- 2 days ago
After nearly six days of silence, India has conveyed condolences over the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visiting the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi to sign the condolence book on behalf of the Government of India.
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00:05After nearly six days of silence, India has finally responded to the rapidly
00:10escalating conflict in West Asia. The statement comes a day after the United States sank an
00:20Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sri Lanka. The incident marks a dramatic
00:26expansion of the conflict and brings it closer to India's maritime neighbourhood.
00:33Prime Minister Narendra Modi said military confrontation alone cannot resolve global crisis.
01:05The remarks mark New Delhi's first clear public response since the conflict sharply escalated
01:11earlier this week. India has also conveyed its condolences over the killing of Iran's Supreme
01:20leader Ayatollah Alekh Khamenei its first official response on the matter. Foreign Secretary Vikram
01:25Misri visited the Iranian embassy in New Delhi and signed the condolence book on behalf of the
01:30government of India. In another diplomatic outreach, External Affairs Minister S. Jay Shankar held a
01:38phone conversation with Iran's Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Arachi. The government's response follows
01:45criticism from opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi who questioned the Prime Minister's silence
01:50and demanded clarity on India's position after Khamenei's killing.
01:57With the conflict widening from the Gulf to the Indian Ocean, India now finds itself walking a delicate
02:04diplomatic tightrope. New Delhi maintains strategic ties across the region. By calling for dialogue while
02:11keeping diplomatic channels open with Tehran, India is signalling a careful, calibrated approach.
02:17The priority remains de-escalation, regional stability and the protection of its strategic interests.
02:24Bureau Report, India Today.
02:30All right, let's quickly cut across to my colleague Prane Upadhyay who's getting us up to speed with the
02:35very latest developments. Prane, after now six days you've had the Foreign Secretary sign the condolence
02:45book at the Iran embassy. Can that be seen as the first official statement condoning the assassination of
02:53Iran's supreme leader?
02:55Prane Upadhyay, obviously Priti, you know, as they say that, you know, action speaks louder than the word.
02:59So definitely, India had spoken, India has expressed its, you know, stand as far as expressing the
03:05condolence in the, you know, in the killing of or the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and
03:11India's top diplomat, Foreign Secretary Vikram Mistry, went to Iranian embassy, signed the condolence book.
03:17Though we do not know exactly what did he write in the condolence book, but obviously he must have conveyed
03:22a carefully crafted and, you know, drafted message, conveying the sentiment in India and expressing condolence
03:29on behalf of the people of India on the killing of or the assassination of, on the death of
03:35Iranian supreme leader, you know, whatever you may call it as. But definitely his, the very fact that
03:42Indian Foreign Secretary went there to the Iranian embassy, written his note in the condolence book,
03:46and he also, he had a meeting with the Iranian ambassador there and expressed in words as well
03:51that what is the sentiment from India. But definitely after that, India's external affairs minister,
03:58Dr. S.J. Shankar spoke to his Iranian counterpart and India who all, you know,
04:04India always solicited that there should be dialogue, there should be diplomacy, you know, military action
04:09or the, you know, the solution to such problems cannot be achieved, you know, through, through,
04:14through military means or through conflicts. We will have to come to dialogue table and,
04:18you know, you know that in a few days ago, external affairs minister also spoke to the Israeli foreign
04:23minister, Gideon Saar. He also spoke to Dr. Seyed Abbas Araki and, you know, he may speak to,
04:30to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well in this case and asking and urging all the parties
04:35to exercise restraint because people's lives are involved. And in fact, now you see, Preeti,
04:40India's economic interests are also getting impacted and affected by the widening of sphere of this
04:48conflict. Right. Thank you, Praneh, for joining us for that quick update. Let me also quickly rope in
04:53our foreign affairs editor, Geeta Mohan, who's joining us from the studios. Geeta, you know,
04:58you had the foreign secretary sign the condolence book at the Iranian embassy. You've had the foreign
05:02minister pick up the phone, have a conversation with Iran's foreign minister. We've also seen a sense of a
05:09diplomatic thaw where we have now Indian tankers which will be allowed to pass through the Strait
05:15of Hormuz. So this tight diplomacy walk that India has been walking seem to be working, you think?
05:21Well, I do think that the conversations were required because India would face a massive
05:26oil crunch should the Strait of Hormuz be closed or shut for business. And certainly conversations
05:34on that front must have taken place. But look, Dr. Jaishankar's message on the conversation that he
05:41had with Dr. Arakji was rather cryptic. It just informs the world that there was a call that was
05:46made, no details that were divulged. There are many questions that still remain unanswered. While the
05:52Americans do not really have to inform of any action they take in international waters, but this is still
05:59the Indian Ocean. We're still talking about Sagar diplomacy, the Indo-Pacific and Quad where all of
06:03them are still partners. Did India know, was India informed about it? If that is true, then that
06:11raises a few concerns and questions. If India did not know about it, then that also raises a few
06:16concerns and a lot of important questions. Either way, there are a lot of unanswered questions to what
06:22is now being considered a war that has reached India's backyard.
06:28Keita, very quickly before I let you go. The sheer fact, optics, especially in times of diplomacy and
06:35at times of war, speak quite a bit. We've had now the Foreign Secretary, you know, go to the Iranian
06:40embassy, write in the condolence book. Do you see somewhere down the line, because there were a lot of
06:46questions that were being asked of India, of not taking a public stand where the assassination of
06:52Iran's Supreme Leader was concerned? Well, absolutely. There were a lot of questions. There
06:56still are a lot of questions by all those who actually in the past have always hailed India's foreign
07:02policy, this administration's foreign policy. And on many counts, the administration had got it right.
07:09But I think on this one, even those who have always hailed the policy have questioned this time
07:15around as to why are we not looking at the importance of Iran rather than just being so
07:20focused on what and how America will react. Of course, the reaction is going to be very stern.
07:26But Russia and China have put their position and made their position very clear. India has to do
07:32the balancing act because India does have a strategic partnership with the United States of America.
07:37Should they have allowed it to this extent is something we still question.
07:41All right. So from India, let's move to a broader world view. Thank you, Geeta, for joining us.
07:46I'm joined right now by Professor Adam Dixon from the Adam Smith Chair and Director of Panmo House
07:52in Edinburgh. Professor, thank you for taking the time out and joining us this evening. When you're
07:57looking at the developments, fast-paced developments around the world, there is an economic cost to it,
08:02there is a human cost to it. How do you see a possible end to this conflict? Do you see
08:08one at all?
08:09So, I mean, obviously, like with any conflict, there are many risks and there are many unknowns.
08:15I think it's clear that the Americans and the Israelis and many other militaries will continue to attack
08:21Iraq and Iran, but that I think also you'll see allies come together to ensure that trade routes
08:29are open and that alternative routes to shipping are open so that the world economy does not
08:36contract too much. What I would say is that markets in general, most investors would have
08:42been paying attention to this in the weeks running up, and so I think markets have priced many of these
08:47risks, and so what we're seeing is the volatility, but I don't see any longer-term risks going forward.
08:55You're saying you don't see, in the long-term, risk going forward, because at least with the kind
08:59of indication we've gotten from Israel, from America, is the fact that this is going to continue
09:05at least for many, many days, if not over a month. Now, the Strait of Hormuz is shut, where
09:14oil is concerned. America is going to be impacted. There will be allies of Iran that have already
09:19stepped in, while Chinese tankers are allowed to pass, but there are going to be impounding
09:24economic compulsions. Do you see that happening? So again, I think over the long term, so I'm thinking
09:30over several months, I think this will subside. I think over the next coming weeks, there'll be lots
09:35of volatility in both commodity markets and global equity markets. However, I think that the Gulf
09:43countries, Saudi Arabia, will come together to ensure that shipping is allowed through the Strait
09:50of Hormuz. We've already seen that the Iranian navy has been seriously depleted, and we also know that
09:56Saudi Arabia is transferring oil exports via the Red Sea. And we should also keep in mind that the Gulf
10:02is not
10:03the only part of the world that produces oil. I mean, for India, for example, there's different
10:08sources from Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia. There obviously will be a cost to this. This
10:14will drive up inflation across the globe. But at the same time, I think we have to step back and
10:20ask,
10:21how significant has Iran been in the global economy? And because of the sanctions over so many years,
10:28Iran's place has actually been quite insignificant. So the global economy as a whole should be able to
10:33withstand this conflict. You know, it's an interesting contrarian point of view, Professor,
10:38than what most, you know, are actually coming forth with. So you actually see this that, you know,
10:44or read it as economic compulsions or the economic ramifications of this war will not be crucial
10:51in putting an end to this war. That's not going to be the fact. No, no, no. Yeah. So if
10:57your question
10:57is, will Israel and the United States stop its actions because of concerns over the global economy,
11:04I don't think so. I think they have been very clear that they are committed to, if you like, regime
11:10change, I think that is, or some kind of change in Iran. And they will continue until Iran's military
11:17assets are significantly depleted. And that will have some economic disruptions. But I don't think
11:24pressure on the global economy will be such to change Trump or Netanyahu's or other allies that
11:31are getting involved in the conflict to stop. Professor Dixon, thank you for taking the time
11:38out and joining us. An interesting point of view. Thank you, you know, for joining us this evening.
11:43Viewers, I'm going to quickly now cut across to the latest in terms of images that have been
11:48streaming in, images that we have verified. Amongst the escalating conflict, social media is awash also
11:55with fake videos claiming to show events from the US, Israel, Iran. India today has fact-checked these.
12:03So a lot of information, you know, there is this fog of war which is flooding the media and the
12:09social
12:09media space will not, you know, what we've really done is to fact-check whether that video, whether
12:16that information is actually correct. Here we go. There is a claim that has been doing the rounds,
12:22especially in social media, that suggests that, which this video shows, the coffin of Ayatollah Ali
12:29Khamenei in Iran. The fact, this video actually shows the coffin of Sheikh Arkan Hamid Mohan al-Karihala,
12:36the chief of the Shuwaliyat tribe in Iraq, who died on February 2nd. Nothing to do with Iran.
12:49The other claim that is flooding social media is this video, which seems to show millions of
12:55people attending the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran. Well, the fact to this is, this was recorded
13:01at the Al-Khazimain Shrine in Kadhimia in Baghdad during commemoration for Imam Musa al-Khazim, not at Ali Khamenei's
13:12funeral.
13:16Alright, our third fact-check for the day. The claim, this video shows Iran's attack on an Israeli nuclear plant.
13:22Fact, this video actually shows a military munition that brought depot exploding in the eastern Ukrainian town of Balkhlea in
13:312017.
13:36Alright, the other claim, this video shows the death of Israel's top religious leader in an Iranian missile attack.
13:43The video shows the funeral of Rabbi Binyamin Kanpul Maka, a respected religious figure who died in December
13:522025 of an illness at age 74.
14:08Alright, news break coming in, this time from West Bengal. It seems the governor of West Bengal has resigned.
14:14Sources in the governor's house have confirmed the reason of resignation yet unknown.
14:20But, uh, word coming in from Raj Bhavan Kolkata that the governor of West Bengal, CV Ananda Bose, has resigned.
14:31What is the reason for that? Well, that remains, uh, you know, as intrigued at least as of now.
14:38But, CV Ananda Bose has resigned as West Bengal governor. Uh, you know, to give you context over the last
14:44couple of months, uh, the governor of Bengal, Mr. Bose,
14:47and the chief minister of Bengal, Mamata Banerjee's, have been at loggerheads.
14:52There have been various battles, political and social, that the Raj Bhavan has fought with the chief minister's office.
14:59And, uh, word now coming in, and this is all source-based information, that the governor of West Bengal has
15:05resigned.
15:06Sources in the governor's house has confirmed that CV Ananda Bose has resigned, the reason yet not known.
15:13He has also left for the national capital, Delhi.
15:18Big news coming in, and all of this viewers is coming in, where any day now, elections will be announced
15:24for the state of West Bengal.
15:26And, uh, at this juncture, for the governor to put his, in his papers and resign from his, uh, position
15:35is huge.
15:36But, CV Ananda Bose has resigned from the Bengal governor position.
15:41More details are awaited, and we're going to get our viewers up to speed with as and when we get
15:46in that information.
15:46This is the latest news break.
15:48His resignation comes in, um, just a month before, or, uh, you know, days before West Bengal goes into election.
15:57The Bengal Raj Bhavan sources have conveyed this information.
16:01We can confirm, uh, his resignation.
16:03We can confirm that he has left for the national capital.
16:06The reason with which, why he has put in his papers and resigned.
16:12Details on the grounds of resignation, uh, are filtering in.
16:16We want to verify it, the reasons, and only then will we give out that information.
16:21Uh, for now, uh, if you put it all in context, CV Ananda Bose, uh, has been in constant crosshairs
16:28of the West Bengal governor.
16:31Uh, one face-off after the other.
16:33Rarely have the governor and the West Bengal chief minister agreed on anything.
16:39All right, let's...
16:45All right, I want to cut across, uh, to our reporter on ground, who's joining us with the very latest
16:50information.
16:52Tapas, do we know the reason, um, why Mr. Bose has resigned as governor of West Bengal?
16:59What are the details of this resignation?
17:01Uh, well, see, well, see, as of now, what we have been given to understand by the governor's house sources
17:07that he, uh, governor has resigned and he is in Delhi right now.
17:10He has all already tendered his resignation.
17:12But as far as the reason behind his resignation, it's still not known.
17:16Uh, it has been contemplated that there have been a lot of rift between the state government and the governor's
17:20house, uh, since the last few years.
17:21That could be a possible reason, but we are not, uh, we have not been given any official reaction as
17:27to what was the reason behind governor's, uh, resignation as of now.
17:30In 2022's November, he took over as the, uh, governor of West Bengal after Jagdeep Dhankar.
17:36And now, finally, it has, uh, uh, it has been confirmed by governor house sources that he has resigned.
17:42But, uh, the reason, uh, has not been cited as of now.
17:45We are still awaiting an official confirmation, uh, pertaining to the reason behind his resignation as the governor of West
17:51Bengal.
17:51Back to you.
17:53Tapas, uh, so he, one thing is clear that, uh, Ananda Bose will not be completing his term as governor.
17:59We don't know whether his resignation has been accepted, but we only think we can confirm he's resigned.
18:05He's left for Delhi, correct?
18:08Well, yes, absolutely.
18:10He has resigned and left for Delhi, uh, but whether his resignation has been accepted or not,
18:14we are still awaiting a confirmation from the, uh, Raj Bhavan sources.
18:17But, uh, yes, uh, we have been told that he has already resigned.
18:21All of a sudden, there was no plan whatsoever since the morning today.
18:24But, suddenly, he has resigned and left for Delhi.
18:26And, uh, reasons for his resignation might be, uh, disclosed in a little while from now.
18:31Back to you.
18:31Thank you, Kapas, for joining us with that quick update.
18:34Uh, viewers, just put this in perspective.
18:36West Bengal is headed for elections.
18:38Any date now, the dates for elections of West Bengal and other states, uh, would be announced.
18:44And in midst of all of this, the governor has decided to step down.
18:47We are awaiting more information.
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