India must seize upon the goodwill and deliver
While the undisputed highlight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's trip to Iran was the delivery of the Chabahar agreement, it is important to bear in mind that signing on the dotted line is just one of the first few steps. India must now act quickly and efficiently to deliver the project on time, and only then will all the talk about improving regional connectivity and re-imagining our geographies and destinies make sense. The overall trade and transport project, with Chabahar port at its core, has been in the works for more than a decade the first pact in this regard was signed back in 2003 and many more were inked in-between. However, there has been almost no progress on the ground. One important reason for the delay had been Western sanctions against Iran for its controversial nuclear programme. This made it difficult for India to do business with Iran; even the bilateral oil trade took a hit. But the sanctions were only one, even if important, factor for the delay. Red tape, governmental inefficiencies, political disinterest and policy paralysis were just as much a part of the problem. Thankfully, this is where the Modi Government has indicated a major improvement the Ministry of External Affairs has been injected with new life, and with the Prime Minister putting foreign policy at the core of his agenda and travelling extensively around the world, our diplomats have also become more nimble-footed. One can only hope that the momentum generated herein will help push the project to its logical conclusion. last mile delivery is key, and if India can complete the project on time, it will be a big boost to the country's credentials as an emerging power. Apart from connecting India to energy-rich Central Asia, the project will help Iran with its economic progress and accelerate Afghanistan's post-war reconstruction. The latter can then bypass Pakistan, which currently has an unofficial veto in Kabul, and emerge as the transit hub for Central and South Asia. This, of course, will be beneficial for India both economically and strategically, especially vis-à-vis the Gwadar port and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that Beijing is building in Balochistan.
The Prime Minister's trip also focussed on the long-standing civilisational ties between the two countries. This has always been a unique aspect of the India-Iran bilateral, and it was in the fitness of things that Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to make a state visit to Iran since AB Vajpayee's 2001 Tehran trip (Mamohan Singh went in 2012 for the Non-Aligned Movement Summit), reiterated this motif. Indeed, the focus on soft power complements the display of hard power that came with the signing of the trilateral agreement on Chabahar.
The one key area that didn't see much high-profile action during the prime ministerial visit was the energy sector. India is keen to get the contract for the Farzad B gas field but the joint statement only expressed hope that a Heads of Agreement will be concluded by the third quarter of 2016, which should eventually lead to a commercial agreement. On trade issues, there were two notable developments: Emphasis on the early conclusion of the India-Iran free trade pact and India's support for the Iran's accession to the World Trade Organisation.