The killing of a sitting head of state in the midst of ongoing negotiations marks a grave rupture in contemporary international relations. A targeted killing of a serving head of state strikes at the heart of these principles. If such acts pass without principled objection from the world’s largest democracy, the erosion of international norms becomes easier to normalise. India’s post-Independence foreign policy was shaped by non-alignment — not as passive neutrality, but as a conscious assertion of strategic autonomy. When it reconvenes, this disturbing silence over the breakdown of international order must be debated openly and without evasion.

Source: Indian Express March 03, 2026 15:04 UTC