The threat to India’s ‘great power’ status, Pg7

Key Highlights:

• A war involving U.S., Israel, and Iran may lead to regime change or balkanization in Iran, reinforcing U.S.-led unipolarity in West Asia.
• India’s traditional strategic balancing — engaging both U.S.-aligned and alternate powers like Iran and Syria — might collapse.
• Loss of Iran as a sovereign regional power weakens India’s energy security and diplomatic leverage.
• India’s multipolarity vision contrasts fundamentally with the Western preference for unipolarity.
• India faces increasing Western hostility for its strategic ties with Russia and Iran, e.g., over the commissioning of INS Tamal.
• Editorial urges India to advocate restraint and push the U.S. to accept multipolarity as a viable global model. 

Detailed Insights:

• Strategic threat to multipolarity: A Western victory in Iran would eliminate one of the last major non-aligned powers in West Asia, strengthening U.S. hegemony and sidelining powers like India.
• Impact on energy security: India’s diversified sourcing of oil from Iran would shift to a U.S.-controlled supply chain, affecting autonomy in energy diplomacy.
• India's diplomatic flexibility at risk: India’s ability to negotiate with all factions — Israel, Gulf States, Iran — would decline, reducing negotiating power and influence.
• Emerging Cold War scenario: Western unease with India's ties to Russia and Iran reflects a New Cold War mentality, treating multipolar states as adversaries.
• Contradiction with the U.S. alliance: While India partners with the U.S. to counter China, this does not override its core foreign policy goal of multipolarity.
• Public and elite Western attitudes: Statements like NATO cheerleading sanctions or Western media branding India as an “enemy” show how structural mistrust persists despite strategic dialogue.
• New Delhi should encourage U.S. strategic restraint in West Asia, especially with Iran.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Multipolarity: A global order where multiple powers (not just one or two) hold significant regional and global influence.
• Strategic autonomy: India’s doctrine of maintaining independent decision-making in foreign policy, especially in a bipolar or unipolar world.
• Energy security: The uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price, a vital component of India’s foreign policy calculus.