Pro-Israel India walks a ‘tightrope,’ asks its citizens to leave Lebanon over regional escalation

The headline, ‘Leave Lebanon Now’: India, Australia, Canada Issue Advisory as Israel-Hezbollah Tensions Escalate, leaves an impression as it mentions India with Canada and Australia, which are both countries having Palestinian sympathies as Israel fights for its survival. Unlike the warnings from Australia and Canada, India’s isn’t a commentary on its stance toward Israel. It is purely for the sake of its citizens’ safety. India stands apart in its support of Israel, although this is underplayed by the mainstream media, which is all too eager to paint Israel as globally isolated.

Three months ago, an Indian national was killed in a Hizballah missile attack. The missile struck agriculture workers “who were cultivating an orchard at the northern village of Margaliot.” Now, given Hizballah’s and Iran’s escalation, India has warned, :

Updated travel advisory for Indian Nationals. pic.twitter.com/vDTao33LnM

— India in Lebanon (@IndiaInLebanon) August 1, 2024

India’s support for Israel has been noteworthy. In November, India abstained from a UN resolution calling for a “humanitarian” ceasefire, while calling on states to implement an arms embargo. Under Prime Minister Norenda Modi, India has become a stronger ally to Israel, showing greater loyalty than Western globalist leaders. In 2017, Modi became the first Indian prime minister ever to visit Israel, and despite his visit to Ramallah a year later and donations to UNRWA, Modi’s tilt was toward Israel as the two nations developed in trade and defense cooperation. Modi also came out in support of Israel on October 7.

Modi’s support has been proven to have substance and durability. The New Arab reported:

India’s foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly with Israel, aligns with its wider strategic goals within US-led frameworks. This is underscored by India’s key role in the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) agreement, which, although still in the nascent stages, signals a strengthening of ties with Western alliances. This economic corridor, proposed in September, also aims to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

According to Time Magazine, India walks a tightrope as the country navigates the Global South, with its Palestinian sympathies. Yet even though India’s foreign policy is viewed as aligning with America, India has shown greater loyalty than the Biden administration. Al Jazeera has bemoaned India’s supplying of weapons to Israel, in contrast to the Biden administration’s admission that it cut military shipments to Israel by 50%.

According to documents seen by Al Jazeera, the ship contained explosives loaded in India and was en route to Israel’s port of Ashdod, some 30km (18 miles) from the Gaza Strip. Marine tracking sites show it departed Chennai in southeast India on April 2 and circumnavigated Africa to avoid transiting through the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Houthis have been attacking vessels in reprisal for Israel’s war.

With the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the tightrope that India has been walking is being challenged. The India-based Livemint explained:

Israel’s recent assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, following the killing of Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas’ military wing, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza last month, threatens to further escalate a conflict that has already lasted ten months. The repercussions on India could be significant, impacting its international relations and economic stability. The situation demands skilled diplomatic manoeuvring and vigilant macroeconomic management, as pressures on India’s trade balance and currency could intensify.

Amid this balancing act, India, too, has its media enemies, who are parroting the same annoyingly familiar talking points heard throughout the West. The Diplomat has charged that “Hindu nationalists would like to emulate Israel. They would like to create a Hindu Israel in India.” Such nonsensical talk, devoid of any understanding of India’s historic jihad, presents India as a puppet of Israel, while completely disregarding India’s own autonomy and self-interest.

The willfully blind left is fast accelerating toward a red line where it will be confronted with the overt question of whether it really willing to come out in full support of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  This is what it comes down to. It is a question that has been at the fore since October 7, as Iran has waged its proxy war against the state of Israel, but the question has been hidden under the propaganda of the “Palestinian resistance,” falsely presented as a reaction to Israeli “oppression.”

India faces pressure as it stands in the lonely place of truth. Let’s hope it continues along the right path, amid its own Islamic plight in Jammu and Kashmir, where, as with Israel, jihadists constantly threaten the lives and stability of India. Jihadists will certainly be watching.

“Mass killings of native Hindus and Sikhs by Islamic terrorists in the early 1990s forced the region’s non-Muslim population to flee to other parts of India, rendering Kashmir over 90 percent Muslim. The murderous jihad, backed and armed by Pakistan, continues to this day.” Meanwhile, Muslims in India, too, cry victimhood and “Islamophobia,” ignoring the fact that jihadists have historically sought to violently conquer India, just as they are now doing with Israel and other non-Muslim states.