The Iran War Through the Eyes of India and China
Beijing and New Delhi are trying to keep their distance from the attacks in the Persian Gulf, but that may prove impossible.
A plume of smoke rising from the port of Jebel Ali following a reported Iranian strike in Dubai.
Photographer: Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty
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While China and India may not be actively engaged in the warfare despoiling the Persian Gulf, the two major military and economic powers aren’t exactly uninvolved. India has certainly been within firing range: the Iranian frigate sunk by a US submarine had just participated in a naval exercise sponsored by New Delhi in the Bay of Bengal. The IRS Dena was torpedoed off the coast of Sri Lanka on its way back home. In the meantime, there is much speculation that China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system — Beijing’s alternative to US government-owned GPS — has been instrumental in helping Tehran target sites in Israel and Gulf nations.