Former diplomat KP Fabian says India must lean on BRICS to manage the escalating Middle East crisis and protect its strategic interests. Fabian made the remarks in an interview with ANI as New Delhi hosted BRICS foreign ministers and welcomed the Iranian foreign minister, a visit that underscored India’s delicate geopolitical balancing act.
Fabian urged India to assert strategic autonomy across overlapping flashpoints, from maritime security to energy partnerships. He stressed the importance of sustained, high-level engagement with Tehran to safeguard India’s geo-economic assets, notably the roughly $610 million investment in Iran’s Chabahar port.
Describing recent incidents — including attacks on Indian vessels in Omani waters — as a “complete fog of war,” Fabian warned the crisis has revealed limits to current US‑India maritime cooperation. He highlighted an urgent humanitarian dimension: roughly 1,500 ships and an estimated 20,000–23,000 seafarers have been stranded for more than two months, suffering critical shortages of food and medicine.
To address that emergency, Fabian called for India to use its diplomatic influence within BRICS to organize a humanitarian relief mission. He recommended a BRICS-backed appeal to both the United States and Iran to secure safe passage and urgent aid for the trapped crews.
On energy, Fabian argued that robust, reliable partnerships are non-negotiable. He noted the timely reaffirmation by Russia of its energy supply commitments to India and framed that reassurance as central to national security. Fabian warned against allowing the prospect of US secondary sanctions to dictate India’s energy choices, urging New Delhi to resist unilateral coercion.
Acting on Russia’s guarantees, he said, is not only about fuel deliveries but also an exercise of strategic autonomy and economic insulation from unpredictable Western sanctions. Fabian concluded that India must forcefully preserve its independence and ensure national interests are not subordinated to other powers’ foreign policy agendas. (ANI)
