STOP THE WAR ON IRAN

To the Government of India, the Opposition, and all citizens of conscience
New Delhi, India | April 7, 2026
From: Concerned Citizens of India

A war of aggression is raging in West Asia that violates international law, threatens to destroy a civilisation with which India has been intertwined for millennia, and carries consequences that will reach every household in this country. We, the concerned citizens of India, call upon our government, our opposition, and our public voices to act now — with moral clarity.

The Indian subcontinent and the Iranian plateau are adjacent worlds that share close cultural ties reaching back to antiquity. In the deepest sense, India and Iran belong to a civilisational continuum: the sister languages of Sanskrit and Avestan share the same Indo-Iranian roots; Persian was the lingua franca of the medieval Islamic world in South Asia — the court language of the Sultanate and Mughal empires and the medium of poetry, administration, philosophy, and art. The Parsis — Zoroastrians who fled persecution in Iran over a thousand years ago — found refuge on India's western shores and became one of the country's most distinguished communities. These are the living roots of a relationship that modern India inherited and must honour.

In modern times, despite severe external pressures, India and Iran have built a relationship of remarkable depth. The 1950 Treaty of Friendship established the formal foundation. The 2001 Tehran Declaration, signed during Prime Minister Vajpayee's visit to Tehran, articulated a shared vision of civilisational dialogue and strategic cooperation. The 2003 New Delhi Declaration, signed during President Khatami's visit to India, elevated this to a long-term partnership framework. The 2016 joint statement, 'Civilizational Connect, Contemporary Context', issued under Prime Minister Modi, included the landmark Chabahar Port Agreement — India's single most important infrastructure investment in the region and its strategic answer to China's Gwadar port. Energy interdependence has long linked both nations; it is because of these bonds that India has worked to preserve energy ties with Iran even under US sanctions.

Both nations were partners in the Non-Aligned Movement and continue to share roles in multilateral forums including BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the Economic Cooperation Organisation. In moments of crisis — the Covid-19 pandemic, the catastrophic 2019 floods in Iran — both nations have shown solidarity. In 1994, when Pakistan mobilised the OIC to advance a resolution condemning India over Kashmir at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Iran intervened decisively: its diplomat, acting on direct orders from Tehran, killed the consensus needed to proceed — an act of solidarity India must not forget. Today, as Indian ships navigate the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has explicitly reassured New Delhi that "Indian friends are in safe hands." These are the words of a friend, not a stranger.

On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched coordinated, large-scale military strikes on Iran without UN Security Council authorisation. The strikes killed Iran's Supreme Leader and multiple senior officials. These actions constitute aggression under international law — prohibited by Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. The UN Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights stated that this cannot be justified as lawful self-defence. Over 100 international law experts have signed an open letter declaring the strikes a clear violation of the UN Charter and raising concerns about potential war crimes.

The Minab school massacre — an airstrike on a primary school that killed nearly 170 people, the majority of them children and teachers — shocked and horrified the world. The extrajudicial killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei violates core prohibitions under international humanitarian law. These are textbook examples of war crimes. President Trump has since publicly threatened, as of 13 March 2026, to destroy Iran's power plants, water-treatment facilities, and electricity grids — infrastructure that international law designates as absolutely protected from attack.

Even those who oppose the Iranian government domestically must recognise that a state's internal politics cannot legitimise its external military destruction. If that precedent holds, no state is safe. The post-World War II order — built precisely to prevent the powerful from obliterating the weak at will — will collapse. India, which has long championed sovereignty, non-interference, and multipolarity, cannot be silent while that architecture is being dismantled.

India need not take sides in every geopolitical dispute. It must, however, stand on the right side of international law, human dignity, and the protection of civilian life. We demand that India call for this war to stop.

This is not a distant war. The consequences of the US-Israel assault on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz are already devastating India. The International Energy Agency has called this "the greatest global energy-security challenge in history." Approximately 50% of India's crude oil and the vast majority of its LPG — the primary cooking fuel for hundreds of millions of households — transit the Strait. In Gujarat, the ceramics industry has shut down due to gas shortages; in Mumbai, hotels and restaurants have closed or cut operations. The poor, unable to stockpile or substitute, will suffer most. Moreover, 30% of global urea — critical for agriculture — passes through the Strait; a fertiliser shock will raise production costs, threaten food security, and risk famine-like conditions for millions. Several Indian urea plants, including units from IFFCO and National Fertilizers in Punjab, have already halted or reduced production.

India's eight-million-strong Gulf diaspora sends home approximately $50 billion annually — sustaining families across Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and beyond. War-driven instability in the Gulf — already affecting food imports and desalination infrastructure — jeopardises their safety, livelihoods, and lives.

We demand that the Government of India:

1. Issue a clear condemnation of the US-Israeli assault on Iran as a violation of the UN Charter and international law.
2. Intervene diplomatically — bilaterally, through the UN, BRICS, and the SCO — for an immediate ceasefire and resumption of negotiations.
3. Protect Indian citizens and shipping in the Gulf, and ensure the safety of the Chabahar investment.
4. Implement an emergency plan to shield the poorest from energy, food, and economic shocks.

We call upon the Opposition to join in a joint parliamentary resolution for peace, and to hold the government accountable for protecting the vulnerable and the diaspora. We call upon Indian artists, intellectuals, athletes, and public figures — whose voices shape the national conscience — to speak out against this war.

India is the world's most populous democracy, and a civilisation for whom Iran is not merely a neighbour or trading partner — it is, in a true sense, kin. Every day of silence erodes India's credibility with the global majority and with its own citizens, who are already paying the price.

Sign, share, and ensure that elected officials face a higher cost for silence than for courage. Demand peace. Demand India's voice.