SINGAPORE PERSPECTIVE

Singapore's Channel News Asia published an analytical commentary with a direct thesis: the Hormuz crisis has marginalised India on the regional chessboard. While Pakistan played an active mediator role between Washington and Tehran, New Delhi watched from the sidelines — unable to weigh in on a crisis that directly affects its energy imports (India depends heavily on Iranian oil and the Persian Gulf).

This Indian marginalisation during the Hormuz crisis has a direct impact on the India-Pakistan relationship: if New Delhi lacks the levers to influence the most important regional crisis of the moment, its ability to build alliances that would isolate Islamabad is also limited. The closure of the US consulate in Peshawar — which India reads as a favourable signal — is seen from Singapore as a pragmatic US security measure, not an anti-Pakistani political signal.

Singapore, which maintains developed relations with India (strategic partnership agreement, military cooperation), watches with concern as New Delhi appears to be stepping back from several major diplomatic fronts — Hormuz, G20, ASEAN+. The Sindoor anniversary gives the Modi government an opportunity to remind the world that India remains an assertive regional power, but the diplomatic impact of this posture remains limited.