On the night of February 28, 2026, the geopolitical architecture of the Middle East underwent a violent, tectonic shift. As US and Israeli warplanes conducted major combat operations across Iran, resulting in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the shockwaves travelled instantly from the streets of Tehran to our homes in India.
For India, this war is not unfolding in a distant theatre of which we could have said “not our war”. It is taking place in its near abroad, with cascading implications for the immediate neighbourhood, and rapidly becoming an economic crisis at home, as our compatriots working in the war-torn region stare at an uncertain future. Reports showed that in March 2026, there was a 20-30% surge in remittances from the Gulf to India. While that might sound like good news, what it really reflects is growing anxiety among expatriate Indians in the Middle East. Let me reflect on the foreign policy dimensions of the war from an Indian point of view.