5 min readJul 6, 2026 05:51 PM IST First published on: Jul 6, 2026 at 05:50 PM ISTAyatollah Syed Ali Hosseini Khamenei was laid to rest in Tehran on Friday. As Iran’s Supreme Leader, Khamenei occupied a position of immense political and spiritual authority across the Shia world. India’s decision to be represented at his funeral by a relatively junior delegation has therefore generated a debate extending well beyond protocol: Has India, almost imperceptibly, moved away from the strategic autonomy that once made its diplomacy distinctive?The relationship between India and Persia is civilisational before it is strategic. Yet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tel Aviv immediately before hostilities between Israel and Iran inevitably shaped regional perceptions. The timing suggested to many that India was identifying itself more closely with one side of a deeply polarised regional conflict, that India had moved away from non-alignment and towards the United States and Israel. India’s abstentions on several United Nations resolutions calling for an end to the violence further reinforced the impression.AdvertisementAlso Read | The death of the Ayatollah: Why public grief isn’t always a political statementAdmittedly, none of this diminishes the importance of India’s growing partnership with Israel and the United States. Israel has become one of India’s most valuable defence partners. The United States is India’s leading strategic partner, balancing China’s growing influence in Asia. But recent trade disputes with Washington and uncertainty surrounding visas for highly skilled Indian professionals became reminders that even the closest strategic partners ultimately pursue their own national interests. The larger question is whether India retains sufficient diplomatic space to pursue its own interests whenever they diverge from those of its most powerful partners.Iran, meanwhile, remains indispensable to India’s long-term strategic interests. Chabahar Port provides India’s most practical route to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan. Iran’s location along the Strait of Hormuz makes it central to energy security, maritime connectivity and India’s Eurasian ambitions.Despite severe economic distress, political instability and security challenges at home, Islamabad has succeeded in re-establishing itself as a relevant interlocutor across West Asia. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s attendance at Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral reaffirmed Pakistan’s longstanding ability to engage simultaneously with Iran, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf monarchies, China and, where necessary, the United States. Whether these initiatives ultimately yield tangible strategic gains remains uncertain, but Pakistan has succeeded in creating the impression that it is once again an active player rather than merely a recipient of regional developments.AdvertisementIndia’s material advantages over Pakistan remain overwhelming. Yet diplomacy is equally about political presence, symbolic gestures, sustained engagement and the confidence to keep channels open with every side. In that respect, Pakistan appears to have recognised an opportunity India did not fully seize.Jawaharlal Nehru called India’s approach non-alignment. Indira Gandhi practised strategic independence during the Cold War. Atal Bihari Vajpayee deepened ties with Washington and Tel Aviv while preserving productive engagement with Tehran and the Arab world. Their politics differed, but each sought to maximise India’s freedom of judgement.Today’s preferred expression is “multi-alignment”. Properly understood, it should represent the evolution — not the abandonment — of strategic autonomy. It succeeds only when every major power, friend and rival alike, believes that India possesses both the confidence and the capacity to disagree whenever its national interest so demands.you may likeIndia today is among the world’s fastest-growing economies, an emerging technological power and a respected voice of the Global South. These provide New Delhi with an opportunity few nations possess: To maintain close partnerships with Washington, Tel Aviv, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi while simultaneously preserving deep and meaningful engagement with Tehran.For over seven decades, India’s greatest diplomatic asset has been the belief that its foreign policy would be guided neither by ideology nor by external pressure, but by an independent assessment of its own national interest. In an increasingly fragmented world, that reputation may prove more valuable than any alliance. The real lesson of Khamenei’s funeral is not that India should choose between Washington and Tehran. It is that a country aspiring to be a leading global power must never allow others to believe that its choices have already been made.The writer is chairman, Advanced Study Institute of Asia, former Lt. Governor, Delhi, and former vice chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia