Iran and India signing a contract to develop and equip the long-stalled Chabahar port in an agreement that would give New Delhi 10 years of access to the facility, at a time when its government is seeking to grow trade in west and central Asia, can be described a major development in the region.
But the US has warned that Indian companies working on the project risked US sanctions because it feels betrayed, as though India has stabbed it in the back. It is a fact that the United States had accepted the Chabahar port project while the US military was in Afghanistan.
There is no doubt about the fact that India was one of the principal supporters of the Ashraf Ghani government that fell in 2021. That is why perhaps the US had turned a blind eye to what was transpiring between Islamic Republic of Iran and India.
But things are quite different now. Not only has the US exited the landlocked country, the relationship between the US and India has suffered enormously owing to two major reasons. Firstly, the BJP government is openly pursuing an assassination campaign against people of Indian-origin abroad who are critical of the rulers in New Delhi at foreign soil, including the US and Canada, enraging these North American nations.
Secondly, a very large number of incumbent and former Indian troops are taking part in the war between Ukraine and Russia. Needless to say, the presence of Indians on the Russian side in combat roles is no longer a secret.
It is, however, important to note that India’s foreign minister has said his country will work to communicate the benefits of a strategic port project in Iran, after the United States said Indian firms working on the project risked sanctions.
It is indeed a matter of satisfaction that the US has finally discovered the treachery of the current Indian leadership. It is, therefore, about time the US revisited its relationship with the so-called world’s largest democracy.
In my view, it is also about time the US revisited its approach to Iran and tried to normalize its woefully strained relations with the Islamic republic.
Lubna Ehtesham
Karachi
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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