India faces strategic losses in West Asia amid Iran war

India's diplomatic balancing act in West Asia is fraying as the US-backed war on Iran intensifies, with New Delhi losing ground at the strategic Chabahar port, news.abplive.com reports in an opinion piece. The US struck military infrastructure near the Chabahar Port last month, though the Indian-developed Shahid Beheshti terminal was undamaged. New Delhi has avoided confrontation, engaging stakeholders and monitoring US sanctions waivers, but has privately expressed concern over losing its strategic foothold near the Strait of Hormuz, the report says. Iran has increased suggestions of Chinese involvement in the broader Chabahar Free Zone to pressure India.

India remained neutral after the US launched an illegal war on Iran in February, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and did not condemn the assassination. When a US submarine torpedoed the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which had just departed from the MILAN naval exercise in India, New Delhi stayed silent. In a separate analysis, news.abplive.com notes that Pakistan has formed the MECCA joint defense agreement with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, a Sunni alliance dubbed "Sunni NATO" that could complicate India's security. India has deepened ties with Gulf nations and has ballistic and cruise missiles to counter the pact, but the US silence on MECCA suggests implicit endorsement, raising concerns for India.