The news that Pakistan was mediating talks to end the US–Iran war was quickly politicised last week in India. “Why not India?” was the question on everyone’s minds. After all, India is arguably Israel’s closest partner outside the West. India had close ties with the US and has long-abiding ties with Iran that withstood years of US-Iran tensions. Why doesn’t India then mediate in the Iran war? The answer is simple. Not just in this war…India’s antipathy to mediation runs deep. And all too often, this antipathy has been based on dogmas about mediation and an aversion to its perceived risks.
India does pass messages occasionally between warring nations, as seen in the case of the Ukraine war, but by and large, a large part of India’s strategic community appears to have a general distaste for mediation. Mediation is sometimes seen in India as a form of intervention. Mediation is seen as the realm of only great powers that can guarantee the outcome. Mostly, the reluctance to mediate appears to stem from India’s own reluctance to be mediated, especially on the issue of Kashmir.