In the quiet aftermath of missile sirens and the smog of burning fuel, a new threat emerges—not from incoming warheads, but from the insidious spread of propaganda and digital warfare.
Today, the Middle East trembles not only under the thunder of Israeli aggression or Iranian retaliation, but also under the calculated reverberations of a distant yet strategic actor: India.
Following Israel’s provocative and unlawful strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and residential sectors, the geopolitical landscape has grown increasingly combustible. What should have drawn international condemnation has, instead, sparked a dangerous chorus — led by New Delhi — amplifying disinformation, deflecting blame, and stoking the fire of conflict.
A clear pattern underpins this emerging alliance: historical revisionism, narrative manipulation, the demonisation of Muslim-majority states, and the systemic legitimisation of war crimes under the guise of counter-terrorism. Tel Aviv’s military adventurism — first against Gaza and now Tehran — has, to the surprise of many, not only met with diplomatic indifference from India but has been strategically celebrated. Indian right-wing media, emboldened by the government’s steadfast support for Israel, is amplifying narratives that mirror Israeli objectives, including unsubstantiated claims of covert Chinese, Pakistani, and Russian backing for Iran.
This alliance of disinformation and destruction did not emerge overnight. Both Modi and Netanyahu are products of political landscapes shaped by exclusionary nationalism and majoritarian dominance. The violence in Gaza and Kashmir — though geographically distant — stems from similar ideological foundations. These are regimes driven by a fixation on control, domination, and the deliberate rewriting of history.
The shared narrative propagated by India and Israel — that they are besieged by radical Islamic forces threatening their democracies — is not just disingenuous, but profoundly dangerous.
It constructs the framework for a new kind of global conflict, one waged as much on digital platforms as on physical battlefields.
The escalation in the Middle East this June underscores this troubling trajectory. Iran’s retaliatory strikes, provoked by Israeli aggression, shattered the long-mythologised notion of Israeli invincibility. For a regime that sustains its deterrence through fear, such rupture was intolerable. In response, the strategy was one of diplomacy or de-escalation, but through narrative manipulation—through pixels and propaganda, and digital sleight of hand.
India, reeling from its own recent humiliation in failed military adventurism against Pakistan, found in Israel a reflection of its frustrations. Since then, the two have worked in concert, constructing an alternate ‘reality’ filled with villainous Muslims, secret cabals, and heroic pre-emptive actions.
Their disinformation toolkit is both advanced and insidious: doctored images, AI-generated videos, bot-led campaigns, and a compliant media ecosystem.
Figures like Arnab Goswami and Gaurav Arya are no longer just nationalist firebrands; they are central operatives in sprawling disinformation matrix, where war rhetoric is cloaked in pseudo-strategic jargon aimed at inflaming rather than informing.
The targets of this axis are no longer limited to Iran. Any state that dares to question this emerging order becomes fair game. Pakistan, with its principled stance on Palestine and consistent refusal to normalise ties with Israel, remains a frequent target of this orchestrated hostility.
What makes the Indo-Israeli collaboration particularly dangerous is its ideological foundation. This is not merely a case of military logistics or diplomatic convergence. At its core lies a shared worldview that casts Muslims as the perpetual ‘other’ — inherently suspect, perpetually dangerous. This ideological poison seeps into domestic and foreign policy alike: from illegal settlements in occupied Palestine to the demographic engineering in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Modi’s India has not only drawn inspiration from the model of occupation — it has enthusiastically emulated it, displacing Kashmiris, detaining children, and silencing dissent through brute force.
But repression at home is only part of the picture. Both regimes are deeply invested in exporting chaos beyond their borders. Israel’s actions across the Middle East — targeting Syrian airports, assassinating scientists, violating Lebanese sovereignty — find disturbing parallels in India’s own aggressive postures towards Pakistan. From false flag operations like Pulwama to botched missile launches and espionage via diplomatic cover, India has steadily adopted a confrontational, destabilising approach.
When challenged, both India and Israel cry victim. When exposed, they amplify lies. Today, their partnership extends into the digital realm of strategic deception against Iran. Wild and unverified claims — such as Pakistani bases being used to strike Israel or Chinese satellites guiding Iranian missiles — are being floated by Indian social media accounts, some with direct or indirect links to the state. These fabrications are designed to construct moral equivalence, to convince the West that the aggression of Israel and India is defensive, inevitable, and righteous. This is not just irresponsible; it is incendiary.
The real danger lies not only in the information war, but in what it seeks to obscure: a creeping march towards a broader military escalation. By casting Iran as a reckless aggressor and Pakistan a proxy villain, this axis is laying the groundwork for pre-emptive strikes, sanctions, and interventions. The rhetoric around Iran’s nuclear threat eerily echoes the now-discredited justification of Iraq war over Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) — only this time, the deception is digitally amplified and met with global resistance.
And yet, resistance exists. Pakistan has remained steadfast in its support for Palestinian self-determination. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent reaffirmation — that peace in the region hinges on the establishment of an independent Palestinian state — is not just diplomatic posturing; it reflects a decades-long commitment. Iran, too, has refused to capitulate, responding to Israeli aggression with measured retaliation rather than reckless escalation. Together, these nations form a counter-axis — one that champions sovereignty, dignity, and a principled rejection of hegemony.
In contrast, India’s growing alignment with Israel is coming at a cost. Once seen as a non-aligned leader in the Global South, New Delhi is now viewed by many Muslim nations as complicit in crimes against humanity. Its ideological and diplomatic posture in the Middle East is now under scrutiny—not only from analysts and policymakers, but from a global public attuned to justice.
Furthermore, this alliance is riddled with internal contradictions. Both India and Israel are plagued by deep societal divisions, growing economic discontent, and a youth increasingly sceptical of war as a solution. Inside both countries, voices of dissent — journalists, students, civil society organisations — are challenging the official narrative. As the drums of war grow louder, so too will this domestic resistance.
The Indo-Israeli nexus represents a dangerous evolution in geopolitics: where propaganda replaces policy, where war is not the failure of diplomacy but its intended outcome, and where truth is sacrificed at the altar of nationalist ambition.
As the Middle East teeters on the brink, the international community cannot afford to stand by. It must act by demanding accountability, rejecting manufactured narratives, and upholding international law.
This is not just about Gaza or Tehran. It is about the integrity of global itself —whether it will be shaped by justice and truth or consumed by disinformation and domination. The road ahead is perilous. But clarity of purpose remains our best compass. The axis of arrogance must be confronted before it reduces the region — and perhaps the world — to ash.
