Hyderabad
18 March 2012
As India negotiates the diplomatic minefield that is West Asia, questions are being asked of the government as to whether and how it could engage differently with Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia, without having to taking sides or pick and choose one over the other.
New Delhi would have you believe that the overlapping tensions in West Asia, manifested in the Israel-Iran stand-off over the latter's nuclear ambitions, the proxy war being played out in Syria between a Shiite Iran and the Sunni-bloc led by Saudi Arabia, or more generally the competition between Saudi Arabia and Iran for supremacy, constrict India's options.
In an example of some nimble Indian diplomacy, the government despatched external affairs minister SM Krishna to Israel and defence minister AK Antony to Saudi Arabia in order to offset any adverse fallout from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposed visit to Iran later this year. However, the same government chose in its wisdom to support a UNSC resolution against Syria.
While there is merit in New Delhi's argument, an influential section of the Indian diplomatic community contends that the ongoing investigation into the attack on an Israeli envoy in New Delhi or the threat of US sanctions on Indian entities post-June 28 for not reducing oil imports from Iran should not deter the government from pursuing what it deems is in its enlightened national interest.
"The US not only does not choose between India and Pakistan but actually assists our adversary in many ways, so why should we forego our limited relationship with Iran for the sake of the US?" wondered Kanwal Sibal, a former foreign secretary.
"Do Iran and Saudi Arabia choose between us and Pakistan? If at all they have been historically closer to Pakistan than to us. If Iran's statements on Israel and the Holocaust are objectionable, the Wahabi ideology emanating from Saudi Arabia is objectionable too. We should safeguard our energy relationship with Iran as best as we can despite US and EU sanctions and the Arab position," Mr Sibal told this newspaper.
Increasingly, diplomats who have observed or served in the region insist that India's relationship with Iran should stand on its own feet and not linked to its relations with Saudi Arabia. They maintain that whatever the differences between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the Shia-Sunni conflict that is building up, India does not need to take sides or feel compelled to choose.
They cautioned against a repeat of 2005 when New Delhi jettisoned its ties with Tehran in its narrow pursuit of the India-US nuclear deal. While some claim that Iran's rise as a regional power is inevitable, others cite the significance of Iran as land bridge to Afghanistan and beyond as a case in point.
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
India slow off the block or ..? China likely to bag Israeli rail project
India is set to potentially lose yet another infrastructure project of interest to it,
to China, due to a combination of diplomatic lethargy and inertia in decision-making.
Recently, the Israeli government approved a railway line linking its Red Sea port of Eilat
and Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast. The "Med - Red" railway line linking the
Mediterranean and the Red seas offers an alternative to the Suez Canal for
transcontinental trade between Europe and Asia. Also, it could facilitate exports of gas
from Israel to India and beyond. Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu is bullish on the
project, saying that "it has created very great interest in among the emerging powers,
China and India, and others."
The Israeli transport ministry has indicated a preference for a government-to-government
agreement with China for tapping the professional capability of the Chinese companies
in the construction of railway systems and transport networks.
Already, the Asian Development Bank, which is financing the TAPI (an acronym for
Turkmenistan Afghanistan Pakistan India) gas pipeline project, has indicated that
Chinese companies could be roped in to build the trans-national gas pipeline that will
deliver Turkmen gas to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Indian government is not
particularly amused by the prospect of a Chinese involvement in the construction of the
TAPI pipeline.
There is a sliver of hope yet for the Indian state enterprises such as RITES (Rail India
Technical and Economic Services) Limited and IRCON (Indian Railway Construction)
International Limited -- both of which are public sector undertakings under the railway
ministry. One of the options Israel could look at is international tendering, and, if it opts
for it, then Indian agencies stand a chance of becoming involved with the railway project.
The IRCON has completed several landmark infrastructure projects across the globe in
21 countries, including Israel. Similarly, RITES' operational experience spans over 50
countries in Africa, South East Asia, West Asia and South America; most of its foreign
assignments are for national governments.
However, an Indian government source explained away the inertia of decision-making by
saying that the project has come up in conversations only recently, and, there is no
information yet of any likely interest from a PSU or private entity.
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