New Delhi
20 October 2009
India's engagement with the countries in its extended neighbourhood is matched
only by its diffidence on Iran, which calls into question UPA 2.0's determination to
pursue multi-dimensional foreign policy and to avoid any contradiction between one set
of relations and another.
India's traditional relationships with the Central Asian republics and Iran in the Persian
Gulf have gone beyond energy and they have assumed importance in recent years for
regional peace and security, particularly in Afghanistan.
In the past, the Indo-Iranian cooperation in stabilising Afghanistan has paid dividends in
Tajikistan, a Persian-speaking Central Asian republic bordering Afghanistan.
Further, Pakistan's intransigence and the United States' less than charitable references
to India's presence in Afghanistan has sharpened the discourse over the possibility of
forging trilateral cooperation among India, Iran and Russia.
South Block is lukewarm to the idea, but Iran's Ambassador to India Seyed Mehdi
Nabizadeh is open to it.
"There is scope for trilateral cooperation between Iran, Russia and India in energy
security, economic issues, and other projects such as the North -- South Corridor, which
can be helpful to countries in West Asia and beyond in Europe," he said in a recent
interview to this newspaper.
Mr Nabizadeh also said that as neighbours of Afghanistan, Iran and India share
responsibility for stability and development in Afghanistan. Iran and India are involved in
undertaking infrastructure development projects in Afghanistan.
"The situation in the areas bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, where terrorists are
active, is a worrying situation for Iran and other countries in the region," he added.
Minister of External Affairs SM Krishna's travel to Uzbekistan this week will be the latest
in a series of visits to Central Asia by Indian leaders in Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh's second term in office.
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil paid a three-day State visit to Tajikistan in
September. Mr Krishna travelled to Turkmenistan recently, while N Ravi, Secretary (East)
in the Ministry of External Affairs, was despatched to Kazakhstan.
In contrast, no visits of consequence have taken place between India and Iran.
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