The US had tried to distinguish between Islamic radical outfits that considered it as their prime enemy and the terrorist groups reared and directed by Pak ISI for use in cross-border terrorism against India but it perhaps realized in the course of time that Pakistan was in fact also giving shelter to Taliban, Al Qaeda and ISIS on its soil. President Biden’s White House is now concerned over the fallout of Israeli action in Gaza that had killed more than 30000 civilians in Palestine -- pro-Muslim demonstrations in the US and outside might be weakening the US position in the Middle East and conferring a certain advantage to Russia and China there.

The US has to understand that multi-prong measures were needed to isolate the ‘radicalized’ forces by convincing the Islamic world that recourse to Jehad was not needed for solving any political issues. This is a challenge requiring the US and India to closely work together. The injection of religion into international politics and the advent of faith-based violence in many theatres are posing a great danger to the democratic world order.

The identification of Israel with the US has accentuated the hostility of radical Sunni forces and the Shiite fundamentalists both, against the former. The position of pro-US Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt could get weakened if the military action of Israel in Gaza was further escalated leading to the destruction of civilian lives there.

India has taken an independent stand both in the Ukraine-Russia military confrontation and the Israel-Hamas conflict, favoring peaceful negotiations that would show an understanding of the security concerns of both Ukraine and Russia and in the case of Palestine uphold a two-state solution.

In the Middle East, advocates of Jehad pushed ‘revivalism’ to the point of stirring up the historical memory of Kharijites and have carried Shia-Sunni strife to a new level. They should be shunned and those who convincingly worked to establish Islam as a peaceful religion in the region, given discreet support. While India would stand for all of that, its concern is that Pakistan would independently promote a narrative in the name of peace that there should be a resumption of Indo-Pak talks.