Regardless of the delicate balance that India has maintained on all issues involving the United States and Israel, the Left-supported conference on West Asia, currently in progress, provided the stage for airing anti-US sentiment with Hizbollah leader Ali Fayyad suggesting India could play a leading role in resisting US policy in the region.

“India is one of the biggest countries and it can use its position to play a more positive role in international affairs by resisting US influence in West Asia,” Ali Fayyad, a spokesman for the Hizbollah told The Indian Express. The comments came in response to a question on India’s position on the Iranian nuclear programme, with the Hizbollah leader insisting that in his understanding Iran would be using nuclear energy for peaceful means and that it was committed to abide by the IAEA.

The spokesman didn’t give an opinion on whether Iran has the right to develop a nuclear weapon. According to him, it was solely an Iranian issue and he had no comments to make.

However, Fayyad chose not to say anything at the conference that would needlessly agitate the Indian government. Even while speaking on the Indo-Israel relations, the criticism was not direct as he put the blame on Arab regimes for pushing India to adopt a position where it had come close to Israel. He lauded India’s support for the Palestinian cause but said the countries of the region didn’t have any concerted policy to engage New Delhi.

According to him, neither the Arab League nor the Islamic Conference could solve the region’s problems because they represented outmoded Arab and Islamic regimes.

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