Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity has long been a key pillar of India’s foreign policy. Despite being a nuclear power, India has not been the initiator or the aggressor in cross-border wars. With the rapidly escalating war between the U.S. and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, India can play a vital role in restoring global governance along this principle. It wouldn’t however just be ideals and principles that guide India’s role, but also a range of real-world considerations raised by this war.

An estimated 9-10 million people of Indian origin live in the GCC states (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain) affected by the war, and a good 15% of India’s trade happens with the GCC nations. The import of energy products, both crude oil and LNG, forms a lion’s share of this trade and much of it passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed by Iran. Prolonged war would also threaten the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with the GCC.

India has a multifaceted relationship with Israel. The first round of talks for a Free Trade Agreement has recently been concluded with an eye on reducing tariffs on electronics, chemicals, and machinery. The Adani Group has acquired Haifa port in Israel, which serves as the Mediterranean terminus for IMEC. India’s UPI has been integrated with Israel’s MASAV payment system. In matters directly related to defence and warfare, India currently receives a third of all Israeli arms exports, and the relationship has now progressed to joint ventures for defence manufacturing. Further, an $8.6-billion framework for advanced missiles and AI-enabled loitering munitions has also reportedly been finalised during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Israel.

Last but not the least, India also has longstanding ties with Iran. These underpin India’s investment in the development of the Chabahar Port in southern Iran, for better connectivity to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan in regional trade routes. Both nations are also involved in the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a multimodal trade route linking India, Iran, and parts of Central Asia and Europe. Trade between the two nations dropped dramatically with the imposition of the most recent sanctions on Iran, placing it on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) list. The exclusion from banking and settlement systems naturally made trade extremely challenging.

India’s external delicate balancing act therefore lies at the confluence of its relationship with Israel as a top defence partner, its relationship with Iran for strategic access via Chabahar Port, and its relationship with the GCC, which is home to around 10 million Indian expats who send home over $80 billion in remittances.

The instability caused by the war will also affect India’s domestic economy. Rising crude and LNG prices increase India’s import bill and this feeds into higher fuel prices at the petrol pumps. It will also raise the input cost of energy across the economy, including in sectors that use oil derivatives such as chemicals, plastics, textiles, paints, and aviation, among others. The rising inflation affects Indians across income groups. All this creates a delicate internal balancing challenge for India.

India’s principled call for respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity in this war, similar to its stance in the Russia-Ukraine war, is also shining a light on the cracks in global governance and rule of law. Some may criticise what looks like India’s political and strategic neutrality in that it chooses to engage with all parties involved in the war. Prime Minister Modi, however, is amongst the few world leaders who have kept communication lines open to both Iran and Israel. When not much else is succeeding, India’s functional neutrality, focussing on issues at hand, such as the safety of Indians caught in the war zone, is keeping avenues of potential cooperation open.

At the recently concluded AI impact summit in Delhi, India’s call to build safe, fair and inclusive AI was heard by all. With the 2026 BRICS presidency ahead of it, India is keeping a focus on the economic engine that underpins the prosperity of the alliance. India is rightly being seen as the leading voice of the Global South, and that lends ballast to its principled geopolitical stance on sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Taken together, all of these factors suggest that should India choose to, she is in a strong position to potentially become an effective high-stakes bridge to good order and restoration of global governance.

(The author is an experienced independent board director. Her upcoming book, Uncharted Spaces. Reset the Agenda. Reimagine the Boardroom., will be released in April 2026. Views are personal.)