Let’s recall what Narendra Modi said on May 23, 2016 during his first visit to Iran: “Shakkar-Shikan Shavand Hame Bulbulane-azam/Je in qade-Hindi ki be-Tehran mee rasad.” This means: All the nightingales of Iran get this fresh sweet arriving in Tehran from India. Can Modi now hear the nightingales of Iran sobbing in grief as bodies of young naval officials return to Tehran from India?The Iranian ship was returning after participating in an exercise in Visakhapatnam on Indian Navy’s invitation when an American submarine drowned it. The question is not whether India can be held responsible for this illegal attack. What will definitely bruise India’s image is the ominous silence of the Modi Government. Modi, who chose not to offer condolences to Iran on the murder of its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remained silent on this heinous crime in the Indian Ocean. India doesn’t have the tradition of treating her guests with such apathy. What would be Modi’s response if Pakistan bombed our guests just outside our territorial control? Will Modi choose to ignore the tragedy if over 100 American or Israeli soldiers are gunned down while returning from India?Modi’s designation, doubtless, is the Prime Minister. But does he behave like the Prime Minister of India? Several recent incidents have given birth to this unusual query. Prime Ministers aren’t free to act on personal whims and fancies. They operate within an institutional framework; they are duty-bound to represent India’s constitutional majesty and socio-cultural traits. Iran is an old and trusted friend and no Indian Prime Minister enjoys any personal choice to violate that national obligation towards an ally.The least Modi could have done was to express sorrow at Khamenei’s assassination and regret the killing of Iranian naval officials. This human courtesy doesn’t entail a revolt against Modi’s, not India’s, best friends – the United States and Israel. The institutional dignity of the office of the Prime Minister doesn’t allow any individual occupant to show cowardice, so distressing as to demean our national pride. India’s credentials as a trusted partner now lie in tatters.Modi himself asserted during his 2016 trip: “In the world of today, political pundits talk of strategic convergence. But, India and Iran are two civilisations that celebrate the meeting of our great cultures. India and Iran are not new friends. Our dosti is as old as history. Through centuries, our societies have stayed connected through art and architecture, ideas and traditions, and culture and commerce. As friends and neighbours, we have shared interest in each other’s growth and prosperity, and joys and sorrows.”Was this rhetoric totally delinked from reality? If not, Modi should have expressed sorrow for Khamenei’s murder even as he didn’t have the courage to condemn the murderers.Modi wrapped up his 2016 speech saying: “Zunoonat garbe nafse-khud ast/Je-Kashi pa-be Khashan neem gaam ast (Once we make up our mind, the distance between Kashi and Kaashan is only half a step). India wants to know when did Modi “make up his mind” to burn the bridges with Iran? He called the neighbouring countries to enquire about the damages caused by Iranian strikes. He didn’t call Iran to ask about the damages inflicted by the ferocious US-Israeli attack. Which friend was grappling with a greater tragedy – Iran, or Qatar, Kuwait and Oman? Modi condemned violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity of all these countries except Iran. Modi, whom the opposition parties describe as “compromised”, has acted in a manner that belittles India as well as the office of the Prime Minister.Iran’s sovereigntyDonald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu could have unleashed the unjust attack on Iran without the smokescreen of freeing people from the oppressive regime. Iranian women, they said, needed freedom. Women in hijab are doubtless better than women in the Epstein gutter. Forces that bomb schools to kill 165 little girls do not have the credentials to talk about gender justice. Nobody wants any sermons on liberalism from the protagonists of Gaza carnage. The world now understands the charade of freedom that the United States peddles to legitimize its illegal imperialist designs. How they served humanity in the garb of changing evil regimes over the past many decades is not a secret.America and Israel were itching to dance on the ruins of Iran for a long time. Israel wanted to force America into this unjust war for the last 15 years but Barack Obama and Joe Biden refused to take the plunge. Israel continued its evil designs all these while. A famous book – Mossad – published in 2016 says, “Waging a stubborn shadow of war against Iran by sabotaging nuclear facilities, assassinating scientists, supplying plants with faulty equipment and raw materials via bogus companies, organising desertions of high-ranking military officers and major figures in nuclear research, introducing ferocious viruses into Iran’s computer systems, Mossad allegedly is fighting the threat of nuclear-armed Iran and what that would mean for the United States and the rest of the world. While Mossad has delayed the Iranian nuclear bomb by several years, their covert battle is reaching its peak, before last-resort measures – a military strike – are employed.”The book is jointly written by insiders who know Mossad, Israel’s infamous secret service – Michael Bar-Zohar, who fought four wars and later became a member of Parliament, and Nissim Mishal, a well-known TV personality. The planned military strike they envisaged happened a few months ago but failed miserably because of a stiff Iranian response. Trump and Netanyahu digested the insult but returned with vengeance to wipe out the entire political and military leadership of Iran. All the reasons given by Trump and Netanyahu to defend their wicked action are fake and stupid. It is a tragedy that the sole superpower of the world is so irresponsible and greedy, shamelessly promoting might-is-right savagery. While America’s habit of disrespecting sovereignty is old, its illogic and excuses to invade Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria and now Iran have compelled even its all-season allies to chart out different paths.US audacityGood heavens, Scott Bessent has finally emerged as the saviour! Who Bessent? Our American mai-baap, the US Treasury Secretary who announced a 30-day waiver, granting sanction to India to purchase Russian oil to tide over the crisis caused by the Iran war. Not just a few days, or a week. Full 30 days, probably considering the “Vishwaguru” hallucinations of Sangh Parivar ecosystem. Don’t know why Fani Badayuni’s couplet flits through the mind – Zindagi zabr hai aur zabr ke aasar nahin/Hai is qaid ko zanzeer bhi darkaar nahin… (Life has become such a compulsion, yet the force is not visible/Alas! this imprisonment does not even require chains).Who has emboldened the United States to treat India as a captive nation? Did Donald Trump measure up the Government when Modi’s sidekicks chose a notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein as the mediator? Is Trump in possession of some nasty secrets which enables him to blackmail Modi? Did Modi commit a political blunder by not calling his bluff at the very beginning of Trump’s second term, when he humiliated India by sending our people tied in chains and repeatedly took credit for stopping war with Pakistan? Has the unfair trade deal finally signalled surrender, convincing Trump that Modi doesn’t have the guts to confront him?Modi’s inability to hold meaningful conversations with Trump on issues that may have serious repercussions is bound to trigger suspicions. Which leader will remain silent despite somebody repeatedly threatening to destroy his political career? It’s a crying shame that the entire BJP is portraying this abject surrender as diplomatic triumph. That load of nonsense burns the ears.Modi can turn the tide by bluntly telling the Trump administration that India will not tolerate any interference in its choices; commercial, strategic or political. India must continue to purchase Russian oil as long as it suits our business interest. That is the best way to tell Bessent, or whoever tries to boss around – mind your own business!