The UN Secretary General pointed out the UN Security Council lacks credibility and legitimacy because it only has one permanent Asia member – China. He is obviously referring to no India. When I was a Director of the UN Association (UK) it became clear there will never be a change to the Permanent Membership of the UN. Legally it is near impossible. Realistically it is entirely impossible.
On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran. They targeted Iran's nuclear sites, military bases, and top leadership, killing Supreme Leader Khamenei in the first wave. Oil crossed $100 a barrel. The Strait of Hormuz was partially blocked, and the world held its breath. Most nations either cheered from Washington's corner or raged from Tehran's. India did neither - and that restraint is not weakness. It is statecraft of the highest order.
India is the only founding BRICS member that has not condemned the attack on Iran — a pointed reminder that New Delhi refuses to be conscripted into someone else's war. When China's Wang Yi urged BRICS to close ranks against the US, India declined to be a pawn in Beijing's opportunism. When Washington demanded absolute loyalty, India quietly reminded the Americans that 1.4 billion people require energy security, not ideological purity. Both superpowers got the message.
What followed was a masterclass in applied diplomacy. Two Indian ships carrying liquefied petroleum gas transited the Strait of Hormuz — a passage secured not by gunboats but by telephone calls and quiet negotiation. As of today, India's foreign minister says diplomatic efforts with Iran are yielding results, with Asian markets focusing on operational details — insurance, escort protocols, port logistics — rather than geopolitical theatre. While others were writing op-eds, India was getting tankers through. And thank goodness. As I posted in a video from India, let’s hope the Indians do not buy oil from the open markets and lift up the cost of living for us Brits. They have not. Thanks to US asking them to buy from Russia and Iran asking them to buy from them. If only the whole world were like India!
Critics will say India is merely hedging. They miss the point entirely. For decades, India maintained a delicate balance — cultivating strong ties with Iran for energy security and regional connectivity, while maintaining cordial relations with Israel and the Arab Gulf states. That balance is not cynicism; it is the sovereign right of a rising power that answers to its own people first. India has invested nearly $500 million in Chabahar Port — a strategic gateway to Afghanistan and Central Asia that no sanctions regime should be allowed to strangle.
The deeper truth is this: in a world fracturing into blocs, India's refusal to be sorted into one camp is not fence-sitting — it is a strategic asset of enormous value. Every government in the Global South is watching how New Delhi navigates this crisis. If India succeeds in keeping shipping lanes open, oil flowing, and its own counsel, it will have demonstrated something that no amount of defence spending can buy: credibility as an honest broker.
That is the prize worth pursuing. And right now, India is winning it.