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Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Foreign Minister S Jayashankar spent the day in Tehran in silence last week.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Tehran on his way to Moscow to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. And Jaishankar spent the entire day in Tehran on Tuesday on his way back from Moscow.
In silence, it has been argued that the visit is being officially refueled. But the question is why did the two Indian ministers land in Tehran instead of filling oil in Dubai or Abu Dhabi?
There is no disagreement among observers that India is deeply concerned about the way Iran is closing in on its arch nemesis China and now Pakistan.
Sanjay Bhardwaj, professor of international relations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, told BBC Bangla that India was increasingly concerned about Iran’s economic and strategic ties with China.
“The political, economic and strategic importance of Iran for India is immense,” he said. India does not want to lose it in any way. “
The importance of Iran for India
Professor Bhardwaj said that Iran is of great importance to India as it enters the markets of Afghanistan and Central Asia. That is why India was closely involved in the development of the Iranian port of Chabahar.
At the same time, he said, India is interested in the energy and political support of an influential Muslim country like Iran on the Kashmir issue.
But it is clear that India and Iran are at two different poles in the rapidly changing geopolitics of Asia and the Middle East.
In particular, Iran’s broad economic and strategic rapprochement with China, which has now become India’s worst enemy, is a nightmare for India.
However, the distance between Iran and India was not created in a day.
As India’s economic and political ties with the United States have grown over the past 15 years, so has its distance with Iran. China has stepped in to fill that void.
Agreement between China and Iran
China and Iran have reportedly finalized a 25-year “strategic partnership” agreement.
According to reliable sources, China will invest at least 40 billion over the next 25 years in Iran’s oil and gas, banking, telecommunications, port development, railway development and dozens of other key sectors.
Iran has officially announced the expansion of the strategically important port of Chabahar, which India has begun to develop, and the handover of rail links to several major Iranian cities with that port.
Not only that, China is now known to be eager to make the Chabahar port part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Former Indian diplomat Rakesh Sood said in an interview with the BBC’s Hindi Service that Iran was angered by India’s delay in fulfilling its promise to develop the port of Chabahar, mainly due to fears of US sanctions. Added to this is the impact of a radical change in coalition politics in Asia.
Rakesh Sood said: “Russia and China have similar views on the Middle East. They are joined by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. On the other hand, all the Middle Eastern countries with which India is forging closer ties, the Emirates. The United Arabs and Saudi Arabia are Iran’s greatest enemies. “
New friendship between Pakistan and Iran
Observers say the growing interest in China’s relationship with Pakistan over Iran is a growing headache for India. Because the extent to which India will be able to maintain its influence in Afghanistan in the future depends to a large extent on Iran-Pakistan relations.
In an online discussion about Pakistan hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center, a US think tank, in the last week of last month, Ayesha Siddique, a well-known security analyst in Pakistan, said there was a growing interest in Pakistan for establishing new ties with Iran, primarily for financial gain.
“Saudi Arabia is reconsidering its interests in South Asia and India is more important to them than Pakistan,” he said. At the same time, Iran has become important to Pakistan. “
So is India completely losing to Iran, its once close and important friend?
Professor Bhardwaj said that despite knowing that the United States would not be happy, India sent two influential ministers to Tehran to show how much they value relations with Iran.
“India wants to send a message that Delhi’s policy on foreign policy and strategic relations remains independent. They are uncompromising in this regard.”
Furthermore, he said, a market as large as India has always been tempting for Iran and Iran must know that China will not buy all its fuel.
But there is no doubt that the factionalism that has begun in Asian geopolitics centered on the rivalry between the United States and China is sacrificing Indo-Iranian relations.
Source: BBC
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