India’s Hedging Strategy in the Iran-Israel Rivalry: A Study of Strategic Autonomy in Foreign Policy

Abstract

India’s foreign policy in West Asia has increasingly reflected the need to navigate a complex and contested regional order shaped by rivalry between Iran and Israel. As both states occupy central but contradictory positions in the geopolitical landscape of West Asia, India has adopted a hedging strategy that seeks to preserve strategic autonomy while safeguarding its energy security, defence interests, connectivity ambitions, and diplomatic flexibility. Rather than choosing one side over the other, India has pursued a calibrated approach that allows cooperation with Iran in areas such as Chabahar, energy, and regional access, while simultaneously deepening ties with Israel in defence technology, intelligence, agriculture, and innovation. This paper examines the historical evolution, structural logic, and policy implications of India’s hedging behaviour in the Iran-Israel rivalry. It argues that hedging has become an essential instrument of India’s foreign policy because it enables New Delhi to manage contradictory interests, avoid zero-sum alignments, and maintain room for manoeuvre in a volatile regional environment. At the same time, the paper shows that this strategy faces growing stress from United States sanctions on Iran, regional polarisation, Gulf realignments, and domestic political sensitivities. The study concludes that India’s balancing act demonstrates both the strengths and limits of strategic autonomy in contemporary foreign policy, especially in an era when external pressures increasingly constrain middle power diplomacy.