In what once again highlights India’s need to play a mediating role between the US and Iran, as reported by The Hindu, a senior official in the Trump administration has emphasised that the US understands India’s concerns about how tensions between the US and Tehran could affect India’s interests in the form of its connectivity ambitions.
Senior Trump Admn official says US understands India's worry that tensions with Iran will impact its connectivity ambitions, suggests Delhi could convince Tehran to come to table for nuclear talks with US, after FM Zarif rejected them. https://t.co/gvrGsrVJNf
— Suhasini Haidar (@suhasinih) January 18, 2020
The US official was categorically asked about India’s concerns about the impact of the US threat of more sanctions on Iran and on India’s plans to develop the Chabahar port. Making it clear that Washington understands India’s concerns, the official also said that India could play a role in convincing Iran to renegotiate the nuclear deal.
The remarks of the US official come as a welcome sign for India. There are several reasons to believe that amid-US Iran tensions, India is indeed well suited for playing a mediating role between the two nations. Deteriorating relations between Iran and the US are directly detrimental to India’s interests in the region and beyond.
Oil meets 84 per cent of India’s energy needs by burning petroleum and more than 80 per cent of the country’s oil demand is met through imports. The biggest worry for New Delhi in case of deteriorating relations between the US and Iran is India’s oil needs. Till only very recently, India was highly dependent on Iran for its oil imports, being the second-largest importer of oil from the country, and any confrontation in the region might end up choking the Strait of Hormuz that will end up shooting the oil prices which will create a major hindrance in India’s growth story.
India’s interests in Iran, however, are not limited to Iran. The Chabahar port in Iran is also crucial to India’s trade ambitions and connectivity aspirations. The port is expected to cut transport costs and time by a third. The Chabahar port is also crucial as it will, under the International North-South Transport Corridor, provide for an alternative route for India to provide for an alternative route for India to access Central Asian Countries and even Moscow and Europe through the Caspian Sea slashing time and costs by about 40 per cent.
The Chabahar port also puts India in the perfect position to facilitate negotiations between the US and Iran. The US too recognises that the Chabahar port and a planned railway line are going to be pivotal in breaking the dependence on Pakistan for trade and other initiatives in a landlocked Afghanistan- something that is also likely to protect American interests in the war-torn Afghanistan. The US troops who currently have to rely on Pakistan also stand to benefit as the port will create a new base for logistical support and supply lines into Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.
Moreover, with instability in the Middle East region and the possibility of things deteriorating into a warlike situation, terror outfits like the ISIS and Al-Qaeda are always expected to bounce back in the region. In such a situation, the Trump administration would want to rely upon an appropriate base from which the US troops can smoothly approach the conflict areas. The Chabahar port is perfectly located to serve as such a base.
It is relevant to mention here that even Tehran has been in favour of a peace initiative between the US and Iran backed by India. Recently, when tensions between Washington and Tehran were running high following General Soleimani’s killing. Iranian Ambassador, Ali Chegeni had said that Iran would welcome any peace initiative by India in order to de-escalate tensions between the US and Iran.
Traditionally it is only India that has never taken sides between Iran and the US. All other superpowers such as China, Russia, France, UK and Germany are all stakeholders who, because of historical relations, are divided in blocs either favouring the US or Iran.
Russia, an old friend of Iran stands on Iran’s side. Being a sanction hit country, Moscow also relates to Iran as it has also borne the brunt of economic sanctions. Similarly, Beijing which is battling a trade war with the US has also taken Iran’s side in the recent past.
On the other hand, European Powers, the UK, France and Germany have a history of imposing tough sanctions on Tehran. They have sided with the US, and relations between the UK and Iran only deteriorated following tensions in the region last year after Tehran seized two British-linked oil tankers.
It is therefore clear that India is the only superpowers that has never taken sides in the decades-old hostilities between Iran and the US. India has interests in Iran and at the same time shares a very close relationship with the US and strategic ties with Israel. India has not wronged either side in the past and shares a close working relationship on both sides.
Apart from India’s oil needs and connectivity ambitions in Iran, India also happens to have the second-highest Shia population in the world next only to Iran. This also makes India an influential player when it comes to acting as a mediator the nuclear deal between the US and Iran.
India’s objectives lie in diffusing tensions between Tehran and Washington, so that peace and stability in the region helps India’s geopolitical and economic interests.
Even as the US official has suggested India’s role in renegotiating a nuclear deal, New Delhi must take the opportunity to boldly push for peace in West Asia. Iran has already welcomed any efforts by India to mediate ever since tensions soared right after the Soleimani killing, and stressed that India is part of the region and hence an important player. Iran has expected India to do more in the recent past in the context of US sanctions on Iran, a sentiment that was recently reiterated by Iran’s Foreign Minister, Javed Zarif who visited India for the Raisina Dialogue. US President Trump is also all set for his maiden visit to India in February. India thus seems all set to play a pivotal role when it comes to diffusing tensions between Iran and the US, and possibly playing the role of a mediator in US-Iran negotiations for a nuclear deal.