By Qamar Bashir
In the geopolitical arena of South and West Asia, trust is often a currency traded for strategic advantage. Iran, long defiant against Western pressure, has discovered this truth at great cost. India, once considered a friend and trade partner, has not only betrayed Iran but colluded with Israel and the United States in a web of espionage that has left Iran militarily weakened, diplomatically humiliated, and internally compromised.
The alliance began with economic diplomacy. India proposed and helped construct the Chabahar Port in Iran, offering Tehran access to Central Asian markets. Iran, hopeful of bypassing U.S. sanctions and creating new trade routes, welcomed India’s investment. In doing so, Iran opened its gates to a partner that would eventually betray it.
India used this opportunity not merely to trade but to infiltrate. Under the guise of development, Indian operatives created extensive intelligence networks throughout Iran. Their activities went far beyond passive surveillance. According to Iranian security officials, Indian agents helped Israel and the United States establish a covert drone manufacturing and launch hub near Tehran. This facility, disguised as a civilian enterprise, played a direct role in the June 13, 2025 Israeli airstrikes that decimated Iranian leadership.
The drones launched from this platform struck with terrifying precision. Dozens of senior scientists, engineers, and IRGC officers were killed. Strategic infrastructure was demolished—oil refineries, depots, weapons caches, and even sensitive nuclear facilities. Iran, shocked and furious, realized the extent of India’s betrayal.
This is not India’s first foray from Iran. It soon after consolided its hold Chahbahar and dupted Iran in beleiving that India is a true friend it used Irainian soil as a launching pad to infiltrate its spies into Balochintan, pakistan. One of them was Kulbushan Jadhav who was caught in 2016 red handed and confessed his deep and poisonous instigation of Baloch to start separatist movement in Balochistan by pumping in money, weapons and trainings to Balochs and convinces them to attack Chiness interst especially China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). His testimony revealed a broader Indian plan: use Iranian soil to wage proxy wars against Pakistan. Jadhav was just the face of a vast network.
Iran’s own territory, it seems, became both a corridor for Indian agents and a staging ground for Western aggression. While pretending to build trade ties, India was hollowing out Iranian sovereignty—leaking intelligence to Mossad and the CIA, facilitating targeting operations, and constructing the drone infrastructure that would later be used to destroy Iran’s backbone.
Even diplomatically, India’s betrayal has grown more pronounced. During a recent session of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a resolution was tabled to condemn Israel’s unlawful, unilateral, and unprovoked military strikes against Iran. The resolution passed with overwhelming support from member states—but India refused to endorse it. By distancing itself from the condemnation, India once again signaled where its loyalties truly lie. This calculated abstention laid bare India’s duplicity: publicly posing as a regional partner, while actively siding with those attacking Iran’s sovereignty.
Meanwhile, India’s global credibility eroded. Despite branding itself as a democratic force against extremism, its involvement in espionage, targeted assassinations, and regional destabilization revealed a darker truth. Iranian state media now approach India with suspicion, while Indian diaspora channels face backlash for echoing Israeli narratives.
This dual betrayal—of Iran and Pakistan—was part of a trilateral design: India acted as executor, Israel as planner, and the U.S. as financier. Their shared objective: weaken all resistance to Western hegemony in Asia, cripple CPEC, and ultimately justify the neutralization of Pakistan and Iran’s nuclear arsenal under the guise of regional stability.
After being stabbed, hurt and betrayed Iran launched “Operation Viper,” arresting over 17 Indian nationals directly implicated in espionage and sabotage. Their involvement in facilitating Israeli precision strikes, identifying nuclear targets, and supplying coordinates for drone and missile attacks sent tremors across Tehran.
The fallout extended far beyond intelligence circles. Social media across the Muslim world erupted. From Iran to Iraq, Turkey to Uzbekistan, Malaysia to Azerbaijan, voices rose in unison—not just to condemn Israel’s brutality, but to denounce India’s complicity. What followed was unprecedented: Iranian parliamentarians raised slogans in support of Pakistan, the only nation that stood unequivocally with Iran during the crisis.
Pakistan’s support was not limited to words. As Iran reeled from the attacks, Pakistan offered to host and repatriate 20,000 Iranian pilgrims stranded in Saudi Arabia due to closed airspace. The gesture, magnified across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Facebook, triggered a wave of gratitude across Iranian media. One viral clip even quoted a senior Iranian figure claiming Pakistan had warned Israel of nuclear retaliation if Iran was hit by a nuclear bomb—a statement never confirmed officially, but powerful enough to shift regional sentiment.
This solidarity was echoed far beyond Iran. Chinese commentators praised Pakistan’s principled diplomacy. Uzbek and Azerbaijani citizens posted messages thanking Pakistan for its courage. Middle Eastern media contrasted Pakistan’s loyalty with India’s duplicity. In short, Pakistan’s image surged—India’s plummeted.
Meanwhile, India’s global credibility eroded. Despite presenting itself as a democratic bulwark against extremism, its actions in Iran exposed it as a willing conspirator in illegal assassinations and foreign-sponsored destabilization. Iranian media now treat India with suspicion, and Indian diaspora channels are widely criticized for parroting Israeli propaganda.
Now, the world is beginning to recognize the duplicity and double-dealing that define India’s foreign policy. Russia once considered India a long-standing ally, only to be blindsided when India signed strategic agreements with the United States—effectively turning its back on Moscow. This shift strained decades of trust and placed Russia in a geopolitical quagmire.
Yet, in a baffling turn, India later undermined the United States as well—by buying massive quantities of Russian oil, ammunition, and military hardware during a time when the West was trying to economically isolate Moscow. In doing so, India propped up the Russian economy, directly undercutting U.S. objectives. Thus, both superpowers—Russia and the United States—have been betrayed in turn.
India’s record of betrayal doesn’t end there. It mirrors Israel in both ideology and practice—particularly in its treatment of the Kashmiri people. Like Israel’s brutal campaign in Gaza, India has transformed Kashmir into a massive open-air prison, stripping its residents of autonomy, rights, and dignity. Through a combination of military occupation, demographic engineering, and systematic repression, it has reduced the Kashmiri population to a state of permanent subjugation.
This shared mindset—of colonialism, population control, and impunity—has become the moral link between India and Israel. Both stand accused of genocide, of targeting civilians without distinction, and of crushing resistance through starvation, displacement, and fear. It is within this framework of normalized brutality that India’s betrayal of Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and even the United States must be understood.
The lesson resonates far and wide: trust built on deceit crumbles; support rooted in principle prevails. Peace demands parity. Justice requires truth. And history will never forget those who betrayed under the guise of friendship.
By Qamar Bashir
Press Secretary to the President (Rtd)
Former Press Minister at the Embassy of Pakistan to France
Former MD, SRBC
Macomb, Michigan, USA
