Should India be edgy about Middle East conflict?

US President Joe Biden had to drop his Jordan visit en route to Tel Aviv. He was scheduled to meet with Jordan King Abdullah II, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Amman to discuss ways to tamp down tensions between Israel and Gaza. After the attack on Al Ahli al Arabi Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday, an angry Abbas withdrew, leading to cancellation of the summit.

Waves of shock and anger are sweeping through Middle East over Israel’s intense retaliatory bombing of Gaza Strip, where casualties crossed 3,000 since the shocking October 6 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The devastating strike on the hospital in Gaza on Tuesday left over 300 dead, at a time when the hospitals were overstretched, turning into morgues and refugee centres for fleeing population. Israel denied its role, blamed it on the misfiring of a rocket by Islamic Jihad group. However, unwittingly, Israel air strikes on Gaza deflected global attention from the horrors of Hamas attack to consequences of its raids on Gaza. After snapping water, medicine and electricity supplies, it is now readying for a ground offensive. Protests are erupting across Jordan, Turkey,Lebanon, Iran and Iraq, as well as in West Bank. UAE and Bahrain came down heavily on Israel. Russia has raised the spectre of a global catastrophe. Saudis even put normalisation of ties with Israel on ice. Such a deal that could have re-shaped Middle East, stopped Israel’s further annexation of West Bank, limited Iran influence and elevated Saudi as the leader of the region. However, in a possible rethink of its priorities, Riyadh even called up Tehran to discuss the escalating situation. With the situation snowballing, Iran has warned it could make “pre-emptive” attacks on Israel, if Israel goes ahead with its planned deadly ground offensive on Gaza. Invariably, Israel is in no mood to budge.

With the US poised to lose its status as a credible arbiter in the Middle East peace process, calls are growing for India to step in. India has assiduously cultivated a Friend to All image. PM Modi visited Palestine in February 2018, the first by an Indian PM, soon after his Israel counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu’s India’s trip. He announced aid and supported the Palestine cause. India and Israel are close nations, sharing core values of democracy, pluralism, rule of law, and individual liberty etc. India was among the first countries to recognize Israel after

its independence in 1948. Also, with major defence deals and growing trade with Israel, India can be counted to prevail upon Israel to stop the ground offensive and seek a solution to the region’s most intractable conflict. India also gets along with Iran and the Arab world.

India also has a huge stake in the peace. It imports most of its oil and

gas from the region. Further, it just recently roped in the US, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to build the historic and game-changing India- Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that will link Europe and the Middle East to India. It can act as a counter to China’s Belt and Road

Initiative passing through India’s territories illegally occupied by Pakistan. While China announced its readiness to be a peace broker in Middle East, India seems to be buying its time, even as leaving such things be is tricky.