Preparing the response

Three axes along which India must respond to West Asian crisis

The killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by the US during his visit to Iraq has shaken up the situation in West Asia, moved the region closer to an armed confrontation, and caused oil prices to react sharply. Soleimani, as leader of the Quds Force — which is the division that carries out the extra-territorial influence and insurgency operations of the Islamic Republic of Iran — was a major player in the politics of the region and had become enormously powerful and popular in Iran itself. A cycle of response and escalation might result. If so, it is not