Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday said India could serve as a potential long-term mediator in the conflict involving Iran and the United States, citing New Delhi’s “vast diplomatic experience and international standing.”
Addressing a media briefing after a meeting of BRICS foreign ministers, Lavrov referred to Pakistan’s role in facilitating immediate dialogue between Iran and the US, while suggesting that India could play a broader diplomatic role in ensuring long-term regional stability.
“Pakistan is helping establish dialogues between the US and Iran to resolve urgent problems. If they seek a long-term mediator between Iran and its Arab friends, this role could be played by India, considering its vast diplomatic experience,” Lavrov said.
His remarks came at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in the UAE as part of his five-nation tour.
Lavrov’s comments also coincided with heightened global concern over the Iran conflict and the impending expiry of US sanctions waivers on Russian and Iranian oil.
At the briefing, the Russian foreign minister said India, as the current BRICS chair and a major energy consumer with direct interests in regional stability, was well placed to facilitate dialogue among key stakeholders.
“India, the BRICS president, is directly interested in receiving oil from this region. Why won't they offer their services, including as a country that is currently presiding over BRICS, so they could invite Iran, the United Arab Emirates, to start with, to have a conversation with each other to agree on how they can avoid any hostilities between the two countries?” he said.
Lavrov also alleged that certain countries were attempting to deepen hostility between Iran and Arab nations, while maintaining that Russia was working to reduce tensions in the region.
“And they are trying; other countries are trying to instil this aggression, to instil this hostility in these relations. And I believe that this hostility, this aggression against Iran, was motivated, among other things, to antagonise Iran and its Arab neighbours,” he said.
“We need to understand root causes of every conflict, here it is unprovoked aggression by US and Israel,” Lavrov added.
He said Russia was working “with the opposite goal in mind”, stressing the importance of diplomacy and regional engagement to prevent further escalation in West Asia.
India has historically played a significant role in global mediation and peacekeeping efforts since independence, evolving from a non-aligned and idealistic diplomatic approach to what it now describes as a “Vishwa Bandhu” or “friend of the world” strategy.
India played a key role in the 1953 Korean armistice through its proposals on prisoner-of-war repatriation. During the 1950s and 1960s, it chaired the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Vietnam, helping maintain regional stability.
New Delhi also helped broker Austrian neutrality in 1955, leading to the withdrawal of Soviet troops, and participated in peace efforts during the Suez Canal crisis, the Congo conflict, and the Iran-Iraq war.
More recently, under its G20 presidency, India highlighted the developmental consequences of conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and consistently called for dialogue and diplomacy.
India’s diplomatic outreach has often been guided by the principle that “the whole world is one family,” reflecting its emphasis on consensus-building and peaceful conflict resolution.
(With inputs from ANI)