Israel and the US’s attack on Iran and the dastardly assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader and head of state, has taken place barely two weeks after the American secretary of state Marco Rubio in his speech at the European Security Conference bemoaned the terminal decline of Western empires and the apparent end of the West’s dominance, among other things, by anti-colonial uprisings. Such uprisings, he said, had transformed the world for the worse and the Western world’s future, according to Rubio, needed to be saved from being “ a faint and feeble echo of our past”.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.Those utterances and US President Donald Trump’s convoluted idea of the ‘America First’ principle and of ‘Make America Great Again’ are manifested in the sinister manner in which Israel and the US attacked Iran and the death and destruction they have caused not just for Iran but the entire West Asian region as well as the global order created during the post-Second World War period.Gandhi’s vision of a post-World War orderThat global order witnessed the rise of the Asian, African and Latin American countries after they secured independence from the highly exploitative Western empires – the decline of which has been lamented by Rubio. Mahatma Gandhi anticipated the emergence of such a global order even before the end of the Second World War in 1945.In his article “Suppose Germany Wins,” published in the Harijan on February 15, 1942, Gandhi while emphatically stating that the same method of non-violent struggle would be employed against Germany as was done in case of Britain presciently wrote: “And out of this holocaust must arise a new order for which the exploited millions of toilers have so long thirsted. The prayers of peace-lovers cannot go in vain. Satyagraha is itself an unmistakable mute prayer of an agonised soul.”The US and Israel’s attack on Iran and assassination of Ayatollah Khamenei is one such instance that has caused havoc to that global order. It is one of the gory manifestations of the attempts by America to establish its military and economic domination in the world and Israel’s brutal hegemony over West Asia.Israel’s dominationIn another instance of such attempts, US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee made the shocking remark days before the attack on Iran that it would be “fine” if Israel exercises sovereignty over much of West Asia.Rubio’s agony at the loss of the West’s domination following the anti-colonial uprisings, and Huckabee’s vision of Israeli domination in West Asia and annexation of the territories of other countries in the region signal a clear message in favour of establishing hegemony and disregarding the independence and sovereignty of nation-states.Nehru on India-Iran relationsIt is tragic that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not condemned the Israeli and American aggression on Iran nor even the assassination of Khamenei in gross violation of the UN Charter and norms governing the civilised conduct of affairs among nations.India and Iran are two ancient civilisations, the rich history of which shaped the minds of Indians and Iranians through the ages. Khamenei acknowledged that he could appreciate that India during the pre-British era registered better industrial growth than Britain only after reading Nehru’s writings.In his monumental book Discovery of India, Nehru devoted a chapter on “India and Iran” and wrote: “Among the many peoples and races who have come in contact with and influenced India’s life and culture, the oldest and most persistent have been the Iranians.” “Indeed,” he affirmed, “the relationship precedes even the beginnings of Indo-Aryan civilisation, for it was out of some common stock, that the Indo-Aryans and the ancient Iranians diverged and took their different ways.” “Racially connected, their old religions and languages also had a common background,” he remarked.He further wrote: “World developments and common interests are forcing Asiatic countries to look at each other again. The period of European domination is passed over as a bad dream and memories of long ago remind them of old friendships and common adventures.”He quoted M. Grousset, the French savant, who said that the Taj Mahal is ‘the soul of Iran incarnate in the body of India’.Modi’s silenceNow the very soul of Iran is ravaged by the US and Israeli military assault and Prime Minister Modi is maintaining studied silence. Indeed Iran and India forged close relationships after the global order was forged following the post-World War II period. Iran stood by India in defence of India’s stand on the Kashmir issue by foiling Pakistani attempts to internationalise it by raising it in the UN and other forums. It also supplied oil at a lower landed cost than crude from further afield to address our energy security.In view of these civilisational contacts and our enduring contemporary relationships, India should have stood by Iran when it came under attack by Israel and the US.Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in her article “Government’s silence on killing of Iran leader is not neutral, it is abdication” on Tuesday has expressed shock at Modi’s silence. While reiterating India’s stand for an international order that protects the weak from coercion, she claimed that Modi’s silence on the crisis Iran is facing would hasten leaders of the Global South not to trust India for defending their sovereignty when endangered by external aggression.In the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Modi told the Russian president that this is not the era of war. Yet, he has avoided giving that same message to Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after they attacked Iran. Rather, Modi visited Israel two days before the attack on Iran and stated categorically that India firmly stood by Israel and assured them that it would continue to do so.Leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi has rightly stated: “PM Modi must speak up. Does he support the assassination of a head of state as a way to define the world order? Silence now diminishes India’s standing in the world.”India’s foreign policy is rooted in the values of the freedom struggle that contributed to the decolonisation process and the emergence of a new global order, which cannot be defended by Modi’s silence on the catastrophic attack on Iran.Rubio, who mourned the demise of the domination of the West and longed for a return to the colonial era, would welcome Modi’s actions. Article 51(a) of the Constitution says that it shall be the duty of every Indian to “cherish and follow the noble ideals which inspired our national struggle for freedom”. Modi, who constantly reminds us of the fundamental duties of citizens, would do well to pay attention.S.N. Sahu served as officer on special duty to former President K.R. Narayanan.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.