In the crossfire: on India and the Saudi-Houthi conflict

The killing of an Indian national in a Houthi attack on Saudi Arabia’s Dammam airport is a grim reminder of the dangers the kingdom’s Indian community faces as the conflict between Riyadh and Yemen’s Shia militants escalates. Since the fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis resumed in July, at least two Indians have been killed and 14 others wounded. On Thursday, the Houthis claimed that a yacht with 14 Indians was targeted by Saudi forces near Yemen’s Zuqar island in the Red Sea and that rescue operations were under way. As the Houthis, who control parts of Northern Yemen and its entire Red Sea coast, step up attacks on Saudi infrastructure, including oil facilities and airports, Indians, who are the kingdom’s largest expat community, risk getting caught in the crossfire. With flights disrupted, thousands of Indian pilgrims are stranded. India has condemned Houthi attacks, saying that it “stands in solidarity” with Saudi Arabia. With no end in sight to the fighting and a high possibility of Israel and the U.S. resuming their Iran strikes, further violence and instability in West Asia could make India’s choices increasingly difficult.

The Saudi-Houthi conflict dates back to the Houthi takeover of Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, in 2014. A year later, Saudi Arabia began bombing Yemen to drive the Houthis out. But years of Saudi bombing of one of the poorest Arab countries have proved counterproductive; the Houthis consolidated support among the tribes of northern Yemen and built a powerful territorial army and naval force. The Saudi-Houthi ceasefire of 2022 collapsed in July 2026 after Saudi Arabia recklessly bombed Sana’a airport, to prevent an Iranian plane with a Houthi delegation from landing. The Houthis subsequently began attacking Saudi Arabia’s critical infrastructure, and launched a ground offensive against the Saudi-backed forces in Yemen. The Houthi attacks pose the biggest security challenge to Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and the main architect of the war on Yemen, in decades. Massive Saudi air strikes have neither defeated the Houthis nor restored the kingdom’s deterrence. With its wealth, natural resources, infrastructure and tenuous palace politics, the kingdom remains exposed to Houthi missile and drone attacks, with few good options for a way out. India must prepare a contingency plan for worst-case scenarios. Its immediate priority should be to evacuate stranded Indian pilgrims. It should also articulate a stronger position for stability and work with Arab countries and Tehran to push for a diplomatic settlement to the Iran crisis. For peace to prevail in the Persian Gulf, the guns directed at Iran must first fall silent.