Annual loss of productivity of the important crop legume chickpea has received prime scientific concern at recent times. Vascular wilt caused by fungal pathogen Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris race 1 (Foc1) accounts for major share of yield loss of chickpea. Control of this disease remains a challenge due to the lack of appropriate breeding programs to manage fast pathogen mutability. Previous studies with this pathogen have highlighted the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as chemical signal in enkindling downstream systemic resistance response instead of activating site specific defense. But the role of salicylic acid in modulating resistance is still unexplored. Present study explains the probable function of salicylic acid (SA) in coordination with ROS. The external SA application reveals the restoration of relative water content of infected susceptible chickpea plants. The qRT-PCR based expression study of key SA biosynthetic genes indicate that the SA biogenesis takes place by the activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) that activates other SA responsive genes and TGA transcription factors to induce an active defense against Foc1. Finally, detection of SA by LC MS/MS along with the accumulation of transcripts of SA marker genes, PR1 and PR5, strengthens the involvement of SA in translocation of distant systemic signals in chickpea-Foc1 interaction.