Will Pakistan support Iran in its war against Israel? What can India do?

As Middle-East politics is undergoing a paradigm shift with Israel bombing Iran amid the US-Tehran nuclear talks, what will Pakistan do? Will it support the Shiite nation in an attempt to cement its position in the politics of the Islamic World or Ummah? Will Islamabad attack Israel to prove its anti-Zionist stand? This significant question surfaced after a senior Iranian official claimed that Pakistan would launch a nuclear strike on Israel if it used nuclear weapons against Iran. 

Pakistan-Iran relations

Participating in a programme at an Iranian state-controlled television, General Mohsen Rezaei, an IRGC commander and member of Iran’s National Security Council said, "Pakistan has told us that if Israel uses a nuclear bomb on Iran, then Pakistan will also attack Israel with a nuclear bomb." Pakistan has denied it. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif clarified that Islamabad had made no such commitment. However, he took to social media platform X and cautioned that Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal, amid the current volatile situation, could embolden it to act more aggressively,  raising the risk of a wider regional conflict.

Earlier on June 14, Khawaja Asif said in the National Assembly that Muslim nations should unite against Israel or risk meeting the same fate as Iran and Palestine. He said, "Israel has targeted Iran, Yemen, and Palestine. If Muslim nations don't unite now, each will face the same fate." He also urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to convene a meeting to form a joint strategy against the Jewish nation.

What will India do?

India can not remain in oblivion in the scenario. Iran is a traditional friend of India and it has supported it on international forums like the OIC, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the UN. It was shocking that New Delhi remained silent when Tel Aviv attacked nuclear installations and other sites in Iran. India also distanced itself from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) condemnation of Israel’s attacks. It signaled a potential rift in the influential Eurasian political bloc over the conflict, and India's absence made it more sinister.

Iran did not back Pakistan in its recent clashes with India and advised both countries to maintain restraint. Its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited both Islamabad and New Delhi and maintained equidistance. Iran's claim that Pakistan can support it if Israel attacks it with nuclear weapons can send disturbing signals to India, more so because New Delhi has not come out in its support openly. In what may best be called a balancing act, External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar talked to his Iranian counterpart and "conveyed the deep concern of the international community at the turn of events". India must play its card carefully in the changing scenario.