As one of the largest democratic nations and a rising global power, India has been following a policy of balanced diplomatic relations with Israel and Arab countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Palestine.
Yet, in times of conflict between Iran, Israel, and other powerful countries in the Middle East, India found itself in an difficult situation when its diplomacy seemed hesitant, uncertain, and sometimes ineffective.
The traditional policy of India is based on neutrality as well as establishing good relations with all the players involved.
India gets most of its crude oil from Gulf States while millions of Indians work in such countries as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Oman.
In addition, India has been working on building strong cooperation with Israel in the spheres of defence, technology, and intelligence.
This is why India should have played a mature and balanced role during the conflict.
Instead, India looked like a passive observer and a reluctant mediator.
Major diplomatic mistake that was made by India was that of its silence at the outset of the conflict.
When it comes to conflicts such as the one between Israel and Palestine, several nations including global powers like America, Russia, China, and even some European countries have been known to voice their concerns or initiate peace negotiations.
However, in the case of India, this country has been known to be rather cautious and reserved about taking such action.
Such a situation has led to the creation of confusion within the nation as well as in the minds of international communities.
Some analysts believe that it can be said that the nation is not accepting any kind of responsibility in this matter while others believe that the reason behind this move lies in strategic terms.
