By: News Desk
BEIJING: The recent Indo-Iran deal to develop the
strategic Chabahar Port is part of India’s “larger geo-strategic calculations”
to gain access to the Middle East and Central Asia and to counter
Pakistan-China’s plan to develop Gwadar port, a media report said in Beijing
today.
“Actually, Chabahar is just the tip of the iceberg of
India’s geostrategic ambitions. Besides building new berths and upgrades to
Chabahar, what interests New Delhi more is a comprehensive scheme that can
reshape India’s geopolitics to the northwest and extend its influence further
into the Middle East, Central Asia and the Trans-Caucasus,” an article in the
state-run Global Times said today.
To this end, India has recently committed USD 400 million
in steel to construction of the railway connecting Chabahar and Zahedan, near
Afghan border, the report said.
“Although New Delhi ostensibly highlights economic
considerations, such as facilitating trade along the International North-South
Transport Corridor and extracting minerals, natural gas and oil from the
region, its larger geo-strategic calculations and ambitions are obvious,” it
said.
“A direct gateway through Pakistan provides the shortest
and the most economical access for India to enter Afghanistan and Central
Asia,” it said.
However, due to long-standing mistrust, Islamabad is
reluctant to grant India access.
“The sea-land route of Chabahar Port is designed to
bypass Pakistan. With the new route, some Indian strategists suggest that India
can take further advantage of its ties with Iran and Afghanistan and gain new
leverage and positioning while reducing Pakistan’s political and economic
influence in the region,” the report said.
“Besides bypassing the overland blockage, India also
views its investment in Chabahar as a counterweight against Pakistan’s Gwadar
Port, a Chinese-funded deep sea port 72 km east of Chabahar,” it said.
China and Pakistan are currently building a USD 46
billion economic corridor linking Pakistan’s Gwadar port with Xinjiang to
improve connectivity between the two countries.
“Although India’s expectations of Chabahar and the
sea-land route are running high, especially following the lifting of international
financial sanctions against Iran, major challenges remain.
India may not be able to meet its generous offers and
high-sounding rhetoric due to the following reasons,” it said.
1.Iran may not always align itself with India’s
geostrategic goals.
2.China is also crucial to Tehran’s core interests.
3. Iran never publicly articulated its opposition to the
Sino-Pakistani project in Gwadar. Instead, it had aided the project by
providing fresh water and fuel,” it said.
4. China is Iran’s biggest importer of the Oil and Iran
will never want to annoy China against India.
5. Iran may again face US sanctions over its missile
programme and the trade with Iran and through Iran may again go into doldrums.
6. Chahbahar is not as a deep sea port as Gwadar port of
Pakistan is and the heavily loaded ships may not anchor at Chahbahar unlike
Gwadar.
7. India may not invest as much in cash starved
Chahbahar as China is investing in Gwadar.
8. Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics may not
support India as much as they may China in their economic goals.
9. India’s route to CAR states and Afghanistan
through Chahbahar is much longer than the both Gwadar Port and the China itself
hence reducing the time and money both for Pakistani and Chinese products.
10. The developing geo strategic situation vis a vis
India heavily aligning with US and US going against Iran may trouble the
Indo-Iran equation in future.
11. Relations between Pakistan and Iran may develop in
future after removal of the bilateral misunderstandings and economic
connectivity may flourish after Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline and Iranian oil flowing
through CPEC projects to China may force Iran to reconsider it’s strategic
alignment with India.
The report said that if India expected too much from
Iran, it is “bound for disappointment”.
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