Prime Minister Modi’s visit to boost bilateral ties
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming two-day visit to Iran is crucial for a couple of reasons: It will have to set the pace for a new chapter in the India-Iran bilateral in the post-sanctions era, and it must breathe new life into India's larger West Asia policy. On the bilateral front, India will have to do some diplomatic re-positioning to fully leverage its partnership with Iran, especially in the field of oil and energy. There is some reason to believe that, while India managed to protect its relationship with Iran during the sanctions years despite significant American pressure, it may have missed the post-sanctions party in Tehran with Indian businesses somewhat falling behind their European counterparts. This is where a political push emanating from a prime ministerial visit can make a difference. Additionally, the two big projects that are on the table are the Chabahar port and the Farzad-B gas field. Upgradation and redevelopment of the former, which India partially built in the first place, has been in the works for several years but made little progress. However, in recent months, in the wake of several ministerial visits to Tehran and Delhi, there has been some movement at least on paper, with the finalisation of a trilateral agreement on Chabahar among India, Iran and Afghanistan. The Chabahar port will be a major boost for Iran and a potential game-changer for Afghanistan. For India, it will be a major show of soft power. As for the other big project, the Farzad-B gas field, it too has been in the lurch for a while now but is expected to come through by the end of this year. But more than the deals that are signed, the big takeaway from the Iran visit needs to be political — and not just commercial. Oil and energy trade has long since been the core element of the India-Iran bilateral and that equation will not change any time soon. However, political engagement between the two nations has shrunk in recent years, and this is where a course correction is necessary. In fact, Modi will be the first Indian Prime Minister to pay a state visit to Iran since 2001, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee had made the trip (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went to Tehran in 2012 for the Non-Aligned Movement summit meet; it was not a state visit). Two successive Iranian Presidents have come to India since Mohammad Khatami in 2003 and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2008.
From a multilateral perspective, Iran has, of course, always been a major regional power, but its return to the international sphere in the post-sanctions era comes at a time when West Asia and North Africa are in a flux, and Tehran has a stake in just about every battleground in the region — be it Iraq, Syria, Yemen or libya. India or Indian interests are not directly affected in any of these crises but, as an aspiring major power, New Delhi cannot be oblivious to the region, especially given the security threats emanating from there in the form of transnational jihadi groups such as the Islamic State.