The attack on an Israeli diplomat on Indian soil on Monday, in a manner of speaking, has brought the bitter tension between Israel and Iran right to South Block’s doorsteps. The coming days will be important for India as it tries to continue to walk the diplomatic tightrope while two of its close friends in West Asia slug it out over Monday’s attack.
Israel accused “Iran and its client Hezbollah” of carrying out Monday’s strike in New Delhi and a thwarted attack in Tbilisi, Georgia. Tehran rubbished these charges saying that it was “all lies”.
In this scenario, it will need all of New Delhi’s diplomatic skills to strike a fine balance between two nations at loggerheads.
More so as India enjoys close and warm ties with both these West Asian countries.
Iran is India’s second largest supplier of oil, it provides between 3,50,000 to 4,30,000 barrels of crude per day.
And Israel, in the two decades since India established full diplomatic relations with it, has become the second largest supplier of arms and equipment to India.
Thus far, New Delhi has successfully balanced its ties with these two countries who have no love lost for each other.
However, in the wake of Monday’s attack, New Delhi may have to work even harder at its balancing act. Hours after the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Iran for the strike and declared that Israel will continue to act against the international terror Iran produces.
According to the website of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Mr Netanyahu also said that the “Israeli government and its security services will continue, with local security, to act against the international terror which Iran produces”.
Israeli ambassador in India, Alon Ushpiz, while blaming the Hezbollah for the strike, also affirmed that “No one in India is going to tolerate such a vicious attack on diplomats on its soil.”
Indeed, Monday’s attack is also being seen as a retaliatory attack by the Hezbollah for the killing of its senior leader Imad Mughniyeh.
One of the most wanted terrorists by both Israel and the US, he was killed in a car bomb explosion in Damascus in 2008. Israel, though, denied it was behind his killing.
Another possible reason for the strike is the killing of Iranian nuclear scientists with Tehran blaming Israel for the killings.