The Raisina Dialogue has increasingly become more than a conference. It functions as a stage where India signals the principles guiding its foreign policy. This year’s sequence of events — the virtual participation of Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar followed by the appearance in Delhi of Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh — offered an unusually clear illustration of how New Delhi manages competing relationships in a polarized geopolitical environment.

The order of appearances was itself revealing. Israel’s foreign minister addressed the conference virtually first, outlining Israel’s security concerns and defending the military campaign launched against Iran. Soon after, Iran’s deputy foreign minister appeared in Delhi and used the same platform to sharply criticize the war and warn that Tehran viewed the confrontation as existential.

The juxtaposition of these two perspectives in the same forum was not accidental. It reflected India’s deliberate effort to preserve diplomatic engagement with rival actors even during periods of open conflict.

Yet the Raisina Dialogue this year did not take place in a vacuum. It unfolded against a series of events that underscored the complexity of India’s position.

Just days before the conflict escalated into open war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had travelled to Israel, reinforcing the increasingly close strategic partnership between........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)