India Monitor

The joint US-Israel war against Iran remained one of the most important global processes affected India as of April 2026. Even though New Delhi achieved Tehran’s permission for India-bound tankers to pass the contested strait of Hormuz, problems with shipping petroleum crude and natural gas from the Persian Gulf to India persisted. Some of the Indian ships were shot at by the Iranians and New Delhi was forced to evacuate over 2500 of its citizens from the Persian Gulf; the group mostly comprised sailors stranded on the ships west of the strait. As a result of energy resources shortage, India retained a high level of imports of crude from Russia. This situation may be exploited by Russia. Download the entire April compilation with commentary here.

In March 2026, the conflict in the Middle East affected India in a number of ways. New Delhi remained formally neutral towards the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, but the conflict rapidly spread across the wider Middle East region, affecting India, and Indians, in several ways. Private carrier IndiGo Airlines undertook at least ten evacuation flights to Saudi Arabia, but a large-scale evacuation of millions of Indians working in the Middle East has not commenced till the time of writing. Moreover, an Iranian navy ship, IRIS Dena, was sunk by an American submarine off the coast of Sri Lanka, while another vessel, IRIS Lavan, took shelter in the Indian port of Kochi. Yet, India’s main concern with regards to the conflict were the erratic shipments of energy resources from the Persian Gulf, caused by a partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Even though in mid-March the Indian Minister for External Affairs declared that Iran agreed to let Indian tankers pass the strait, India has been experiencing cooking gas shortages till the time of writing (April 6). This situation may be exploited by Russia. Download the entire March compilation with commentary here.

Unagreed agreement between India and the US. One of the most important events for India to have taken place in February 2026 seemed to be the country’s trade deal with the  US, announced on the second day of the month and pertaining mainly to a mutual decrease in tariffs. However, it soon became clear that the trade deal is still being negotiated. Moreover, its legal status in the US proved to be uncertain, while it is also not clear if India agreed to discontinue its imports of Russian crude as part of the agreement. In other major news, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Israel – as it turned out, barely days before the country attacked Iran. Moreover, Afghanistan and Pakistan clashed at the end of the month; Islamabad accused Delhi of supporting the Afghan Taliban. Download the entire February compilation with commentary here.

India signs an FTA with the EU. On January 27, India and the EU announced signing of an agreement that would lead to a significant lowering of tariffs in their bilateral trade. This may lead, among others, to rising exports of European goods such as vehicles and processed food to India, as well as of imports of Indian textiles into the EU. In other news, significant disturbances occurred in India’s neighbourhood: in the final day of January, Pakistani forces clashed with Balochi separatists. Pakistan’s interior minister accused the New Delhi government of being behind the attacks. At the time of writing, the Indian government has not issued any counterclaim to this accusation, but it is obvious that it will refute it. Download the entire January compilation with commentary here.