India’s constructive mediation in West Asia can secure its interests and facilitate peace

According to some media reports, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently said that India has consistently maintained a balanced diplomatic approach under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leaving open the possibility of a greater Indian role in resolving global conflicts, including the West Asia crisis. He also highlighted PM Modi’s personal engagement with leaders of countries involved in major conflicts, aimed at encouraging dialogue and peaceful resolution.

India As A Stakeholder

India’s stakes in the West Asia conflict are rooted in geographical proximity to the Gulf nations and the fact that its western maritime boundary abuts the Arabian Sea and the wider Indian Ocean region through which traverse critical trade and energy Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs). Geographical proximity makes instability in the Gulf, particularly the Strait of Hormuz, a matter of immediate concern for India. Disruptions impact Indian commerce, shipping insurance, and the security of its many supply chains. The welfare of the Indian diaspora of around 10 million people residing in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is a matter of great priority for the government of India. A prolonged conflict in West Asia has direct consequences for remittances, employment, evacuation planning, and the safety of life and limb. This underscores the point that India is an intrinsic stakeholder in the region.

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India’s annual bilateral trade with the West Asia region is approximately $200 billion. The import of crude oil and LNG through the Strait of Hormuz is critical for India’s energy security.

Leading Voice Of Global South

India is a leading voice of the Global South and an advocate of peace, security, and prosperity. It seeks to shape global governance. India’s maritime strategy reinforces that outlook. India is the current chair of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), a governmental forum focused on trade, investment, the blue economy, tourism, fisheries, disaster risk management and maritime safety and security. Moreover, the naval pillar in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is led by the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a navy-to-navy forum established by India.

The Indian Navy maintains a sizeable presence in the Western Indian Ocean. India has participated in the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) mechanism to tackle piracy and has escorted numerous merchant vessels through the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC). India has also established the Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram. In recent years, India has coordinated with multinational maritime efforts, including those led by the Combined Maritime Forces, particularly in counter-piracy operations, while maintaining an independent operational posture. Notably, during the recent security crisis in the Red Sea around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, India deployed several warships independently.

India’s Position

Prime Minister Modi‘s government has clearly underscored India’s position on the West Asia crisis from the very outset. Its position is marked by expressions of deep concern, a consistent call for de-escalation, and firm opposition to attacks on civilians as well as on energy and transport infrastructure. Indian leaders have engaged with key West Asian leaders, urging them to reduce tensions and to bring the conflict to an end, while stressing that attacks on commercial ships and obstruction of international waterways such as the Strait of Hormuz are wholly unacceptable.

Mediation

The scale and ambit of the current West Asia conflict have wider regional implications. Traditionally, India has adopted a policy in favour of peaceful resolution of disputes. India has generally taken a non-aligned and neutral position on disputes around the world. Nonetheless, the Korean and Vietnam Wars are instances in which India took the initiative to play a role despite not being a direct stakeholder or a party to the conflict.

During the Korean War (1950–53), India deployed the 60th Indian Field Ambulance Unit and chaired the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC). The 3,000-strong Custodian Force of India (CFI) played a crucial role in the repatriation of prisoners of war. India also contributed to processes surrounding the armistice, particularly those relating to POW repatriation.

Indian armed forces have taken casualties not only in peace-keeping missions but also when inserted on peace missions during active combat situations such as the Korean War. India could perhaps take a fresh look at opportunities for the Indian armed forces to make positive contributions through non-combat medical missions even in conflict situations, should this humanitarian gesture be acceptable to the belligerents.

In 1954, Jawaharlal Nehru called for a ceasefire in Indochina and advocated a negotiated political settlement to end the conflict. India chaired the International Commission for Supervision and Control (ICSC), an international supervisory mechanism established following the Geneva Conference of 1954 to oversee the implementation of the agreements.

While both the Korean and the Indochina Wars demonstrate that India has been willing to act as a facilitator or bridgehead between belligerents, it has traditionally shied away from situations that involve mediation. Having burnt its fingers in the past, this flows from India’s aversion to third-party mediation in conflicts involving itself. It is well-known that in 1947, India took the matter of Pakistani aggression in Kashmir to the UN, which eventually led to more intrusive aspects through the medium of UNCIP and UNMOGIP. Similarly, India accepted mediation by the World Bank in negotiations over the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), an issue which continued to remain contentious even after the treaty was concluded.

Following the Sino-Indian War of 1962, a group of non-aligned countries, through the Colombo Conference, attempted to mediate by proposing a compromise solution. The initiative failed to produce a settlement. The Tashkent Agreement of 1966, brokered by the Soviet Union, and the arbitration in the dispute in the Rann of Kutch are also illustrative examples.

In the recent past, India has accepted a ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) under UNCLOS to settle its maritime dispute with Bangladesh in the Bay of Bengal.

West Asia Conflict: Facilitative Mediation

In the West Asian conflict, India enjoys working relations with key stakeholders, including the United States, Israel and Iran. It may be an opportune time for India to review its approach. International conflict mediation exists along a spectrum, ranging from neutral facilitative mediation to coercive arbitration. Facilitative mediation is low-profile and process-oriented, emphasising communication, trust-building, and the maintenance of dialogue without imposing outcomes. This can be done through shuttle diplomacy by ministers and senior government officials, especially those dealing with trade, energy and diaspora issues, or perhaps even through special envoys. Facilitative mediation is voluntary and non-binding and aligns with the established norms of peaceful dispute resolution under international frameworks.

India’s foreign policy has traditionally emphasised sovereign equality, non-interference, and the bilateral resolution of disputes. India continues to invoke the principle of bilateralism in the settlement of disputes. At first glance, the offer to mediate in any dispute may appear to conflict with these principles. However, facilitative mediation does not constitute interference. Rather, it represents a supportive role that enables dialogue with parties that see India’s role in a positive light. India’s potential mediatory role should be viewed not as a departure from its doctrine of bilateralism but as an evolutionary policy that adapts established principles to contemporary geopolitical realities. Such an approach would be in consonance with the core principles of strategic autonomy, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Vishwa Bandhu/Mitra.

Beyond West Asia

The idea of India as a mediator, facilitator and provider of humanitarian assistance could be explored in the future, in keeping with its status as a rising power and growing agency. India has a demonstrated capacity to contribute to the resolution of international conflicts and build broad-based consensus – a key example being the successful G20 Declaration, which was unanimously adopted despite complex geopolitical circumstances.

Naval Option

In case threats to Indian ships escalate due to arbitrary actions by the belligerents or if the lull in hostilities ends, India could consider dispatching some warships into the Strait of Hormuz to escort Indian-flagged vessels while informing the stakeholders that it is doing so to ensure the integrity of its energy supply chains and not as a party to the conflict.

After all, India views the Strait of Hormuz as a primary area of interest. This is also a longstanding element of the Indian Navy’s doctrine. Given its heavy dependence on energy imports, India can ill afford a situation in which its key SLOCs are subject to arbitrary control by others. As such, the Strait has long been used for international navigation and is widely considered to fall under the transit passage regime under Article 37 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

(The author is the Director General of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)