A peculiar silence in the heart of Delhi

THE Americans have allowed India a 30-day waiver to buy Russian oil stranded on the high seas. That was the message from the Trump administration, bright and early this Friday morning.

Now it’s not clear whether the Modi government is irritated by these directions from the Trump administration, at being told what to do, including who to buy oil from, how much, and when to start or stop. Remember that only last month, when Trump announced he was removing the 25 per cent extra tariff from India-US trade as part of the trade deal, he had made clear that if India went back to buying Russian oil, the tariff would be back.

And so, in the back-and-forth around the Modi government’s foreign policy since the Iran crisis exploded a week ago, in which both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have since intervened, questions are being raised on this newest version of atmanirbharta, or self-reliance, as an instrument of foreign policy.

Perhaps the Ministry of External Affairs believes, as part of its much-vaunted pragmatism, that it should not antagonise the most powerful man in the world, Donald Trump, and therefore it’s better to fall in line with the bombing of Iran. By that measure, Indians should have never fought the freedom struggle against the British Raj, because, remember that under the Raj, the trains always ran on time, mass education was introduced and social evils like sati were banned.

Others would argue that atmanirbharta, really, means something else. It is the constant struggle to be aware, to understand the complexities of the world, to choose different sides when the need arises — actually, to play all sides, because only then can you protect your national interest. (Jawaharlal Nehru called it “non-alignment,” but let’s leave that argument for another day.)

Truth is, New Delhi has incredible experience in leveraging the shifting sands of global realpolitik. Which is why it boggles the mind why India is so openly aligning with both Trump and Bibi Netanyahu. The Israelis have antagonised half of Europe and Trump openly woos Pakistan every other day. Meanwhile, Trump and Vladimir Putin talk to each other at least once a month — even as America threatens India not to buy Russian oil. Soon, at least before the Iran crisis, Trump was planning a China visit — but China, a partner and ally of Iran, is now said to be offering to mediate between Trump and Iran.

That’s why atmanirbharta means choosing wisely, to act in the national interest by both doing or not doing. It meant postponing your visit to Israel, not just because the whole world, including yourself, knew that war was around the corner; not because India and Iran have age-old ties, but because 44 per cent of India’s oil traffic passes through the Iran-controlled waterway, the Strait of Hormuz. It meant holding off on that call to the ruler of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed or MbZ, who these days is not on talking terms with his once-best friend Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia — not just because you buy oil from both or because Pakistan is a strategic partner of Saudi Arabia, but because a large Indian community lives in both countries, 4 million in the UAE and about 2.5 million in Saudi.

It meant not waiting till Sonia Gandhi wrote a piece in the Indian Express, questioning India’s silence on the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — finally, five days after his killing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was ordered to pull his car out of the garage and drive the 2 km or so to the Iran embassy in the heart of Delhi, where he signed the condolence book on behalf of India. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar finally called his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi.

On Friday evening, the Israeli foreign minister told the media that PM Modi, who flew out of Israel 48 hours before, was not aware when the Israelis-US were going to bomb Iran. Now you can legitimately have two kinds of reactions to the Israeli admission. First, what kind of friend are the Israelis not to tell their best friend, India, about their best-laid plans?

How many remember today the February 1979 incident, when then Foreign Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was on a convivial visit to China, and China attacked Vietnam to “teach it a lesson” — Vajpayee was so upset that he cut short his visit and returned home. Following which, then PM Morarji Desai expressed “profound shock and distress” at the incident and India-China ties went into a new deep freeze.

Of course the circumstances are different, 47 years later. Just as India debated the offering of its condolences to Iran, it took New Delhi five days to react to the US torpedoing of the IRIS Dena, an Iranian warship that had just sailed out of Indian waters after participating in the International Fleet Review. For a country that is part of the Quad — consisting of the US, Japan, Australia and itself — and is proud that it is the only country in the world after whom a whole ocean is named, a peculiar silence that speaks volumes is these days emanating from the heart of the capital.

On the other hand, one should thank god the Israelis didn’t tell the PM about their bombing of Iran when he was in Tel Aviv — Modi must finally understand how best friends hold their cards close to their chest and not tell. Or, notwithstanding the vibrant Indian Jewish community which relocated to Israel a few decades ago and believes that “Israel is the fatherland and India their motherland,” a phrase used by the PM during his speech to the Knesset; or that India is Israel’s largest buyer of defence equipment — Modi must know that India is not part of the Israel-US sanctum sanctorum.

That’s why atmanirbharta remains fundamental to India’s existence. PM Modi’s promotion of this concept tells us that India should not be in faux alignment with powers that bomb girls’ schools in Iran. That Delhi mustn’t be afraid to speak up when things go out of hand — even though we have our own dark corners, including a friendship with the Taliban, which permits the beating of your wife as long as you don’t break her bones.

Fact is, today’s India is stronger, the fourth largest economy in the world, has a better GDP per capita (about $2,800 in 2025 compared to $1,486 when Modi took charge in 2014), a strong and vibrant diaspora that exercises influence and sends remittances home.

But it’s a dark world out there and it will get darker. Atmanirbharta, non-alignment, call it what you will, can be India’s only compass to lead us towards the kindly light.