India is cautiously welcoming the Iran deal, but let’s be clear: this is a disaster for India. 1️⃣ This deal has elevated India’s arch-nemesis Pakistan to the level of global peacemaker. It undermines India’s efforts to call out Pakistan’s destabilizing behavior and support for terrorism by making Islamabad a byword for peacemaking. It also transforms Pakistan into a powerbroker and leader of the Global South at India’s expense. 2️⃣ The capitulation allows Iran to dominate India’s western trading gateway. Before the Iranian Axis launched the October 7 War, India was dreaming of building the IMEC trade corridor through the Gulf and Israel to Europe. It was meant to slash transit costs and turbocharge Indian manufacturing. An emboldened Iran with ballistic missiles and billions in sanctions relief imperils that vision. Iran receives a veto over any infrastructure project in a maritime zone it seeks to dominate. Critically, the deal emboldens Iran’s proxy armies by establishing the precedent that they are inviolable, and this will threaten shipping in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea. 3️⃣ This deal keeps nearly 10 million Indians in the shadow of Iran’s ballistic missiles and killer drones The Iranian attack on Kuwait’s airport killed an Indian and the attack on Fujeirah injured three. India needs the Iranian threat neutralized to safeguard its migrant workers and the essential remittances they send home. 4️⃣ The failure to resolve the nuclear issue, while surrendering US leverage, means India will continue to be threatened by an Iranian regime in league with Pakistan pursuing nuclear weapons. It will continue to attack Indian interests with impunity and sow chaos in West Asia, sabotaging the stability that India needs for long-term economic projects. A nuclear-threshold Iran leaves India permanently exposed. India’s approach of neutrality is unsustainable and jeopardizes its long-term interests. This disastrous deal must push it to reevaluate its geopolitical posture in a world in which Iran is dangerous and Pakistan is ascendant. Closer military and economic ties with Israel, similarly threatened by this news, is inevitable.