiny or backlash – it is India. And vindication because Modi’s actions validate what Pakistani analysts have said all along: that the BJP regime’s ideology of Hindu supremacy would extend beyond its borders and upset the regional balance. Modi has made a habit of cosying up to authoritarian, Islamophobic partners – from Trump and Netanyahu to Myanmar’s junta and Sri Lanka’s Rajapaksa. This alignment might make strategic sense in the BJP’s echo chamber, but it doesn’t in the real world. There is a moral arc to history, and those on the wrong side of it eventually pay a price.
History has a long memory. Decades from now, when scholars study the Middle East crisis of 2026, they will note with astonishment how India – once the champion of Panchsheel (the five principles of peaceful coexistence) – chose silence and complicity at a fateful juncture. Modi has nailed shut whatever remained of India’s non-aligned legacy; the “Modi Doctrine” lies in ashes in the deserts of Iran. The onus is now on India’s next generation of leaders to salvage their country’s honour. As a Pakistani, I won’t hold my breath – but as a fellow South Asian, I sincerely hope they do so before it’s too late for all of us.
The writer is a freelance columnist