Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent trip to Israel is backfiring spectacularly. Just two days after the Indian prime minister glad-handed Israeli leaders in Jerusalem, the US and Israel launched devastating airstrikes on Iran, including the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The timing has prompted an outcry, with the opposition Congress party slamming Modi’s visit, calling it “partisan alignment and tacit endorsement” of the Iran attack. By being in Tel Aviv on the eve of war, Modi gave the perception he had green-lit the onslaught. It was a stunning departure from India’s traditional non-aligned stance. Furthermore, instead of unequivocally condemning an illegal strike on a sovereign nation, Modi has merely called for a general halt to hostilities. Meanwhile, he went out of his way to condemn Iran’s retaliation.
Under Modi’s watch, India has effectively shredded a careful balance it maintained for decades. Senior Congress figure Sonia Gandhi accused the government of “abdication” of India’s principled diplomacy, calling it a “grave betrayal” of India’s traditional West Asia policy, especially as Iran has been a key Indian partner from oil supplies to strategic projects like the Chabahar port.
Indeed, Modi had stood in the Knesset and declared: “India stands with Israel firmly, with full conviction, in this moment and beyond,” offering not one word about Palestinian civilians under Israeli bombardment.
Already, protests have erupted in Indian-controlled Kashmir, where thousands poured into the streets to denounce Khamenei’s killing, while Asaduddin Owaisi, a prominent Muslim MP, openly questioned whether Modi had advance knowledge of the Iran strikes.
Beyond domestic unrest, India’s global credibility is on the line. By failing to condemn the extrajudicial killing of a head of state, India undermines its moral authority. This is not lost on other countries. Even close Indian partners like Russia and China have voiced more principled stances, emphasising respect for sovereignty.
Critics suggest the prime minister may have been driven less by national interest than by personal and business calculus. Consider that Gautam Adani, one of Modi’s closest cronies, holds massive port investments in Israel. Adani’s conglomerate purchased Haifa Port in Israel for $1.2 billion – and has long eyed infrastructure projects in Iran, including at Chabahar. Was it a mere coincidence that American warships suddenly showed up at Indian ports to dock and unload military equipment? According to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship (returning from having taken part in the 2026 International Fleet Review in India) with a torpedo was the “first such attack on an enemy since World War II.”
In one fell swoop, Narendra Modi has managed to diminish India’s moral standing, strategic autonomy, and energy security. All for what? Congress’s Jairam Ramesh perhaps said it best, with searing irony: Modi’s reward for this dubious diplomacy was an empty medal and a round of applause in the Knesset. *